Predators Review
Predators
Directed by: Nimrod Antal
Written by: Alex Litvak and Michael Finch
Starring: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali
Predators is a movie that hates surprises. It teases the viewer with mysteries and potential twists only to explain them away minutes later, ensuring that both the characters onscreen and the audience know exactly what’s coming next.
Consider the opening scenes, perhaps the most original element of the film. The first shot is of an unconscious Adrien Brody in freefall. He comes to, panics, and then his automated parachute opens just before he crashes into the trees. One by one he encounters the other humans, fresh from their own drop from the sky. When they find a broken corpse smashed on the jungle floor, he helpfully surmises, “Looks like his parachute didn’t open.” You think?
Much of Predators can be traced back to 1987’s Predator. The premise is identical: armed humans are trapped in the wilderness and hunted by unnamed, technologically-advanced aliens. Yet Predators continues to hammer the similarities home. One man carries a giant mini-gun just like Jesse Ventura did in the first film. One man stops running from the Predators and decides to face them head-on just like Sonny Landham, taking off his shirt in case the reference wasn’t clear enough. Other tricks from Predator makes an unexplained appearance late in the film. Even the music is the same, right down to Little Richard.
The biggest difference between Predators and the preceding films is the stripping down of the story. Both Predator and Predator 2 begin with terrestrial action scenarios (jungle warfare, urban conflict) then take an extraterrestrial turn once the Predator shows up and starts hunting people. In Predators, the entire film is dedicated to the hunt. This robs the characters of all context or sense of worth.
In Predator, we get to see the commandos work as a team. They have names, they have personalities, they have roles. They execute their mission with zero casualties, demonstrating that they are skilled combatants. When the Predator shows up and starts killing them, their deaths have weight. They even mourn.
On the flip side, the Predator itself gets some screen time to give the audience a glimpse at how the creature behaves. We see it tend to its wounds, polish its trophies and prepare for battle against Arnold.
Predators gives us nothing like this. The humans are all snatched from random corners of the globe, making them an international assortment of killers – nothing more. The credits insist all of them have names but I doubt I’ll recall them two days from now. Instead of personalities they have weapons. In this respect Predators is very much like a video game movie that’s dearly lacking a game to play.
Speaking of video games, the script is limp and packed with explanatory dialogue that violates the old adage “show, don’t tell.” In Predators we are told everything and shown very little. Traps do not merely go off, they must be announced and described at length. Alice Braga gives a speech summarizing the events of the first film, an improbable piece of knowledge that means nothing to the characters or the audience. Laurence Fishburne’s entire role in the film is that of magical exposition: he tells stories about the Predators that only the screenwriters could know.
Having said all that, Predators is certainly a competent, if frustratingly, familiar film. It promises a story of humans fighting aliens with big guns and delivers. All of the characters look cool and distinct even if they lack depth (again, like a video game – but I like video games). Fishburne’s scenes might not make sense but they are at the very least compelling and a welcome diversion from an otherwise predictable script.
Predators is a movie I wanted to love but only sort of liked. As an action film it does not disappoint, but as a sequel it takes even less chances than Predator 2 did twenty years ago. After two decades, I thought these characters merited more than just another rumble in the jungle. — Daniel
SCORE: 
Recommended If You Like: Predator, Alien vs Predator, Alien: Resurrection
Comments (34)
Spot on review there Daniel. There was many elements from predator one to give it the feel. Such as the music score is great but it think the mini gun and traps were too much of a cliché. Did anyone pick up on the “Over here” quote. Movie had so much potential but was wasted on dodge story line and lack of predator personality. Even AVP 2 easily rivals this movie. 2/5 stars
Posted by Arctype on July 11th, 2010This was a big disappointment. Predators didn’t just pay homage to the original, it licked it’s ass like a sycophantic executive assistant. You’d almost think they took the original screenplay, crossed out a few lines, renamed the characters and jumped into pre-production. Even so, there is nowhere near the same amount tension or action you’re treated to in Predator, there’s just long sequences of walking, then talking, then walking. You already know they’re on an alien planet because of the trailer, so when the characters come to this realization you’re like “duh”. The stretches of tedium between the action sequences were long and boring enough that I nearly nodded off a few times. The Laurence Fishburne sequence was cool but then they didn’t do anything interesting with the story elements he reveals. It also telegraphs it’s twists to the point of insulting you when they finally come to light. You’re dead on saying this film didn’t take chances, it played it very safe and very dull in my opinion.
