I think what bugs me the most about the Westmore aliens is how goofy proportioned they tend to be. So many times we see creatures with elaborate and impractical looking heads (from the make-up department) and skinny wimpy looking normal human bodies (from the costume department). The two so often seem mismatched.
A great example is the Hirogen. These guys show up and are huge. Not only enormously tall, but big and bulky bodies to match their heads. Then they dress up as Nazis and they're skinny little guys with big heads.
I feel that Star Wars aliens from the prequels are actually one of the few areas where the PT surpasses the OT. There's some great stuff in the classic trilogy, don't get me wrong, but one thing they lacked in good old days was Terryl Whitlatch. She was the creature designer for the prequels (At least for Episode I, I think on the others also, but I don't recall for sure.) Her whole process is about studying real animals and imagining fantasy animals which are constrained by the same evolutionary logic that drive real life creature design. This is where Trek aliens (especially the Westmore creatures) fall flat for me. So often, they have all these strange features which don't seem to serve any biomechanical purpose, and often seem to get in the way of practical living. Like some random alien whose nose is attached to his chin and you have to wonder how does this guy eat with the fleshy protuberance blocking their mouths?
That said, I think the creature design is about the one area where the Kelvin-timeline movies really do shine.
--Alex
