In my opinion AVP-R is a far better movie, at least the aliens & predator spent more than 5 minutes actually fighting on-screen. Sure people can argue that the characters were hollow, the setting wasn't great, & all sorts of complaints, but really, the characters from the first film were even worse in my opinion. The only thing it had going for it was an intricate storyline & a decent claustrophobic setting, which really wasn't used to its full extent in my opinion.
AVP was quite literally a boring movie, a cold shower in every sense of the word. It just felt bland & soulless from start to finish. The Strauses at least deserve some merit for breathing life back into some of the more classic alien & predator themes, such as the sound effects & music, not to mention the overall look of the creatures.