Posted by Mrespony on July 11th, 2010I really liked it. The audience I saw it with responded really well to the entire thing as well, making it a damn enjoyable theatre experience. Probably my favorite of the summer until Inception inevitably takes that spot. I LIKED that it was one big homage to the first film. It never had a chance of measuring up but at least it doesn’t completely forget what worked in the first 2 like the AVP movies did.
One thing missing from this review is any mention of the humor in the film. I liked that the movie never took itself too seriously. It kept the proceedings light and helped the film’s pacing. The first film doesn’t even show the Predator until almost the 3rd act and this one sort of did the same but the character interaction kept it fun. The characters were extremely cliched but for the most part I enjoyed that fact. You can tell there wasn’t a huge budget for this as well and for me that made it sort of endearing. Antal’s first film Kontroll was awesome and I was happy to see that this film was solid in it’s direction despite it’s ‘B’ stature.
All in all this film isn’t meant to be anything more than some dumb fun at the movies and considering how dismal this year’s been I was ready for a good time.
On the other hand, I just recently watched Repo Men and loved the shit out of it, so take that as you will.
Posted by Fatbologna on July 11th, 2010I agree with, Fatbologna. It was a definite summer block buster popcorn flick. I too got ta watch it with a full audience, that seemed to enjoy the movie as much as I did. there were a lot of similarities from the first movie, but it felt more like it was just paying homage. I feel it was better and had more character building than any of the AVP movies did. Brody and Grace both did a great job as well; considering the fact that these actors aren’t really posted up as action stars.
I also remember reading an article (before the movie was be made) saying that Predators was going to be a sequel “as well as” a reboot.
Posted by Derek on July 11th, 2010in my opinion, the Russian was the reinvention of Jesse Ventura’s character, and the Yakuza dude was the reinvention of Sonny Landham’s character, which proly explains why both the characters had similar traits. On top of that…I’m sure I’m not the only one who wished they could have seen Sonny go down fightin the Predator, in the first one. They at least gave us that honorable fight in this one, and The Russian lasted as long as we would have wished Ventura did in the original. This flick “was” low budget, but I must admit that I enjoyed it way more than any of those big budget P.O.S. Transformer movies.
Adrien Brody’s ridiculous voice was so distracting. I hated this movie. Such a letdown.
Posted by Mike on July 11th, 2010Not that this movie had much in the way of twists or anything, but I half-expected the guy who’s chute didn’t open to play into things, like maybe he had something on him that would have been important. Or maybe they’d at least stumble upon his body again at a time where they were really hoping for ammo or something.
As far as the summary of the first film’s events in this film goes, I’m really disappointed that they didn’t continue with a discussion of what happened in 1999 when Jamaican voodoo gangs ruled the streets with an iron fist.
And of course Fishburne’s exposition is magical, as I believe his character in this movie WAS that of “magical black man that tells the white folks what’s up”. In more reputable productions, that slot is usually filled by Morgan Freeman.
Posted by PlanBFromOuterSpace on July 11th, 2010I think people ‘think’ to much sometimes. Why must everything always be compared? Hmmmm This movie is an awesome action flick as well as a Predator movie that expands on the universe. The fact that they deal with this jumbled group of ‘killers’ that do form a somewhat rag-tag group of survivalists is awesome. It builds up with how we view our own humanity. Nice touch. How any Predator fan can not like this movie is beyond me.
Preadotrs FTW!
Posted by YouGonnaEatThat on July 11th, 2010YouGonnaEatThat,
TRUTH.
Posted by fatbologna on July 11th, 2010It was ok. Marginally good. Better than the AvPs which was all I asked for…
Posted by Salvatine Wz on July 11th, 2010I loved the first Predator and how they expanded on the characters from the start. This one lacked anything in the realm of character development, but I understand it’s just a summer popcorn flick. However, it was laughable when the Spanish chick knew so much about the Arnold’s story from the first one. Expanding some twist into that storyline would have been interesting, making it some sort of intergalactic conspriacy, but it seems like that would have been too much screen writing to come up with an original thought or twist outside of being chased from here to there. And what was up with that ending? It seemed like the writers were like, “Well, I’m out of ideas let’s just end it.” The movie could have been a cool concept if they had attempted to treat the audience like we were somewhat intellegent. Overall it was visually good, and the fight scenes were fun, but the story was pretty shortsighted and thrown together like they only had 2 weeks to film everything.
