6. Practical Effects
The bane of big-budget blockbusters these days is their overt reliance on CGI; what were once compelling set-pieces crafted with the most complex miniature effects and clever uses of make-up are now zeros and ones in a computer. While CGI obviously has its place in film - and the Half-Life movie would need to use plenty of it for sure - it's all about knowing where that place lies and not abusing it. Though J.J. Abrams is known for his effects-heavy films, we hope that he won't entirely drown the film in a sea of it; if practical effects can be achieved that look convincing, they should be used. This pertains mainly to the smaller creatures like the headcrabs; animatronics look better than CGI the majority of the time as they give the actor something to interact with, while CGI, though smoother and slicker, usually has that blatantly artificial look. If Abrams can actually achieve convincing results - we're thinking District 9-level aliens - then by all means go ahead, but if it's going to end up looking as fake as the prequel to The Thing, then don't bother.