I'm a big fan of the Wolf predator, having defended him quite a bit in the past on this forum. I've also stuck up for AVPR in general a bit too. I have never disliked and especially never downright hated the AVP films like many others seem to. The Wolf predator is my favorite predator of all time, and he makes the movie to me. I admittedly have always preferred Predators to Aliens (xenomorphs), but I still feel like the writing and the idea of Wolf and other predators being highly experienced and battle tested enough to be able to easily kill most xenomorphs is possible within the world of the movies/comics (let's not turn this into another debate now and I'll try to stay on topic). I also liked how we actually seen a tiny bit of emotion out of him as well when he found his fellow hunter's bodies. From a brief sign of sadness to anger. You could even say after that it became both a mission and a personal objective of vengeance. I did like the Scar predator in AVP, but not on the same level. AVP obviously had a higher budget, and it showed in it's more appealing and interesting setting. I liked the snow conditions of AVP, but found the pyramid to get a bit repetitive and dull to look at as it went on. Although I did enjoy and was intrigued by the ancient flashbacks and the whole "rites of passage"/trial parts of it all. From AVPR I actually liked the whole "small town" idea in AVPR (feels closer to home and such), and I actually think there was a good dark tone that came along with it all as it got more and more overrun.
As far as acting goes, I'd say there was more quality in AVP's cast, but the general dialogue could get a bit boring. Where as most of the acting quality in AVPR wasn't overwhelmingly high, and the characters were generic. Dallas's reason for getting sent to prison that he doesn't regret could have been somewhat interesting, but it was never expanded upon or explored whatsoever. However I did find these humans in AVPR to be a bit more fun perhaps, despite them being written sort of like slasher victims. Despite it not being nearly on the same level as her performance as "Nora" on the TV series Being Human, I get a kick out of seeing Kristen Hager.
Concerning the special effects, AVP's were clearly of better quality where as AVPR's came off a bit more cheap and "slasher-esque". Although the slasher fan in me appreciates the increase of gore in it. I liked the return of the ridges to the xenomorphs design in AVPR, but overall preferred what they did in AVP. I won't disagree when it comes to the conclusion that AVP's aliens were handled better then in AVPR, but unlike some I thought how easily most of them were beaten made sense considering who Wolf was supposed to be (again not the place to debate about that again). I do prefer the alien queen over the predalien, but don't think the concept nor the design of the preadalien was actually bad at all. The design/makeup for Wolf in AVPR was MUCH better then those we seen in AVP (although I don't think they were awful, and the Elder's was quite good). I found the action in AVPR to be a bit more exciting and slightly more intense then what we got out of AVP. And yes the lighting of AVPR could have been brightened up and bit or been a bit more balanced, but it isn't so bad watching it on your own TV with your own settings or with a Blu-ray copy. I did like how the ending of AVP connected right into the setup of AVPR. It was unfortunate that the ending of AVPR itself was more of a generic "cop out" draw then anything else. However I found the final Wolf and predalien fight to be a pretty cool fight sequence. Would have been nice to have Wolf somehow know the town was going to be bombed and slip out in time with the characters maybe coming across what he arrived in and Wolf sort of meeting them again and subtly nodding or at least looking to them before flying off just before the military confronts the survivors after the "Are the monsters gone?" line still being used. That would just be my preferred fan ending.
I could go on and on and back and forth about this for hours. Overall though there are elements and parts of AVP that can be considered "better", but most of the time I usually find myself having more fun with and garnering more personal fan enjoyment out of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem then Alien vs. Predator. So yeah I'm still joining the minority, and going against the majority here again.