Posted by Mikey T on July 12th, 2010The movie is alright. The pacing seemed off at times. I liked some of the homages/ripping off, call it what you will, to the original such as that dead man’s last stand trap. Although there weren’t any action scenes that really impressed me, I cherished every second of violence/gore. I did crack a smile seeing a skull with it’s spine still attached. That alone is a pass for me.
Also thought Fishburne was hilarious. Not sure if that was intentional, but I thought it was funny in a good way.
Posted by Primal on July 12th, 2010I thought the movie was just amazing. Yes, the characters were cliche and yes the story was ALMOST the same as Predator, but common guys….You cant think too much about a Predator movie. I mean, if your going to complain about this movie, i need to ask…..HAVE YOU SEEN AVP-R? That movie is by far the worst Predator movie and I still like it. This movie is just so much better. I think this is the best Predator movie, Other than Predator, of course. You cant really beat the original. Im gonna go watch it right now
Posted by tyler on July 12th, 2010Not a perfect movie but I like it!
— The writers missed one part – Laurence Fishburne’s character should of been – Danny Glover’s character! I heard that from someone else and I it makes so much sense!
That would of made it awesome!
Posted by Big Hungry on July 12th, 2010This was okay…I think they messed up the Predators themselves somewhat…I always thought of it as one Predator going out and proving his mettle, but now its three predators hunting seven? That seems sorta lame, and Lawrence Fishbourne character seemed to be introduced for the sole purpose of introducing the fact that there are two predators and inevitable fight between them(furthermore why does the baddest of the predators need three to hunt while the other ‘lesser’ predator was by himself?). This movie as mentioned before does in fact feel too much like the first one, in fact its basically the first with different characters and more Predators, which just makes it less awesome. In Predators case, more is definitely NOT better.
Posted by Mucha Libreroxxxx on July 12th, 2010I enjoyed this movie a lot! It’s one of those movies that it is what it is and nothing more. When I was watching the movie I had 4 people sitting in front of me talking loudly throughout the whole movie. I wanted to call them all “cock suckers”.
Posted by Matt on July 12th, 2010Great review spot on in many cases. I just posted my podcast review of the film: http://www.granateseed.com/futilepodcast/2010/07/12/226-predators/
Posted by Ian on July 12th, 2010the movie was alright to be honest the only thing that ruined the film for me was the main guys batman voice…. and eric from that 70s show
*spoiler alert*
so is eric from that 70s show like a convict? i was totally confused when he said he was one of them
Posted by clarke on July 14th, 2010In my opinion the movie was good. I dont understand how people think it was bad. Those are the die hard critics who point out every little thing such as if the story line lacked just a little thing that was unnoticed until they point it out and because of that they say it sucked. The movie was NOT a let down it was everything i expected. Except the fact there was only 3-4 predators instead of how the trailers made it out to be. I liked how they added some original remake scenes from the first one and added that story line into this one a little. It was fairly good. I say if you liked the first one then go see this one. I look at it kinda like a modern remake of the first one but in many ways its not. Just see the movie and see for yourself.
Posted by Dingo on July 14th, 2010good review…
I think this much of surprise.
Posted by Nurafifah on July 14th, 2010Personally, I think your dissection of the movie is absolutely ridiculous. It’s just a movie…and a damn good one! Having been a Predator fan from the beginning, and having seen all of the sequels, I must say that this movie is by far the best sequel and does an excellent job of balancing excitement, action, mystery, and revelation.
And, it took a page from the original “Tales From the Crypt”…a real horror classic!
The conclusion of the movie leaves open a whole new window for another sequel in which I’d like to see more use of alien technology by humans, especially the cloaking. Maybe where they organize the next batch of “drops” into a hunting party and reverse the game on the Predators.
They can also further embellish the Predator rivalry. Do they alternate which Predator tribe gets to hunt? Was the lone Predator the survivor of a group that preceded the more aggressive group and as part of the competition, required to avoid his own kind as well? Or do two groups of three from each tribe get inserted, and they have to hunt humans while avoiding/killing their rivals?
