Predators is a film that has been in development for quite some time; with Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) having written the script closer to the release of the 1987 movie Predator (on which this sequel is based) than its July 2010 release; and has been extremely highly anticipated since its official announcement, and trailers were released, (probably due to the fact it was sold on the basis of being ‘the sequel that Predator deserves’), but has received mixed reviews since it hit cinemas last Friday.
The story itself is very similar to the first in many respects; as it involves a group of highly trained killers that are dropped in a foreign jungle, and begin to be hunted by something they cannot see, and is able to dispatch them with ease; the main difference however comes from the jungle itself, as this time the group isn’t a special forces team dropped into a Central American jungle to complete a mission, but a mismatch of professional killers; including a mercenary, a C.I.A. operative, a member of the Mexican Cartel, the Yakuza, and an African gang-member, as well as a Russian soldier, a death-row inmate, and a doctor; who find they have been abducted by some sort of aliens, and dropped into an unknown jungle, on a different planet, for a reason they can’t fathom.
The reason soon becomes apparent however, as they find hunting traps, and the remnants of people that have been dropped there long before them, and are soon flushed out with predator ‘dogs’ and come face-to-face with the predators themselves; a band of large, hulking, humanoid aliens that are clearly just hunting the group for some form of sport, and use similar tactics to people who hunt deer or quail.
Survival then becomes the group’s main goal as they wander the jungle; beginning to learn more and more about the creatures that’s hunting them, and wonder exactly how they are going to kill the Predators, when everything they see suggests that they are outclassed in every manner imaginable; before they shift their attention to not only surviving, but finding a way home.
For the most part the script works fairly well; managing to maintain interest and tension by slowly revealing more and more about the Predators, their culture, and the world on which the group have been dropped, as the movie goes on, and creating a good group dynamic that is rather clichéd upon reflection, but not overtly so when watching.
Adrien Brody (King Kong) plays the mercenary who becomes the group’s de facto leader as the apparent tough-guy, and only one who isn’t willing to sit in blind panic until the Predators find him; a part he plays very well, always appearing emotionally stunted, cold, calculating, and heartless, although can’t really compare with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (Commando) Dutch from the first movie; he’s backed up by Alice Braga (Repo Men) who plays the female C.I.A. operative who knows more about the situation than she lets on; in an average to good performance that befits the character, but always feels like they have just given the girl from the first movie a big gun (because not only is she a latin actress, but their characters basically share the same name); and supported by Danny Trejo (Machete); as a Mexican Cartel member, which is a usual part for him; Walton Goggins; who does a good job as the death-row rapist, but doesn’t act as well as he did in The Shield, and seems a strange choice for the group’s main comedy element; Topher Grace (Spider-Man 3), Oleg Taktarov (Righteous Kill), Louis Ozawa Changchien (Gigantic), and Mahershalalhashbaz Ali (The 4400).
Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) also makes an appearance; in his second movie in a row for director Nimrod Anatal (the pair last worked together on Armored); as the slightly crazed survivalist expert, and veteran of the alien planet, but gives possibly the poorest, most over-acted, performance of his career, despite the idea behind his character being a fundamentally sound one; his execution of all but a few lines is terrible, he never seems fully believable (especially when attempting to exhibit signs of psychosis), and actually distracts attention from the film by interrupting the generally immersive nature of the picture, and putting all the focus on his poor performance.
Acting on the whole though is perfectly apt for the genre, the effects are great for the most part (despite a couple of obvious hiccups), and there’s plenty of thick, fast, and gritty, action that keeps things exciting and ensures that the brutal reputation of the original is held up (even though it’s not as heavy hitting as the first was back then).
Predators perfectly rewards fans of the first movie; by hearing one character provide a neat summary of it, including a shot where characters falling are front of a waterfall , mud covering (even though that feels a little forced, unnecessary, and doesn’t match Arnie’s scenes in terms of quality), and a number of reused lines (it’s amazing the number of smiles a simple line like “over here” can induce, when it doesn’t feel plagiarised without merit), as well as the perfect music for the closing credits; but thankfully doesn’t require any viewer to have seen anything that has come before, as everything is perfectly understandable, and works well enough as a stand-alone picture; as all of the best sequels do.
The film’s score (which at first is a welcome auditory experience) quickly begins to feel like it has not only taken the key themes and motifs from the original movies and replayed them, but totally raped and plagiarised them without consent; as right up until the final act they feel over used and often unnecessary; but thankfully things do pick up near the climax, where a touch of originality helps redeem it somewhat, and there are a number of other niggly issues with the film; such as seeing Ol’ Painless (the mini-gun) used way too soon and with little dramatic effect, complete predictability, and the over-use of the F-word; for nothing more than to establish itself as a ‘grown-up’ film and sound ‘cool’, as there’s often no need for it.
Despite the problems though, Predators is still a very enjoyable film that proves there’s still life in the franchise and the sci-fi/action/horror genre as a whole; with generally decent acting, a good idea and script, plenty of grizzly action, and some interesting new additions to the Predator mythology; it’s well shot, has decent effects (even the Predator ‘dogs’ come off a good deal better than they sound), and does a good job of rewarding the most loyal Predator fans.
Does the release of Predators see the original movie finally receiving the sequel it deserved? No. But then again it’s unlikely that any sequel could ever hope to live up to that statement, and as Predators manages to take the key themes and motifs from the original and bring them up-to-date, it is quite possibly the best sequel that it has ever received, and the perfect way to introduce a new generation to the world of the Predator.
