Review: Predators

Predators delivered exactly what I expected it would: a cheesy, B-grade action sci-fi film that trumped all other renditions of the series (this is the fifth movie the Predator character has appeared in). That doesn’t make it a good movie, mind you, it just makes it better than the equally cheesy, yet beloved, 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle.

The film opens with our new main character Royce (Adrien Brody) falling from the sky trying to open his parachute.  When he eventually lands he is in a mysterious jungle with no memory of how he got there. Being ex-military he’s confused, but not scared, and starts to search for an answer. He soon meets other random people who were dropped there with no recollection of how or why. Together they discover they are, in reality, on another planet and are being hunted as part of a game by an alien species. Will they survive this twisted sport or will they all end up as trophies on the Predators’ walls?

Acting-wise the movie is all over the place. Brody is his typical soft-spoken, too-cool-for-school self, yet comes across as a solid anchor and gives a fairly memorable performance. On the other hand, Laurence Fishburne’s very small part is probably his worst performance ever. Topher Grace, who plays an out-of-place doctor dropped into the mix, was annoying and I wished for his character’s death from the moment he first spoke. The big surprise was Alice Braga who plays military sniper Isabelle. For being the only female in the entire movie she kicked some serious butt and I would have been fine if she was the lead.

Robert Rodriguez serves as producer and can likely take a good deal of credit for the success of this installment of the franchise. The action scenes and overall vibe and eeriness of the film felt like touches he brought to the table. Where the film falls down, I blame director Nimród Antal. His last film, Armored, was a terrible heist movie that also featured a lousy performance from Fishburne. All the weak parts here point to his contribution and it’s really too bad because I quite enjoyed his 2007 film Vacancy and thought he showed promise. Unfortunately it’s been all downhill for him since and I don’t see him doing anything special with his career in the near future.

After looking at my notes the one point I kept writing down was how well the music score worked. It was composed by John Debney who also scored Sin City, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Passion of the Christ, to name a few. He added an element to the film that made it come across as more of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller than a sci-fi action film and I could see myself listening to it, and enjoying it, on its own it was so good.

While I was never really an admirer of the original films it should be noted that Predators is not a remake as some think. It’s a sequel to Predator and Predator 2 and ignores the events in Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs Predator – Requiem. As I said earlier, this is the best in the series in my opinion and it should please fans as well as earn a new legion of followers in the process. Just don’t expect it to blow you away.

*** out of 5 stars

Rated 14A
Cast: Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace
Directed by: Nimród Antal
Official Site IMDb

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

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Top image: A scene from Predators. Courtesy 20th Century Fox.