For any Sci-Fi fan, this movie rocks all the way through. Get a good seat in the middle of a stadium style theater and you will not be disappointed.
I give this movie two fangs up!
Posted by John on July 15th, 2010I thought it was good. Not great, like the original, but it was a good sequel (I liked it more than part 2) if we view it as picking up after part 2 (I didn’t like AvP much, AvP:R was better in a lot of ways but the Dawson’s Creek/teen drama shit and the directors’ inability to film in the dark kind of cut into my enjoyment of it).
I do agree with the review but I think that Daniel’s issues with the film will bother each person to a different extent. I, personally, still enjoyed it and would love for them to continue the series from here.
Posted by Ben on July 16th, 2010the movie was too predictable….you knew from the very beginning who would survive….the actors did a wonderful job….it was the story ending that failed
Posted by jackson on July 16th, 2010does anyone get the fact that the predators adapt so knowing that in the original the element of the characters gave the predator a hard time that maybe these new predators recruited similar characters for a reason?? i just seen the new one and loved it yeah some of the dialog was a bit cheesy but it had the feel of the original for sure….and i love the fact that the characters in this was similar to the original because it works….and remade some of the awesome scenes from the first one it was great…on the other hand im not to sure if they knew how to end it…and not enough predator interaction… like when then say they learn adapt upgrade THEY SHOULD HAVE SHOWED US THAT!!!
Posted by buffa on July 16th, 2010Hey not to say anything to make me look like a complete jackass but I remember seeing multiple times that this was a reboot so I’m not surprised that some things seemed similar to the first film… I am hoping to see it soon though.
Posted by justin on July 17th, 2010Considering how many reviewers are apt to give this movie all kinds of praise it’s refreshing to see someone nail it like Daniel. I loved the first film for the suspense and craft of storytelling McTiernan delivered. “Show, don’t tell” is absolutely right and filmmakers nowadays are so lazy it’s frusterating. I don’t need the plot explained to me over and over as though they’re worried about people coming back from the bathroom knowing exactly whats going on. Overall, it felt like the story was intended for a 3rd grade comprehention level.
And, as with AVP1&2, not one character earned my respect and I found myself unconcerned with who died, and thus wasn’t really impressed with the predators themselves either. The characters in this film had no past/no substance for all intents and purposes. I mean you got to see Dutch leading an elite team, making traps, learning his foe in a very visual way, and you actually saw these strong characters exhibit fear. In Predators- varied cliche characters talk it out, act unconvincingly tough, then talk some more.
Also, the cloaking effect has evolved from cool, practical/optical effect to the run-of-the-mill digital blur. I found it to be a big annoyance, considering while cloaked the predators move like they’re suspended in digital water.
Furthermore, what is the advantage of having it take place on some mysterious alien planet… As the first film illustrated there are parts of earth that are not very accessible. But then we’d be bothered to come up with something interesting like a plot with characters. Instead lets fall all over ourselves to set it light years away in the galaxy ? to what, oh have it be in a jungle. Genius.
If you’re gonna pay homage to the first movie, which is fine, why not have some kind of human story (unrelated to the predators) to be interested in before you let slip the dogs of CG, and for gods sake get that awesome cloaking right. Good hunters ought to rely on camo, not complete invisibility. And, if you’re going for one-dimensional tough characters, maybe get the cast into the gym a bit more.
Posted by Charles on July 18th, 2010Really good action film, great effects, good likeness to the first movie. It was never going to be as good the first movie but alot better than the other efforts. Could of dondwith a big name to star in it but that would take some of the suspense of who was going to survive.
Posted by Andy on July 18th, 2010Having seen Predators a couple of days ago, I have now had time to digest it and give it time to sink in. Like many people (apart from those without any sense) I have chosen to completely disregard the AVP movies (I only watched the first one. It was so bad that i never went back to the franchise). Predators does have it’s merits; the premise is definitely interesting. However while I have huge amounts of respect for Rodriguez, i suspect he may have gotten a little bogged down in paying homage to the original film, having one too many references (the mini-gun, the “i’m not gonna run, i’m gonna stand and fight topless” scene, the score etc). That being said though, I still thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I never once got bored or had any cringe moments because of bad dialogue.
Adrien Brody (beefed up as he was) can always be relied upon for a good performance, even if he did seem to be doing a voice that was part Clint Eastwood, part Chrisitan Bale’s Batman.
