Here be spoilers.
Fans of the original Predator will recall how it was a brilliant piece of filmmaking. It started out as a typical 1980s-era action movie, complete with some archetypes that we still see reflected back to us on the big screen even today. Most of the heroes were lantern-jawed and bristling with muscle and attitude. A couple of them had huge axes to grind with either each other, their sinister pasts or the United States government. And while many of us went into Predator thinking that we were going to get a standard military black-ops adventure story, about a third of the way through the movie turned itself upside-down. Suddenly, the standard adventure film became a clever cat-and-mouse conflict between Arnold Schwarzenegger and an extraterrestrial killer.
Fans of the original Predator will recall how it was a brilliant piece of filmmaking. It started out as a typical 1980s-era action movie, complete with some archetypes that we still see reflected back to us on the big screen even today. Most of the heroes were lantern-jawed and bristling with muscle and attitude. A couple of them had huge axes to grind with either each other, their sinister pasts or the United States government. And while many of us went into Predator thinking that we were going to get a standard military black-ops adventure story, about a third of the way through the movie turned itself upside-down. Suddenly, the standard adventure film became a clever cat-and-mouse conflict between Arnold Schwarzenegger and an extraterrestrial killer.
Over the years, those who inherited the franchise have attempted (mostly in vain) to re-create the brilliance of the original movie. In this latest installment, called Predators (notice that all-important "s" if you please), a hand full of quasi-military and mercenary types find that they've been abducted and air-dropped onto an alien world which is operating as the aliens private game preserve. From this point forward, the film is a pretty straightforward shoot-em-up in which this band of unsavory strangers must try to work together to out-fight their seven-foot and be-fanged adversaries. If you approach the film on this simple level, then I think Predators is successful. It has a fairly decent cast, including Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, and Topher Grace, all of whom do a good job considering the rather sparse plot. If there's one aspect to Predators that I found annoying, it has to do with the Topher Grace character. He is set up as the odd man out, apparently an inexperienced doctor who, for some reason, is kidnapped and shuttled halfway across the galaxy to fight aliens for no apparent reason. None of the other combatants seem to spend much time questioning why he would of been chosen by the predators since he offers little challenge to them. Turns out he’s just as psychopathic as the others but has been luring everyone into a false sense of security because he really likes living with monsters... or something like that. Frankly, not only could you see a twist coming a mile away, but it was also completely unnecessary. Plot twists are for movies that have plots. Predators, at best, has a thin storyline used to string together its multiple action scenes. If the filmmakers had simply stuck to creating an exciting movie, and didn't worry about performing an M. Night Shyamalan-style sleight of hand, the movie might've scored a more positive review from me.
As it is, I can give Predators a passing recommendation with one caveat: don't expect anything particularly new or original from this film. It is certainly a step up from the horrible Aliens vs Predator films that we've had to endure the last few years. But it is neither great action nor great science fiction. What it might be is an exciting diversion that doesn't require a lot of brain power to process.
As it is, I can give Predators a passing recommendation with one caveat: don't expect anything particularly new or original from this film. It is certainly a step up from the horrible Aliens vs Predator films that we've had to endure the last few years. But it is neither great action nor great science fiction. What it might be is an exciting diversion that doesn't require a lot of brain power to process.
