Predators

Predators

When it was announced that Robert Rodriguez would be involved with a direct sequel to the original Predator, geeks everywhere rubbed their hands in glee.

After all, what could be better than revisiting one of the seminal  Sci-Fi movies of the 80s, at the hands of one of this generation's most  loved cult directors? Until Tarantino decides to make Top Gun 2, Predators is about as exciting as it gets.

Well, I'd rein in your excitement for a moment or two. Not only did  Rodriguez not direct this sequel/franchise reboot - that honor goes to Armored director Nimrod Antal - but the script also manages to bypass most of  the original's enduring charm and thrills. Instead of an atmospheric  manhunt through jungle undergrowth, we're presented with little more  than a by-the-book thriller on an alien planet.

Rodriguez may have publicly criticized the Alien vs. Predator spin-off movies for diluting the original's vision, but his own attempt  does little better. If you want to see humans and aliens battling it out  amidst some big explosions and a few extraterrestrial plants, then Predators delivers - but for the rest of us, it's a disappointingly flat attempt at reviving the franchise.

Adrien Brody does his best as Royce, the mercenary who comes round to find himself  hurtling towards the surface of an alien planet - but despite his gruff Dark Knight-style  diction he never quite convinces as the hardened battle veteran he's so  clearly supposed to be. As he leads a band of kidnapped humans through  the jungle, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of their unseen  assailants, it starts to look more like Lost than the original Predator.

When the menace does come it's clumsy rather than thrilling, and it's  hard to feel for any of these characters when we know that they're  destined to be picked off one by one before the climax. As for who will  survive the attentions of the alien hunting party that has summoned them  to the planet, you need only look at their passports to guess that one.  Who could have imagined that the Americans would be the last to drop?

There's an intriguing subplot when they come across Noland (Laurence Fishburne),  another human target who has managed to survive ten seasons on alien  soil while going only slightly mad - but this is over far too soon, and  then it's back to the running and the shooting. As for the final twist,  those who have been paying attention will have seen it coming inside the  first five minutes. You have to wonder whether these could really be  Earth's greatest fighters when they can't even see what's sitting right  in front of their noses.

What saves Predators from absolute failure is the quality of the acting, with the likes of Brody, Alice Braga and Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo leading the charge - but it isn't  enough to cover the cracks. Arnie managed to create a legendary  franchise by barely acting at all, providing proof that it takes more  than a talented cast to weave an enduring story.

It's easy to blame Rodriguez for resurrecting the franchise in such  lackluster style, but the finger has to be pointed at Nimrod Antal too. Armored was a formulaic thriller that squandered the talents of its cast on a predictable, unengaging plot, and Predators does exactly the same - albeit on the surface of an alien planet. He  may have the action sequences worked out, but everything in between  falls disappointingly flat.

Still, if you're looking for a mindless Sci-Fi shoot-em-up then Predators might still fill that rather shallow hole. And at least Danny Glover's contribution to the franchise has been well and truly forgotten.

2/5

Predators

Predators is a sequel to the 1987 classic that starred Arnold Schwarchzenneger. This movie opens with Royce, played by Adrian Brody, waking up suddenly to find himself parachuting into a jungle. He’s strapped with fireams, and when he lands he finds 7 other people that just experienced the same fate. Most of them are soldiers of some type, special forces, mercenaries, one is Yakuza (Japanese mafia), but one is a Dr.

Royce quickly assumes leadership of the group as they try to figure out what’s happening.  The last thing each of them remembers is seeing a flash of white light. (Which may remind audiences of alien abductions). Slowly they notice things like the sun moving very slow. There is a great reveal as they reach the top of a mountain and see the horizon, and different planets are visible. Now they realize they are not on earth. The planet they are on is like a game preserve. Humans are brought there to be hunted by Predators.

Next they are attacked by dog like creatures, and then encounter Predators. One character reveals their secret, and there’s a great reference to the first film. For the rest of the movie they try to make a plan to fight the Predators and get off the planet.

The pacing is great as they slowly realize their situation. It takes a while for the characters to start getting killed. Of course you can mostly guess who dies but as the scenes unfold they don’t completetely go as expected.

There’s no reference at all to Predator 2, the Alien movies, or anything from the Aliens vs Predator movies, games, etc. This is a great sequel in the sense that it stands on it’s own. It could almost be the first movie, in that it’s a self contained story. It is suggested,  with the prescene of a samauri sword, that Predators have been bringing people to this planet for a long time. There’s also a cool scene where the Yakuza guy uses the sword to take on a Predator.
Overall it’s not as suspensful as the original, but overall is a fun ride.