Laurence Fishburne’s credited cameo was entertaining, although I think his character would have had more of an impact on the movie if it was cast with an actor much less well known.
I still have trouble taking Topher Grace seriously (he’s still Eric from that 70s show to me), but in this, he did manage to pull off the quietly creepy doctor bit quite well.
All-in-all, as an homage to the original movie, Predators is fun and entertaining if lacking in some originality or creativity. A hell of a lot better than the crappy AVP movies (for a good AVP story, read the original Dark Horse comic 4 part miniseries that came out in 1989/1990), and better than Predator 2. Although, on a slight sidebar, Predator 2 works as a movie if you imagine it as a comic book. The dialogue, editing, action and everything else works so much better if you approach it as a live action comic book rather than a movie sequel.
Posted by funksoulbrotha on July 18th, 2010Haven’t watched it yet but based on some of the comments I have seen I think its worth watching. I normally don’t expect too much from these movies so I won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t meet my expectations.
Posted by Jay on July 18th, 2010If you don’t expect too much your expectations are more likely to be exceeded. If they don’t even meet them I’d be pretty disappointed.
Posted by Bas on July 19th, 2010This movie owned Predator 2 hands down. I enjoyed it alot.
Posted by NIcholas on July 19th, 2010There has not been one good Predator movie since the original.
This is a true Predator movie. Now is it a four star film, no of coarse not, but I say this deserves a good 3 stars.
hi
Posted by trey on July 20th, 2010can someone explain to me what one of the creatures was. when the ‘doctor’ was the bait and running and he was being chased, what was chasing him.i found it unclear, thanks
I agree with the review, however i do not agree with the statement of games lacking depth or story.
I all you have been playing it ratchet and clank or Mario kart (pick up and play with no intelligence games) sure fine, but this does not mean that the whole medium is to be put under the same label. What about metal gear solid 1 -4, how about Alan wake, gears of war or even fear, Bio shock and the list goes on.
As a gamer and I’m sure others who are not, but who have played real games will feel the same, believe that games storylines are allot better and have allot more depth than the cinema (or what’s classified as) of today.
Please do not use a medium that you do not understand or even know to criticise another.
Over all good review.
Posted by krump on August 5th, 2010I didn’t even know this movie was in theatres (that’s how lame I am!). Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Some answers:
1. Topher plays a character (SPOILER ALERT) that totally takes you by surprise. He was a doctor, but somehow became a killer. And thankfully they spared us most of the details on how he kills people (apparently it has to do with paralyzing the victim, but the victim can still feel everything….ick).
2. I too want to know what the creature is that is neither the large Predator, nor the smaller Predator, nor the “dog” type of alien. I think they lead you to believe it was in one of the crates where the cockroaches were crawling around in. So somehow, it’s yet another type of alien, but I couldn’t tell whether it was more like a dog (sent to pester/torture the humans) or whether it was intelligent like the big/small predators? Hard to say. Just that it was yet another alien that needed to be shot. Heh heh.
I had absolutely NO expectations (like I said I didn’t even know what was playing in theatres), so to me it was great! Plenty of sub-plots.
Oh…one more thing: (SPOILER ALERT) – I think they killed off Sir Lawrence WAAAAAAY too early. It’s like we get to know that he’s been there (10 hunting seasons!) and then he somehow accidentally goes down a corridor and gets blown to bits by one of the Pred’s (after chastising it for taking so long to find him)? Come on people…wasted that character (literally!). Could have held onto him a few more minutes.
Oh…one last thing. Did any of you catch (I could be wrong here) the dude who’s chute didn’t open up had a huge hole in his chest….possibly like a face-hugger (from Alien) came flying out of his chest? My son and I thought we were going to see some Aliens…but alas, no.
Posted by Kevin B. Selby on August 9th, 2010Wait till this movie comes to your local dollar theater. I could have been great except: 1. They made Lawrence Fishbourne a crazy man. He never used that awsome looking weapon. 2. Why did they decide to now have two sets of predators? Dosen’t make sense. 3. The predators apparently could not figure out that a human could live on a deralect space ship. 4. The humans never were given he chance to gang up on at least one predator. (The one that was tied to the tree doesn’t count.) 5. They may as well have thrown an Alien in there to do some but kicking.
Posted by Bilberry on August 18th, 2010Leave a Reply