Predators

Predators, an entertaining film with genuine surprises, may be the first movie I've seen to start with a deus ex machina. Yes, the whole plot and all the humans plummet into the movie from the heavens, dropping toward the alien soil, shrieking, groping for ripcords on the parachutes that they didn't realize they had. The last thing they recall is a blinding blaze of light. The first to land, with a powerful thud, is Royce. The others then crash all around him.

These people are bitter specialized murderers from all over: a mercenary, a yakuza (who uses a Hanzo sword; probably QT buddy Rodriguez's idea), an Israeli markswoman, a serial killer, an African warlord, etc. How did they find themselves in this dense jungle, and why? They determine they're on another planet: a flawlessly terra-formed one, it would appear. The gravity lets them walk as usual, and they can breathe and hydrate. Royce observes something bizarre: The sun never moves. They see there are three or four moons in the sky, which are either colossal or very near.

Even more bizarre, it never becomes molten lava yanked around by enormous tidal waves. But as you always have to say when Rodriguez is involved, "Whatever." After the characters are assaulted by massive eponymous monsters, Royce nails it: They're in a game reservation. He solves a lot of questions in the movie, which might've been more interesting if he hadn't. But it's all still much more intriguing that just pitting two franchise monsters against each other. Instead, this movie is smart enough to again pit predators against humans, who are predators with the weakness of being human. It's the sense of compassion or empathy for our fellow human that makes us vulnerable to predators.

But who oversees this game preserve, and why? If you remember the first Predator, Schwarzenegger and other mercs were in the Amazon pitted against an invisible predatory extraterrestrial. Has that alien race snatched humans into its galaxy for a rematch? Is it a sensible consumption of assets to transfer numerous people countless light years merely so you can kill them purposelessly? No time to ponder. Here come some extremely ferocious four-legged creatures whose horns and fangs continue too far in front of their mouths for them to be able to eat their prey. They don't even look like they can lie on their backs and scoop the quarry in with their feet owing to all the spikes on their backs.

This is a Rodriguez production: Making sense is not an issue. The movie is generally about our malevolent protagonists being mauled by frightening mandible-jawed creatures. who use active camouflage and energy weapons, reposition as swiftly as panthers, can see in a variety of spectrums, and are equally as self-aware as humans, sans compassion of course. Nimrod Antal gave Vacancy a masterful sense of what to show and when to reveal it, and so is a proficient enough director to keep these villains intriguing throughout unintelligible jumbles of bullet-paced visual effects. The eponymous indigents see all in infrared POV shots via what seems like a closed-circuit monitor. Or sinister videotape on a motel TV set perhaps? There are invariably a handful of characters who get slaughtered in manhunt films like this. What puzzles me is why they all don't get slaughtered? Consider if that spiky warthog tackled you to the ground at 20 mph and all you could do was stick it with your knife, would you imagine you'd be making facetious comments on it later on? Still, a charming moment where Apocalypse Now alum Laurence Fishburne hums Ride of the Valkyrie nonetheless pulls us out of the claustrophobia by being meta-referential. On the other hand, lines like "Say goodbye to your little friend" work as momentary relief from the claustrophobia.

After re-watching this movie for a third time in 4k and 10 years later, I think this is better than I thought the first and second time. The story is quite simple and enjoyable and most of the characters are true Badass. Action is pretty well done and filming locations are similar to original Predator. Last, I just noticed Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is in the cast! Probably one of his first roles. So, overall a great re-watch in 4k and great movie for franchise fans.

First off I'm a huge predator fan. I love this film. It gives a great take on the predator hunted theme which is basically the same story every generation, and also a smart remake. Great cast every performance hits the write mark and the script does everything it should without any fluff. The ever evolving Predator works perfectly with some great updates. It's a shame Rodriguez didn't follow this on cause that I would have wanted to see. I can see why some fans weren't happy, especially with the Fishburn character but for me it's all very good.

In a season of remakes, re-imagining's and sequels, Predators certainly lives up to what's expected of it. It's a re-imagining of the classic 80's action movie which had Arnie take the reigns as the leader of a super band of commando's being hunted by an extra terrestrial in the middle of the (jungle), and ended up spawning quite a franchise, consisting of a sequel, and 2 movie mash ups, the Alien vs. Predator films. Fans of the original and followers of the franchise can be forgiven for being weary of this remake (after all, I was), but believe me, Predators is the best in the series since the original.