Predators hopefully will revitilize the franchise after a lackluster sequel way back when and two mediocre Aliens vs Predator films. 4 stars.

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Last updated: 2010-08-30 01:25:01 by jemurr

The same old tired Predator formula

I didn't expect much from Predators and despite the fact that my expectations were low, the movie was disappointing. Plotwise it had the same tired old formula of Preds hunting humans (what else would Predators do?) but I would've expected the movie to chart a different course much like how Terminator Salvation brought the timeline into the future. Rather than just rehash the whole Terminator hunting John Connor plot device it was really cool what McG did.

"Predators" has three highlights:

• Adrien Brody in the lead role
• A cameo by Laurence Fishburne
• Some revelations about Predators & their social hierarchy - Preds are vicious and have no respect for life and I'm thankful that we do not have to live life with a survival of the fittest mentality

Other than that the movie was really uninspired and during the movie a huge part of me wished I had managed to get tickets to Inception rather than this. *sighs* I give Predators a measly 1 out 5 (I take back my earlier tweet that rated Predators at 2).

For more reviews and other meanderings, visit my blog here.

Predators- An Uneven Action Film That Touts a Strength in Suspense and Character Until it Falls Back on Generic Action

It took more than a decade after John McTiernan’s successful action film Predator to be stretched for material, copied, and overused for repetitive action gore fests that simply numbed audience’s minds rather than utilize the ingenuity of the premise to make good suspense filled action films. The Aliens vs. Predators series has done more to make a mockery of action cinema than it has to be entertaining, and has forever put a negative outlook on anything that is produced with either of the two monster franchise names. However, when filmmaker extraordinaire Robert Rodriguez announced he would be overseeing the script of the newest Predators, as well as producing it, there was some hope for the series to be a good thrill ride again. And for the most part, Predators works as a suspense building action film that is practically an homage partial remake to McTiernan’s 1987 film. The beginning of the film sets up character and an ambiguous setting and uses it to its advantage, but eventually lets go of the well paced opening for a fast paced special effects driven ending that really has a useless character twist it could have done without. For a summer action film Predators offers more for its popcorn flick audience than the other films this summer and doesn’t really disappoint considering the corniness that surrounds the franchise already. The film’s unevenness is what brings the quality down but has enough character, selected action, and ambience to be an intriguing action film.
            The first Predator was a successful science-fiction twist on the lone military unit film that used a great amount of suspense and mystery to push on your nerves, and director Nimrod Antal tries to replicate that formula here in Predators. Predators follows a group of commandos and fighters from varying points of the world, a sort of multi-cultural representation on how war or killing is not only done by Americans. They have been chosen to be the game for an alien species to hunt and their survival is dependent upon their wits, stamina, and inevitably their strength to be characterized as human. Almost exactly like the first Predator, Antal and Rodriguez have devised a plan to mimic the original with their intended characters and it proves to make for a decent delivery. All of the chosen actors, some faces will be familiar while others are not, stand on their own personalities and it gives the beginning of the film a flair that was non-existent in the Alien vs. Predators series. Each of the actors in Predators allows their characters to have a presence and that is crucial when following a group of strangers in an unknown jungle. Rodriguez surely knows that character is important and his oversight on Alex Litvak and Michael Finch’s script proves to be a wise decision. When you have good characters the suspense that is supposed to build around their mysterious situation flows better and throughout the first half of Predators the suspense is built upon nicely allowing the layers of the story and character to reveal itself little by little. Unfortunately Nimrod Antal fell back on the summer expectation of action while also leaving behind that delicate suspense that was working so well. The narrative framework in Predators is nothing new but when you’re able to make palpable characters and unnerving situations than you’ve pretty much got your audience hooked.
            Intriguing and relatable characters are essential in the science-fiction genre due to the film’s settings usually being around unknown species or worlds. While most of the characters in Predators are killers in some form or another, we can relate to their confusion and attempts to rationalize their situation in an unknown place. The cast was well chosen and mixes familiar faces with fresh ones and all of them embody their personalities well. Academy Award Winner Adrien Brody is probably one of the least likely actors to head a cast of action heroes but does extremely well with his controlled borderline animalistic mercenary. The rest of the military crew is well balanced with timid and strong personalities, with noticeable performances from Danny Trejo and Alice Braga. Laurence Fishburne offers a momentary but strong performance as a lone survivalist on the planet trying to get by in his own insanity. And another unlikely action star, Topher Grace, actually adds to the film rather than bringing it down being the out of place physician amongst the type-A military crew. Throughout the film all of the characters remain consistent with what their subtle interactions would suggest and keep our interest as the more hackneyed action elements begin to progress.
            Predators would have worked better as a pure suspense film in the same vein as Alien or the original Predator, but unfortunately the creative team fell prey to the temptation of adding quick paced action to their script, and it inevitably brings the film down in contemplative scope. The film actually does a good job in showing how survivalist tendencies fall back on selfish and animalistic decisions, though that is just the natural order of things. In doing this they are able to broach the subject of what losing one’s humanity can cost someone though it thankfully never turns into a lecture. However, this is just something that could have been expanded upon through focusing on the suspense aspect of Predators rather than just settling on an intense action finish. Compare the fight Adrien Brody has with the Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s and you’ll see that spectacle doesn’t necessarily heighten nerves. This just makes the presentation of Predators feel uneven as a whole as the suspense of the first half showcases Antal’s strengths as a director while the second half shows the formula Hollywood expects you to follow as a big budget action film. This inevitably makes Predators an expected action film rather than attempting to try the harder route of cold, delicate suspense.
            It appears Robert Rodriguez has the Midas touch when it comes to coherent character driven scripts and contributes this strength to the oversight of Nimrod Antal’s homage remake of the 1987 Predator. His eclectic taste for cinema shows he is a storyteller at heart and knows what works when developing character, plot intrigue, and a planned direction. Unfortunately even with Rodriguez’s support Predators deviates from its tension building opening to a more generic action formula in the end making the film typical in the end or just slightly disappointing compared to what it could have accomplished. However, when paralleled with the atrocious incoherent scripts of the Alien vs. Predators series, Nimrod Antal’s film turns out to be better in atmosphere, character, and plot. Hell, Predators is even better than the awful Predator sequel starring Danny Glover. The plot is practically a replica of McTiernan’s Predator but that isn’t necessarily a weakness since it was a structure that worked. Predators is a summer film that, put simply, works with a well chosen cast, intriguing use of suspense, and decent generic action.

