Given the nature of the script, I doubt a bit of character development would have helped. Speaking about the "abandon scene", the father does say run but one would think that a military trained woman would have at least tried something before realizing saving him is futile, of course her first thought in that scene was probably protecting her daughter, which in most cases is a strong instinct.
The only good thing I can say in AVPR was Wolf's design and the whip weapon.
When the facehuggers goes into the sewer, there was a missed opportunity as there was a dog in there. They could have added a Runner into the mix....though with the way Xenos were treated in this film, it would have been screwed up.