Predators

As an attempt to revive the long-floundering Predator film franchise, Predators is a noble, but unspectacular, effort. Director Nimrod Antal (Armored) at least seems to have some understanding as to what made the first film back in 1987 work. He doesn't really succeed at making the title creatures scary again, but he adds a certain amount of tension that was missing from the sequel, and the two Alien vs. Predator spin offs. The end result is a close call. It's a movie that doesn't quite completely work, but it works just enough so that fans won't see it as a waste of time.

The film's central gimmick is that eight different people find themselves parachuting down into the middle of a vast jungle. They have no memory of jumping out of a plane, or even being on a plane in the first place. The last thing they all remember was a flash of light, and then suddenly they find themselves in this bizarre place that looks like no jungle on Earth. The first to land is Royce (Adrian Brody), a hardened ex-special ops mercenary. As he gathers his thoughts and meets the other people who find themselves in the same situation as him, he quickly learns that most of them come from combat-heavy backgrounds, and all share the same story. (flash of light, falling from the plane, etc.) The others include Isabelle (Alice Braga), the token female, a death row convict named Stans (Walter Goggins), a Russian soldier (Oleg Taktarov), a Japanese Yakuza (Louis Ozawa Changchien), an African fighter (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), a drug kingpin (Danny Trejo), and a suburban doctor (Topher Grace) who is so mild-mannered and out of place with the rest of group, you just know he has to be hiding something.

The movie's first hour or so is devoted to the group coming together, some character development (although no one in the cast reaches more than two dimensions), and a lot of ominous signs as they make their way through the jungle. I guess it's admirable in a way that screenwriters Alex Litvak and Michael Finch take their time to let the tension build, but it kind of falls flat here. We know what's waiting for them and watching them from the trees. It kind of kills the suspense when the audience has advance knowledge, but the movie goes on pretending we're in the dark. The group encounters some old traps that have been left behind, some strange alien dog-like creatures, and finally the Predators themselves. Royce and the others quickly realize they're being hunted for sport by these aliens, and it doesn't take long for the human stars to start fighting back, at least until they get killed off one-by one, until only the main leads are left.

Predators is at least made with a certain amount of skill. The effects don't really stand out, but at least they don't seem rushed, and are mostly done with physical special effects. In fact, the CG that is utilized is often glaringly obvious, such as when a character blows up into bloody cartoon chunks, looking like something out of a video game. There are some interesting casting choices here as well. When it was announced that Adrian Brody was going to be playing the lead military badass role, many fans cried foul. And yet, he manages to pull it off. He's bulked up, and he successfully creates an aura of menace. He may be the hero, but he has a definite dangerous edge to him that works. Alice Braga gets a few moments where she attempts to create a sympathetic heroine. The rest of the cast mainly exist to get killed off, and they know it. They do what's required of them until their big exit.

The action sequences are at least well done, but the movie just takes too long to get to where its going. It works in fits and spurts, constantly stopping and starting. I was never bored, but there were long stretches that seemed like they could have easily been trimmed. Most of these times concerned a lengthy sequence where the surviving humans are hiding out in a bunker with someone who has been on this planet for a long time (Laurence Fishburne). After that's finally over, we get the third act, which seems to be trying to stuff too much action and revelations about the survivors, but at least has a lot of satisfying action to it. I would describe Predators as a film that knows what it's doing, but doesn't always know what to do. There are too many lengthy stretches were not much is happening, but when it finally does, it's usually pretty satisfying.

I'm giving this a mixed review, but fans who have been waiting for a true follow up to the 1987 film should walk into the theater with little hesitation. Just make sure you check your brain at the door when you see it. Thinking too hard about the plot will lead to numerous plot holes, and is sure to leave the viewer frustrated. As a genuine rush summer movie, Predators could have been a lot stronger, but it's certainly not bad. Judging by the way this film ends, there's always a sequel to hammer out some of this movie's problems.

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