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Recommendations: Red Riding, Fish Tank , Mystery Team

Film Review: PREDATORS (2010)

RATING 7.5/10

BOTTOM LINE: After 23 years, Hollywood has finally made a worthy sequel to the cult classic, despite lacking some of the colour, character, thrills and mystery of the original.

THE GOOD: From the outset it is clear that director Nimrod Antal knew exactly what made the original Predator so good; wasting no time whatsoever, the film opens with a dramatic free fall for character Royce (Adrien Brody) as he regains consciousness while plummeting from the sky and lands in a jungle courtesy of an attached parachute. He is joined soon after by a band of other tough people who have been similarly dropped in to this jungle. Before long, this group who distrust each other come to recognise they are in the same situation, and as they start to help each other, they realise that they are on another planet and that something is hunting them. Going back to the jungle setting was the right thing, but the idea of creating an alien planet where the Predators deposit their game is a cool take on the story. It allows for the kinds of situations that we saw in the original film, but is free to explore some new territory. The first attack sequence by Predator dogs is fascinating, as are some of the hunting trap sequences. The film also does not take the easy option of slamming in wall-to-wall action, but rather takes its time to develop the characters and the situation. There are some nice touches, including different variations of Predators, a great Samurai-style fight and an intriguing final battle. The subplots involving Laurence Fishburne and Topher Grace are quite fresh for this story, and add a different slant to the proceedings. Even the music score closely adheres to Alan Silvestri’s original music. “Predators” is a worthy sequel to the cult classic; monster-fighting fun wrapped inside a well executed high concept plot.

THE BAD: Being a sequel, the film unfortunately has lost some of the flavour of the original. Although the characters are quite good, they do not have the colour that the cast of the original film had. The amount of Predator action is also less than expected, particularly in the first half, and given the film has a plural title, you would be right to expect more; as a result, the film at times plays more like a remake than a sequel. The thrills and sci-fi mystery are diluted as well; the death scenes do not seem uniquely shocking or scary, and the sci-fi mystery that created a sense of awe and wonder in the first film is absent. It may just be that we have already seen this scenario so it loses its effect.

