For what it's worth...
If, like me, you're a fan of the Alien series then you've probably added Alien Quadrilogy to your dvd collection.
Watch all of the behind the scenes documentaries and you'll see an alarming trend emerge...which results in the absolute dross that is AvP.
Start with Alien, and it's all about how the writers and Scott had difficulties getting their vision off the ground...Fox execs reluctant to stump up the cash, that sort of thing.
Move into Aliens and it's more of the same...The only good thing is that with Alien and laterly Aliens, there were two very stubborn bastards at the helm in Scott and Cameron...they weren't prepared to bend over and eventually got what they wanted.
Move to Alien 3 and things start to go pear shaped...suddenly the execs are the driving force...Weaver also has her producer's hat on...the writer / director element has been cut off at the knees.
I thought the "Fincher" cut of Alien 3 looked very interesting...and could have kept to the same standard Cameron set with Aliens. If only it was the Fincher of today making that movie (rather than Fincher the first-time helmer). Maybe then he wouldn't have let the execs at Fox dump the Hicks character in order to save paying Bien what he thought he was worth.
Frankly, the way in which Hicks and Newt were dumped just killed the series for me...suddenly the 'franchise' had moved into slasher territory...only Ripley could survive, everyone else was gonna get it...and there goes the tension, the need for character development, and so on.
The only way to save these great characters (by that I include the Alien itself as much as Ripley) is to give it back to Scott or Cameron. Frankly, though, that ain't gonna happen is it? I mean, why pay top dollar for talent when you can get Anderson to bring the video game to the screen for teens.
So...who do I blame? Well it's not really Anderson's fault that AvP sucks...he's an average director working with below average material...the real villans are Weaver, Carroll, Giler and Hill...they're all great at what they do, they just started to think they could write and direct too. Stick to what you know guys, and give us what we deserve.