As time goes on I'm more and more forgiving of its flaws and more appreciative of its merits. The Predator ship flying overhead and sucking all the sound out of the mix has more grace than anything in AVPR or Predators. There are some beautiful shots therein.
The only thing that still really galls is the lack of understanding of the source it rips off. Broken Tusk teams up with Machiko out of fury at his wayward students and gratitude to the doctor. There's none of that in AVP, they just team up... I don't know, because? It takes the code of honour thing away a bit too much.
Anyway, it's miles better than its awful sequel, it tries harder to be faithful to the sources feel than Resurrection, it's less slavish to its precedents than Predators and it makes marginally more sense than Prometheus. I think it's earned a place at the table, even if it is in a high chair.