Movie Review: Predators (2010)
In the midst of a disappointing year of movie –so far, Predators shines brightly when it comes to continuing that trend. Devoid of any tension or suspense, this Nimrod Antal sci-fi “horror” remake possesses nearly none of the qualities of the original Predator that made it such a popular movie.
Predators’ extensive reverence to John McTiernan’s original version is apparent in the structure of the two movies which are very similar. A mismatched group of mercenaries, thugs and soldiers is dropped in the middle of the jungle. None of them seems to know what they are doing there or why but it soon turns out that they are preys to be hunted by a deadly race of alien hunters. Those “Predators” possess cloaking abilities, can detect humans by their body heat and possess an assorted variety of energy weapons. One by one, the group gets thinned until the final confrontation. Sounds familiar?
Much like the original movie, we don’t see the Predators for quite some time and once we do, not all that often. Most of the characters are shady, unlikable and left mostly undeveloped, including the main character played by Adrien Brody. This makes it hard for us to feel any compassion or sympathy for any of them, making their successive death emotionally meaningless. We are also supposed to believe that this group of humans are elite killers but they act nothing like it, not even showing basic understanding of how to fire a firearm (hire some military advisers at least!). Basic themes of hunters become hunted are superficially touched upon but ultimately, the movie is not nearly engaging or intelligent enough for us to care.
Although the action sequence are well-executed and good looking, they lack any sort of creativity and are mere rip-offs from the original. The same can be said of the soundtrack which was simply taken as is from McTiernan’s movie. It doesn’t even attempt to hide the fact that it is trying to set the mood or build suspense for certain scenes, very loudly announcing that something is about to happen ten seconds before it actually does. Although our group of human is supposedly being “hunted”, the Predators don’t seem to do much hunting, especially given the fact that they supposedly have superior firepower, weapons and skill.
The fundamental problem with the movie is that Antal doesn’t build much tension and the Predators never seem scary at all which saps the movie from most of its potential thrills. Watching Brody’s character bitch-slap the last Predator senseless was completely ridiculous and would have never happened in the first movie. Even better, a Predator getting killed in a sword fight and another getting stabbed to death with a … Swiss Army knife. I’m sorry but I remember these Predators being nearly invincible in the original…
The casting of the movie is perplexing with respectable actors such as Adrien Brody, Alice Braga and Laurence Fishburne having to babble sub-par dialogue. Brody summons his inner Batman, growling 4-word sentence for the entire length of the movie but he somehow manages to sell his cynical character. At the end of the day though, he simply doesn’t come remotely close to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s awesome portrayal of the first film. Finally Laurence Fishburne’s cameo was completely extraneous and unneeded.
A pointless and empty remake that never equals the original, Predators is as bland and thrill-less as they come.
C
(4.5/10)
Notes: R-rated for violence and gore, profanities and frightening/intense scenes.
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26 Comments
(first)
Can’t really call it a cameo when it’s the better parts of the trailer.
I’ll be seeing this in the next days, mostly because it’s still Predator(s) and has Danny Trejo (I’m guessing he’s the one who gutted the Predator with an army knife?). Actually, I’m really surprised at the high rating it has on IMDb: 7,4/10.
The only installment of all three franchises (Alien, Predator and AvP) that I really hated was “AvP: Requiem”; I enjoyed, more or less, all others so I’m sure I’m gonna like this, too.
On a sidenote, since you mentioned Arnie’s original, I bet if someone did a film like “Predator” today, people would laugh at it. They’d say it’s stupid, badly acted, poorly scripted, cheesy, etc.
Hope you enjoy it Shaft, it’s nothing bad and it certainly can be enjoyed as shown by the relatively decent Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb score. I was disappointed it wasn’t more and only a mere rip-off of the original.
Yep, I think that I had my expectations pretty low going in (three terrible Predator films in a row will do that to) and ended up having a really great time. I can see where Castor’s coming from and won’t pretend it’s a great film, but I really enjoyed it. In any other year, this would probably be forgettable fare, but this year it provided a much needed adrenaline shot (though Inception’s out this week, so maybe it will turn around).