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

Predators - **

Review:  You don't walk into Predators in the middle of the summer and expect anything poetic or revelatory.  And you get exactly what you'd expect.  That doesn't mean it's bad, just what you'd expect. 

Predators is something we have come accustomed to in the last five years or so, a "reboot" of the franchise.  Not necessarily a true sequel, but not a remake of the original, it still exists in a world where the plot of the original took place and it has it's place in this movie.  However, it does take the story in a different direction where it can start anew and go on it's own to create it's own legend.

Predators elects not to wait like most movies and slowly build up to the action, the movie just jumps right in.  We begin with a picture of our hero Royce (Brody) in an eerily fast descent.  We don't know where he fell from or where he's falling to, just that he's falling.  Eventually, his parachute opens and he lands relatively unscathed in an unfamiliar rainforest like terrain.  Soon enough Royce finds himself with an entire crew if people who were all dropped into this rainforest, none of which remember anything besides a "white light" and then falling. 

They all make a resolve to work together to figure out where they are and how to get out of wherever that is and back home.  After a while they discover they are not on Earth but on an entirely different planet and a seemingly different solar system but with eerily similar vegetation and the exact same gravitational dynamics.  This I can get over because we will soon see some predators and see them kick some a--. 

The plot of the movie is very similar to the original.  The crew must hunt a creature they have never seen or hunted before, and they must hunt it while it is hunting them.  Predators are a clever bunch and their hunting skills are great, which makes them extremely efficient killing machines.  This is what the movie is mainly about, displaying the great hunting skills of the predators and the skills of the people they are hunting to fight back.

None of the performances are especially great, but they are all what they need to be to serve the purpose of the movie.  The special effects are great and the predators are as cool as you would imagine predators to be.  The movie is nothing super special but it is fun and exactly what you'd expect from a summer movie.  Without giving away too much, my biggest problem with the movie is with a certain predator that dies when I don't think it should have and could have been used as a bigger plot device.  Anyway, this is worth your time if you are a fan of the series.

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Predators

While he will never be mistaken for Ah-nuld in his role as Dutch in the 1987 classic, Predator, Adrien Brody, along with an excellent supporting cast, has just opened in another wannabe summer blockbuster, Predators.

I can call it a wannabe because it just opened across America yesterday morning. We will have to wait until Monday to see the box-office reports reflecting the number of tickets sold.

While the original Predator appeared 23 years ago, and the sequel (Predator 2)came out in 1990, the story concept of humans being hunted is as old as the hills and is a tried and true genre favorite. As far back as 1932, in The Most Dangerous Game, humans have been hunted in the movies under circumstances other than warfare and survival. What does that leave? Hunting for sport is the remaining category. There's a quote from the film which sums it all up.

This planet is a game preserve. And we're the game.

So that tells you what the picture will be about. What's interesting to contemplate is whether or not the movie makers (Proucer Robert Rodriguez and Dirctor Nimrod Antal) have succeeded with this film which is neither a true remake nor a true sequel.

The answer is straightforward. They've made an exciting and somewhat suspenseful action thriller. But there is one drawback, and it's big. If you are aware of this film's origin, then the major element of suspense is removed. If you have seen any of the previous Predator franchise films, then you know what the humans are up against. okay, since I did see the original Predator and Predator 2 then I had the foreknowledge which removed the suspense. In that regard, the original will remain unsurpassed. The big question is can they entertain fus for a period of time while waiting for the inevitable appearance of the Predators.



Of course not all the humans liked each other. Of course there would be a woman. And of course she would be tough as nails. Adrien Brody was cast as the lead and despite his lack of credentials as an action hero he did quite well in this role. He not only looked like a tough action hero, he sounded like one as well. He simply assumes command and he doesn't much care if you follow him or not.

Alice Braga was the female lead. She's described as a covert 'black ops' agent from Israel. This is fine only her character's name Isabelle doesn't fit for an Israeli sabra. Basically this role is an updated version of the role of Pvt. Vasquez played by Jenette Goldstein in Aliens.

The rest of the characters didn't have any real depth to them. It seems they were chosen as arch-types with one requisite - a history of violence. A Yakuza from Japan, a typical soldier from the genocidal wars in Sierra Leone, an American criminal of the serial-killer variety, a Mexican drug cartel enforcer, and
a soldier from the war zone in Chechnya. The one that didn't figure was a doctor played by Topher Grace. And just in case you couldn't figure that out, we were told as much.