Predators, as the name suggests, features more than 1, which alone makes you wonder how true to the original this will be. Well, the movie approaches this question in a strange way. First, it takes the original premise of a band of elite warriors being hunted by an unstoppable alien menace, and gives quite a unique and refreshing twist, delivering another band of elite warriors, but this time being hunted by 3 Predators, and on THEIR planet, rather than Earth. Then on top of this, Predators takes much of what made the original great; the cheesy dialogue, the big guns, the crude humour, and even some of the same great moments, and adds them in to give Predators its own unique style, while still paying a worthy homage to the classic. There are some direct references to please the original fans, but it's not spoiled by filling it with references that only the die-hard fans would understand like many other movies are. Most of the action scene's deliver and the fire fights are well done. The scenery of the planet is beautiful (though it's actually only Hawaii), and the movie generally has a good pace, despite some times where this falters. And I have to award bonus points for the movie's opening: it was a unique way of introducing us to the situation, and without giving too much away, it sucks you in, even if it is a little far-fetched.

But don't get too excited, the movie definitely has its problems. Some of the dialogue, especially of one character is just bad, and I'm still not sure whether or not it tried to do it purposely and just failed, or if the writers just scribbled down anything they could think of at the last minute. Then there's also some back-story and deeper meaning to the entire Predator universe and their scenario, which is nice, but at times it really drags on and takes the rest of the movie down with it. There's also one specific scene, which includes a homage to the original, but is ridiculous, and apart from the reference, it's almost laughable. One of the biggest things that got me though, and it may not annoy others, is the amount of Predator screeches and screams. It seemed as though every 5 minutes, another Predator was screaming for some unknown reason. Maybe he didn't hit what he was aiming for, maybe he trod on a sharp rock, or maybe his Predator wife left him and he's not taking too well, but any way I don't care what's happened, so please stop screaming at me! The casting is strange to say the least. Adrien Brody, trying to channel the essence of Schwarzenegger, and who would have been my last pick as an action hero, pulls off the role surprising well. Most of the actors perform satisfyingly, and the brief appearances by Laurence Fishburne and Danny Trejo are a nice touch. My only queries with the casting are that of Topher Grace. He spends the entire movie seeming out of place, not quite fitting in to the situation, and at no point is he even slightly convincing as the character he is meant to portray.

Predators was released with some big shoes that it knew it had to fill, and so instead of trying to outdo the original or be new and fresh, it uses what made the original great to its advantage. I must say kudos to Nimrod Antal for directing, and kudos to the make-up department, because they definitely outdid themselves with this project. Predators is a refreshing shot in the arm to a nearly dead franchise, and stands out in the ocean of movie remakes and sequels that Hollywood is churning out. For what it's designed to be, an action blockbuster popcorn flick, it definitely delivers.

Before I took a chance on this film there was really only one question I wanted answered...

'Is this film going to be another steaming pile of disappointment like the AVP films?'

And the answer, happily, is 'No', though after having to sift through all the unhelpful and uninformative 1 rater reviews here, I never would have guessed. I almost gave this film a miss, but I'm glad I didn't. It was actually quite good, and I'll tell you why (no spoilers I promise).

I think it is important to go into this film with the right expectations. This film returns to the original Predator format, and borrows heavily from the first 1987 Predator film. There are scenes and characters (and even weapons) which are so reminiscent of the first film that they would not be out of place in a remake. I like to view this as very deliberate homage to the original rather than shameless plagiarism, and I enjoyed the film more and feel much happier because of it. Of course this is not a remake. It is a sequel with some major differences from the 1987 film, and enough originality to make it interesting and unique in its own right.

The story is not overly ambitious, they play it straight and the focus is given more to building tension, which it manages to do very well. Because it is a Predator film you kind of know what is going to happen, but it still manages to be suspenseful from the start, and there are quite a few surprises and twists along the way to keep you guessing. The unnerving way the truth of their situation unfolds for the characters is quite enthralling, and reminded me strongly of shows like 'The Outer Limits'.

The characters are interesting and all of them are well portrayed. Some are a little cliché, but the main character played by Adrien Brody is actually more human and teeters on the edge of being a full blown anti- hero.

My only major gripe with this film is that there is little character development. The characters are (as I said) interesting, but there just doesn't seem to be enough time to explore them very deeply. The most you really get is a shallow glimpse of who they might be, which left question marks over some of their motivations. This does make the film slightly forgettable, as you never really end up feeling or caring too much for them, and sometime it feels like they do things just to drive the plot/action forward, rather than because it is something their character might do.

Overall I would give the film a 7 out of 10, it was above average for and action flick and screamed quality, despite a retentively low budget, and I definitely wouldn't mind going to see it again. An entertaining action thriller at worst, and a nice edition to the Predator franchise.