Predators Review

"A group of elite warriors are hunted by members of a merciless alien race known as Predators." That's the IMDB synopsis for the latest entry in the Predator series, and while you may think "didn't this series go down the toilet right after they fought those Alien aliens?" You're only half right. Predators takes the LOST route to feed it's story (or as a quick excuse to not have one) where they take a handful of lone wolf type folks, each specializing in a specific combat tactic, ranging from a prison-grade shank to a mini-gun on the weapon spectrum. What you get when you mix all this together is a true sequel to the first Predator, with all it's 'B' goodness: practical effect death and destruction. What you won't find here, is a story that makes any sense, plot/character development, or writers who really know how to make people say things that aren't pointless and empty.


The movie focuses on Adrian Brody as a badass Marine type, not as good as Schwarzenegger in the roll, but he does an okay job of not-really-but-still-kinda acting. I honestly would have preferred to see someone with more action movie chops in this, as Brody didn't really make the leap as well as say Gerrard Butler did in 300. Either way, he's joined by a ragtag group of folks who are all supposed to be able to support the team in different ways. They essentially fill the rolls of marine, sniper, heavy gunner, hand to hand, psychopath, medic, light machine-gun, and swordsman without really utilizing any of the skills you may associate with those job roles. Every once in a while you'll snap into the movie again and realize "Oh right, he's got a machine gun, and she has a sniper rifle." but they might as well all have AK 47s, because when they're shooting all you see/hear is a blur of bullets.

As far as the story goes here, you should understand that you're getting very little actual meat here. People land on a Predator planet, and are expected to be hunted by the Predators until they all die. Suprisingly, this does not sit well with all these fellows, so they decide to fight back ala The Most Dangerous Game. The result is a group of people shooting at predators for an hour or so, while they make vague attempts to get to know each other. We never learn how they got there, and we never learn anything about any of the characters, but that's not why you're watching this movie, right?

Listen, you get what you expect for the most part here, a bunch of people shooting at invisible aliens until they realize that the Predators are too badass to handle. This is a message that hangs over all the Predator films, and it's one we all know well enough by now. If you want to see lots of people shooting oversized guns, see this movie; if you want to see a story with characters, maybe you'd be better suited seeing one of Adrian Brody's other movies.

To Which Tim Added:


A major part of the charm of the original Predator was the way in which it took the B-grade plot, and treated it with a degree of intensity and straight-faced go-for -broke suspense that made it transcend and become an essential chase film. The material here is not handled with the same level of care, and suffers for it. Not that the material is anything special in and of itself. I would have preferred the film if it were silent, the revelation that all the characters are there because they are dangerous people is apparent from the first minutes of the film, but people are talking about it still halfway through the film. After a certain point you just start watching the background.

The film is a sequel, but it tries so hard to hark back to the original that certain scenes are culled almost directly from it. It is successful in letting us know that this is indeed related to the original, but not in making it interesting for us. At times it feels almost more like having a conversation with someone about their favourite scenes from Predator, instead of a progression in the mythology. However after airing all that out, I do have to say it was pretty fun. The simple fact that the movie tries very hard to deliver B-film thrills so lovingly, and so consistently makes it worth a look, even if they don' t all manage to get off the ground. There are a string of strangely satisfying (if misguided) casting decisions that fill out the film. Added to the odd opening to the film in which we see the main cast of characters simply falling from the sky, and the twilight zone anti-resolution ending, it makes for an enjoyable watch.

Bottom Line: While it can't hold a candle to the original, it is infinitely better than the regrettable (oh so regrettable) Alien vs Predator series, letting it fall somewhere around Predator 2 (I know you loved Predator 2). Worth seeing if you have a taste for this kind of thing, but I wouldn't go too far beyond that.