One that abides by what the Aliens have been like since day one. The mandibles are okay...since everything about the Alien anatomy is a little more beefed up than that of the host, they could be used to crush a victim's head without looking silly. Hell, maybe some face-tearing if you want some painful variety. The skull? A-okay with me. Stretching out a Predator skull just makes it that much more unique from what we've seen before, and I haven't heard many complaints about the transluscent shell. Maybe...just maybe...if you had a dreadlock for each side of the head, you could compromise with everyone who seems to want the Predalien to have some.
But then you have what we got...loads of detail for no apparent reason. Why would an Alien need musculature? To impress other Aliens? It already has acid blood to deter the foolish from breaking through its skin. What does the skin pattern accomplish? Nothing. How about the way they made it look like a cross between a Queen's head and a Predator's skull? Was that really necessary, even with the plot twist (which is murky at best)? Then we have the mess of dreadlocks...why? Since they look like Predator dreadlocks with Alien bits, the final battle's scenes only confuse the viewer. And as for the extra add-ons like the mandibles on the tongue and the "throwback to Giger's look"? Not only is is useless, but you never see any of it underneath all of that flesh. The finalized version even managed to make the mandibles Anderson got right look goofy. That's the money-making trademark...why would they eff with it?
All in all, it just became way too busy. I appreciate that they tried to add their own take on Giger's designs to please the fans, but they never would've needed to do that if they just stopped trying to add so many unnecessary Predator parts to the creature. Giger himself once said that to make the "new" Alien he was designing for the third film feminine, all he needed to do was focus on making cheeks and lips that made you think of a woman. The Predalien had that going for it; who's going to mix up an Alien with mandibles with the rest? But in trying to add so much, they just made it look like fan art. That's the sad part.
