‘Predators’ Movie Review

Director: Nimrod Antal

Cast: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Laurance Fishburne

Plot: A small group of soldiers and killers find themselves stranded on an alien planet where they’re to be used as game for a race of elite hunters.

Review: And so we see the return of the crab-mouthed Rastafarian in their very own feature. The original Predator managed to elevate itself beyond being another Arhnuld vehicle through some seriously cool creature design, complete with a wickedly cool arsenal of weapons and gadgets. Since that original outing each subsequent cinematic turn has watered down the franchise through sheer poor quality. Predators is the first good successor to that original.

Being at heart a macho action film nobody expects much in the way of narrative and character, yet there’s still some things that drag the experience down. There’s the prerequisite bad acting and cheesy one-liners, but they’ll more often have you chuckling than rolling your eyes. It can be a bit tricky empathizing with the ragtag gang of psychos cobbled together to be hunted down – nobody’s going to start cheering for the Sierra Leone death squad commander or the serial rapist – yet because they’re at such a disadvantage against the Predators that you’re not waiting to see them get offed either (as you would the typical cast of a slasher film). The writer and director also seem compelled to fulfill a strange unwritten obligation to reference the original film as frequently as possible, whether out of fan service or continuity, and this makes the film chained to the classic in many ways.

Adrien Brody certainly seems to be an odd stand-in for an Arnie type, being better known for Oscar bait and loopy indie fare then going the knuckle with ugly muthafuckers. He plays to his strengths though, focusing more on speed than brawn and his ropey frame winds up being strangely well suited to the circumstances. Lawrence Fishburne is entertaining as the long term survivor who babbles away to his imaginary friend.

Putting that aside, this is an awesome movie and is buckets o’fun from the drastic opening sequence that drops the viewer into the action in a very literal way and the things done well far outweigh the flaws. The mixed bag of killers and psychos who’ve been bundled together on the Predator game reserve are each unique and deadly. Every one is colourful and interesting – even in some unpleasant ways – and nobody feels like cannon fodder. For the most part it’s not clear who is most likely to be taken out by the Predators next. The crew come packed with so much weaponry that from the first scene you’re itching for the fighting to get underway, and you want to see each person in action (doubly so for the quiet Yakuza guy in the white suit – just like in The Simpsons, you know that when he does something it’s going to be really good). The concept for the film is a smart one. Predator 2 took the fight to the city, and while this may have looked good on paper it took away the notion of survival and the feeling of being hunted. Repositioning the story off-world, with almost no chance of escape, increases the feeling of dread and up until the final moments it feels as though the characters are simply delaying the inevitable as they run themselves further into a dead end. If you loved the original (and who doesn’t), or a good actioner, then this is well worth your time and money.

Score: EIGHT outta TEN