Some franchises never die or as the film’s tagline puts it ‘Fear is Reborn’; the evil, hunting-hobbyist aliens- Predators- are back for another go in 2010. The film that started it all, Predator was released in 1987 and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as a the leader of an elite team of commandos sent to a Central American jungle on a CIA task. There they are picked off one-by-one by a seemingly invisible foe. Since the success of the first film there has been the disappointing sequel- Predators 2 (1990) and then a reboot of the franchise with Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Alien vs. Predator- Requiem (2007) which introduced a mythology for the intergalactic, heavily armed travellers.
In a return to the sensibilities of the original film, Predators, which comes as a sort of sequel to the Arnie classic, follows a group of multicultural strangers who find themselves on an alien recreational hunting ground where they are the prey. Predators starts with a truly clever and original sequence that brings all the culturally diverse players together in a foreign jungle. Adrien Brody (The Pianist, The Brothers Bloom), with a gravelly voice and a six-pack, plays Royce- a mercenary who becomes the group’s tactical leader, he is joined by: Isabelle (Alice Braga, City of God, Blindness) an Israeli sniper; Cuchillo (Danny Trejo, From Dusk til Dawn), a Mexican drug gang enforcer; Nikolai (former UFC Champion, Oleg Taktarov), a member of Russia’s special forces; Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), a member of a Sierra Leone death squad; Stans (Walton Goggins, The Shield) an American death row prisoner; Edwin (Topher Grace, That 70s Show), an American doctor and Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien, Gigantic), a Yukuza hitman.
Predators works best at 80s action level, with its predictable death toll and conforming racial stereotypes (echoed from the original film). The film is comforting in its conventions with its cheesy one-liners and elaborate set-pieces. However there really isn’t enough of this over-the-top fun to grasp onto with the film being heavily reliant on exposition. There are too many scenes designed to explain the rules of the film. The majority of viewers will already know the attributes of the Predator species from previous films, and for those who don’t- it’s hardly rocket science. Director Nimród Antal spends too much time telling the audience what is going on and not enough time showing us.
This film needed more killing and suspense and less Brody monologues. Yes he is an Oscar-winning actor, but this film should have been blood and guts, without the sanctimonious dribble about man’s propensity for violence. With so much of the film taken up by character development, the title Predators don’t really get much time on screen (invisible or not), leaving the film largely devoid of suspense. With the script also relying on unnecessary self-sacrifice to push the story forwards, this film shows how hard it is to make a good B-grade movie.
Antal’s (who has been hidden behind producer Robert Rodriguez in all the advertising) take on the Predator franchise is a little too light. This is the kind of film you go to expecting gore and shocks, ultimately these two elements, along with the predators themselves, are sadly awol in this latest version.
First published on Trespass
