I can’t remember when I had this comments discussion with Java Girl but somehow in that conversation in one of the posts, I ended promising that I’d watch Predators. Her blog is Java Girl’s Life and she runs a lovely little blog, with her most recent addition of weekly comics on her life and movie reviews, etc. Its really fun and you should check it out if you haven’t already.
I’m one of those late bloomers. My boyfriend introduced me to a lot of these movies like the Alien movies and then shortly after the Predator movies in the last few years. Its kind of a running joke between me and my boyfriend that I refer to the Predator movie as Arnold versus the moving leaf. Obviously that had to do with the lack of effects back then and the whole not so effective camouflage along with the not so high quality TV that I have. Either way, point being, I did like the movie Predator (not so much the sequels) so I was hesitant for this one. But I said I’d do it so better late than never, right? Let’s check it out!
Director: Nimrod Antal
Cast: Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, Louis Ozawa Changchien
A group of fighters/misfits: doctor, military, mercenary, criminal, yakuza, drug lord, etc, all wake up in free fall and manage to open their parachute in time to land safely in the middle of an unknown jungle. They soon realize that they are on another planet and that they are being hunted by an unknown group of species. They must find a way to survive and escape together before the creatures, and especially the alien predators, catch and kill them.
Its kind of weird but I feel slightly the same towards this sequel as I did for the 300: Rise of the Empire one that I reviewed a few days ago HERE! After so many, Predator 2 and AVP, Predators was probably not really a necessity and actually its not even really a sequel as it does a lot that pays tribute to the first one. However, it is a sequel as it makes a point to show that its set later on and talks about the original’s end results. This time around, its not just ONE predator but its multiple. Maybe they were taking a lesson from the success of Aliens, who knows, right?
Still, thinking back to the meh-ness of Predator 2 and the disastrous AVP, I really had a decently at times intense and thrilling time with Predators. I’m not exactly sure of the casting choices here. There is no doubt that Adrien Brody is a fantastic actor but somehow I have this issue with tough guys have low, raspy voices. I don’t even know how to describe it anymore. Of course, that voices probably is more macho than using his original voice. It also comes with the face that I can’t actually view him as a mercenary. Still, he proves that he’s put in a lot of physical work to get a muscular body and tough guy act down. Plus, the group itself is an odd mix but somehow works well enough off of each other. Although, no one can quite replace Arnold’s one liners, this one does have some silly dialogue. The character’s also build a rather tense environment but crack a few sarcastic comments (that made me laugh at least).
Overall, Predators takes a few ideas from the first one and wraps it into a sequel where they are trapped and become prey to predators when this group has predator instincts as well from their own training. There’s some silly dialogue and a really oddball group but somehow sometime works alright for me. There’s some decent tension built despite the obvious overload of people in the group calling for a lack of character development and connection. Still, it works and thats what counts! 🙂 Maybe it was just because it took me by surprise that they finally got a sequel right. Sometimes, its good to go into a movie blind, right?
Have you seen Predators? What do you think of this sequel? Is it worthy or necessary? Are you a fan of the Predator series?
Tranquil Dreams 