Predators

Review Image: 

Predators

When a group of elite mercenaries find themselves in an unkown jungle they quickly discover that all is not as it seems.  Royce (Adrien Brody) reluctantly takes the lead of the group which has Yakuza, Convicts, a cartel enforcer, death squad members, a disgraced doctor and other military elite squad members amongst them.  It dawns upon them that they are not even on Earth and are actually part of a bigger hunt and that the planet they are on is one big game reserve and that their world Predators have just become the prey.  Struggling to survive they come across another survivor Noland (Laurence Fishburne) who has been on the planet for a while now and has been scavenging to survive.  The group are then in a life and death situation as the Predators slowly pick them off until they can either come up with a plan to escape or destroy their alien enemy altogether, but both plans will possibly cost them their lives.  The hunt is on again.

When it was announced that there was to be another Predator sequel, there was a collective groan after the 3 predecessors (Predator 2, Alien Vs. Predator, AVP 2) have been nothing short of a waste of excellent premise.  The original starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is highly regarded by many still and is arguably Arnie's best movie to date.  Then Robert Rodrigeuez got attached to the project as a producer, which left the fan boys with a glimmer of hope.  Nimrod Antal joined the production as director (He had previously directed Vacany and Armoured), which didn't altogether fill everyone with confidence.  Then Adrien Brody was cast in the lead.  This left everyone scratching their heads as the Oscar winning actor is not exactly your first choice to fill Arnie's boots.

However Predators is brilliant.  Yes you read that right, it's brilliant, the film is the sequel Predator deserved.  Predators is to Predator what Aliens is to Alien.  Yes it really is that good.  It manages to keep the essence of the orginal while expanding the universe and making sense.  The casting is excellent as Brody makes the transition to action (anti) hero effortlessly and brings some real gravitas to the role.  He manges to be tough as nails, but at the same time out of his depth too in the unknown surroundings with an unseen assailant after them all.  With Topher Grace and Laurence Fishburne as well you have differing characters which each bring their own style in and on the whole it blends really well.  Topher Grace as the doctor who has no idea what and why this happening to him, is excellent and goes through a very clever transtition (Although there is always that thought in the back of your head, there has to be some reason why he has been 'selected') and Fishburne turns in another off the wall performance which just adds to the peril that the group are all in.  Additionally you have Alice Braga (I Am Legend), Walter Goggins (The Shield), Danny Trejo (Machete) and Olev Taktarov (Former UFC Champion) who all build the team into an excellent dynamic with no bad performances among them!

Another of the films strengths is it doesn't bother with loads of padded out backstory of how and why they are there.  From the opening credits you are (Literally) dropped right into the action and from there it never lets up.  The only mention of how they got there is a white flash they all see and thats it.  To be honest thats all you need as you should be worrying as they do more of how they are going to get out of there alive than they why or how they got there.  Plus also if thye hadhave bothered with that, it would have taken away from the relentless action that pounds the screen from start through to the finish.  The action scenes are spectacular while being very earthy and feral like the original, only ramped up ten fold.  They even get a clever link back into the original movie without it becoming cliched as well.

With the cast in place how is the use of the Predator/s?  Well, unlike the other sequels Natal has gone back to the original idea of you know they are out there, but you don't know when or how they are going to strike which racks up the tension.  At times when the Predators do appear it is actually quite terrifying as they tear up the jungle or are battling one of the group.  There are some new, never before seen Predators in the movie which as previously mentioned aren't just in there, but are brought into play in a sensible logcal manner and have a reason for being there.  The effects have been tidied up as well, which helps with the real off world feel and nothing looks out of place.

If you are looking for Saturday night action, then Predators is the perfect film.  It's time to become the prey..

Overall Rating:

Discuss Predators on the Offical Screen One Forum