Predators (2010)

Movie Info

I get to kill the people!!!

Assassins, mercenaries, soldiers, and killers find themselves stranded on an alien planet without knowing how or why they are there.  It is discovered that they are the prey in an elaborate hunt.  As creatures track and prey upon them, the real challenge could be finding a way out of the hunting grounds before it is too late.

Directed by Nimród Antal, Predators is a follow-up to Predator (1987) and Predator 2 (1990).  Produced by Robert Rodriguez, the sci-fi action-adventure movie was met with mixed reviews but a strong box office return.

I loved Predator and think it is one of Schwarzenegger’s best films because it actually had a story…simple as it was.  With Predator 2 being a rather weak follow-up, I hoped that Predators could correct the mistake.  The good news is that it does feel more like Predator…it is virtually the same movie.

Know your surrounding…including why there seems to be a normal guy with you.

Predators feels too much like Predator.  The story has the same stock characters with a few more thrown in and events even parallel the story.  You get the warrior character in Adrien Brody and woman who seems to know information about the Predators much like Elpidia Carrillo’s character Anna in Predator.  You have the big gun Russian and you have the spiritual Yakuza Hanzo who even faces off against Predator like Billy in the original.  I just wish the plot had developed in a new direction.

The pluses of Predators is that the abominable Alien vs. Predator series seems to have been forgotten.  It is just assumed that Predator 2 actually occurred but it is never reference directly…only Predator came up (but Predator 2 did help create more of the mythos that surrounded the hunters seen here.

I have a gun…that makes me an action hero tough guy…right?

The cast is much more expanded than the original Predator.  You have the rather miscast Adrian Brody as a tough guy (and he doesn’t pull it off despite his gruff voice speaking).  Alice Braga is likable as the compassionate agent and I also like Walton Goggins as the psycho convicted killer Stans.  Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo is dispatched too quickly along with the underused Laurence Fishburne as the only previous hunt survivor.  The most miscast character was Topher Grace as the “innocent” doctor who none of the intelligent characters of the film stopped to question why he was there…Grace was too full of jokes and too light of a character for the movie which needed a dark tone.

Who’s a good boy?

The movie does look pretty good.  There is a nice variety to the Predators and this film adds in other alien creatures.  Unfortunately, this is also another missed opportunity by the movie for some really crazy alien characters…instead we get dog-things and an alien that is gunned down before really doing anything.  At least you get the Predators…

I think Predators is the second best entry in the series and I don’t hate movie, but I do hate that it could have been so much better.  With a great team behind it, Predators just wasn’t quite where it needed to be and as a result, a bit of a let-down.  A new Predator movie is in the works so hopefully, the Predators will be the successful killers that they deserve to be.

Related Links:

Predator (1987)

Predator 2 (1990)

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

Alien vs. Predator:  Requiem (2007)