Laurence Fishbourne shows up as survivor of some previous hunts. He's knowledgable and resourceful in his limited screen time.

There are some plot holes of course. Like we still don't know how the Predators are able to 'kidnap' their game from Earth. Like how some of the humans arrived packing plenty of arms and munitions and some arrived without such weaponry.

To make things interesting, there are a few twists, and surprises which are effective as they happen but afterward you might come away thinking they were a bit gimmicky.



It's worth seeing even if you know what the Predators are about. There's lots of action, and some of the deaths are a bit gruesome. The special effects are marvelous in spots and poor in others. For example, the shootouts were furious, noisy, and intense. But the hand to hand combat scenes were all in night
scenes, and really didn't work that well. But the worst were the tracker 'dogs'. CGI creatures? Yes they were. Well made? Not at all.

My call is that this one is a step or two down from the original, but will still manage to do decently at the box office.

Recommendations: Chak De! India

Last updated: 2010-07-10 09:10:59 by JustMeMike

Movie Bytes: Predators (2010)

Directed By: Nimród Antal
Starring: Adrien Brody, Lawrence Fishburn, Topher Grace, Danny Trejo

What It's All About: 

Awakening in free fall, mercenary Royce is plummeting towards the jungle below when his parachute opens. He lands into the forest and finds a number of other degenerates who find themselves in the same position. None of them remember how they got there, and soon things heat up as they work out they are being hunted by an unknown Predator.

The Final Verdict:

Taking on one of the classic Sci-Fi franchises is never an easy task, especially with one so fragile as the Predator series. After a brief affair with those horrible AvP movies, this is the first sequel since the 1990 Predator 2, and fans are after something that is true to the original. It's gory, it's full of action but Adrien Brody fails to fill the shoes of a compelling leading man, which is a detriment to the success of the film. A step in the right direction, but fails to reach the its full potential. 

2.5/5


http://rebornonline.wordpress.com

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Recommendations:

Last updated: 2010-07-08 18:01:35 by hellerphant

Predators Review

I love monster movies. And I don't mean that in the sense of old cheesy  black and white flicks with guys in foam suits. I mean well done,  seriously scary, modern creature features from the 1980's forward. The  Alien movies, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Terminator, Jeepers  Creepers and of course... Predator.

I love the first film, dig the second film and also really enjoyed the  first "Alien Vs. Predator". (The less said about the second AVP, the  better.)

Predator is a modern movie monster that has been long overdue for a  third installment of his own. So "Predators" was a welcome presence in  my local theater, and it should be in yours too.

This is a great movie. Monster movies often fail to have interesting  characters supporting the creature featured. This sometimes works fine  on the creature's first outing into film, though not well afterward. And  the best creature movies also have interesting characters running down  all those darkened hallways.

Although there was nothing especially unique about any of the actor  performances, the characters in this movie kept me interested until the  very end, feeding me bite size bits of information about them throughout  the movie until near the very end some crucial details are revealed.  The script did a great job of keeping me guessing over who would make it  through the movie and who wouldn't.

The title creatures look better than ever and modern special effects  give a fresh coat of paint to the familiar cloaking devices and energy  weapons of the deadly hunters.

The movie also gives us a deeper look into the culture of the Predators.  The plot features a group of humans who have been abducted by the  Predators to be hunted on a game preserve world. Laurence Fishburne  plays a man who has been surviving for quite awhile on the planet, and  he provides some interesting exposition about how the Predators hunt.

If I have to be critical (and it's a review, so I do) I'd say that the  movie falls short of a higher quality score because of some CGI  creatures that still look like CGI and a slightly underwhelming  performance by the Predators.

In previous Predator appearances, we've seen more cool gadgets and  hunting techniques than in this movie. Only one new gadget is revealed  in this movie (that I can recall) and it serves as a strategic aid  rather than an actual weapon. And several of the weapons in previous  movies are absent here. Pretty much all you'll see for predator weapons  are the gauntlet blades and energy weapons, plus the cloaking device.  And although the story and atmosphere are great, you see less of the  title creatures than you might be expecting to, given that there are  more than one of them.

In terms of worthwhile philosophical discussion you'll need to work  really hard to start something up after this one. It's just a fun  creature feature with an interesting story.

Enjoy!

MPAA- Rated R for strong creature violence and gore and pervasive  language.

Quality: 9.0/10

Relevance: 5.0/10

www.spiritblade.net/paeter
www.spiritblade.net/podcast

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