AVPR had no story. All it was about was a predator trying to wipe out the aliens, and going about it stupidly. Predator had a simple plot too but at least it had a backstory (about the dual nature of their mission/Anna's monologue to Dutch and the history of the characters). AVP also had a backstory with the predators and Lex at least had a character arc that had something to do with the plot.
AVPR had nothing - the characters and their situations were totally incidental to the plot. It was just a bunch of random people and events and when they got killed no one cared.
I think it's best to compare it to a dumb 80s slasher movie.