Saw this last night and for the most part really enjoyed it. I do agree that Fishburne’s cameo is completely wasted – they could surely have done something better with that sub-plot. But otherwise I thought it was a return to form for the Predator franchise after the horrendous Requiem. It definitely paid homage to the original film as well as Alien/Aliens, and featured an ensemble of perfect Predator fodder. I liked some of the new story details it introduced which seemed to relate to a sub-plot from the first AvP film, and thought Brody was a decent Arnie stand-in. I did actually love the fact that the soundtrack was pretty much taken entirely from the original film.
I also liked the ending too – Predators Return here we come!
I was disappointed it was nothing very creative or anything we haven’t seen before. I was mildly bored and the movie was quite stagnant especially after the first 30 or 40 minutes.
“In the midst of a disappointing year of movie –so far, Predators shines brightly when it comes to continuing that trend.” That is a great line.
I agree with your C rating whole heartedly…I too though that Brody studied under the Christian Bale “Batman School of Acting”. It didn’t really contribute to making him any more badass of fierce. However there was too much else to complain about it didn’t seem worth the time to gripe about:P
Oh btw…that shot from the trailers with the multiple triangular laser sights is exaggerated and inaccurate (read never happened). Your header image is correct though, I think…why do I only remember one?
I know! They make it looked like there was going to be a lot of Predators but I was quite disappointed to see there wasn’t even half a dozen of them! I think this picture might be fake as well and remember only one myself.
The trailer also figured them riding things, if I remember correctly (not just the little “Pred-Dogs”).
By the way, Castor, 900 comments? Whoa…
There was only one I think. I liked how they added a lot more for the trailer and was expecting, at that moment in the film, for Brody to be inundated with target marks. When he wasn’t I was a bit disappointed because how the hell was he going to get out of that one! haha!
You guys sure are keeping me busy!
You know what? I wish Adrian Brody would make another movie like Dummy again, y’know, embracing his nerdiness. This badass endeavor is fine, but requires an exhausting amount of suspension of disbelief.
I’m with you there Ripley. He was so awesome in Dummy.I was so utterly impressed with his subtly brilliant performance. Also the fact the he actually leaned the art of ventriloquism makes me respect him quite a bit more than I used to for being in Angels in the Outfield:P For what it’s worth, I quite liked him in The Brothers Bloom as well.
I think though it’s still not perfect by any means but it features plenty of the qualities that made the original a cult favorite.
I think it was far too reverent to the original
I enjoyed the movie. Yes, it’s not as good as the original movie, but it is the best Predator sequel.
Yep. Though being better than Predator 2, Alien vs Predator and Alien vs. Predator Requiem isn’t exactly an accomplishment which deserves to be put on a poster. I enjoyed it, and I’m happy. It wasn’t amazing or even great, but it was (in my opinion) solidly entertaining and reasonably well executed. I think it was nice that a film in the franchise finally showed some love to the original (even if the reverence went a bit too far – I dug the soundtrack lift, though).
…I thought Predator 2 was a brilliant sequel. I liked Predators a lot but for me Predator 2 is the 2nd best film of the Predator collection.
1. Predator
2. Predator 2
3. Predators
4. AvP
5. AvP 2
Of course, back in the 80s, Predators would have been called Predator 5: Convict Island…or something!
I haven’t seen this, but I can’t imagine the acting is anymore cheesy than the original. Arnold and Weathers were kick ass, but the dialogue was subpar.
I wasn’t expecting much from the movie. I was kinda getting into it, when Laurence Fishburne showed up, everything fell off the rails. I didn’t believe that these people would be killers/assassins/criminals what have you. Some of the scenes were ridiculous like the sword fight, the Predator on Predator action or the last sequences of the movie.
It could have been a great movie if it had a couple of rewrites and casted better.
Aw I’m sorry you didn’t like it but I understand your points. Personally I think it handles the tension and action very well but yeah the dialogue is ridiculous.
Sorry you didn’t like it but I certainly enjoyed it. I wasn’t expecting anything and I certainly didn’t have high hopes but I had fun watching it. Predictable? Yes. Stupid dialogue? Yes. Bad casting? Yes. Weird story? Yes. But did I have fun watching it? Yes indeed.
Oh come on Castor! This isn’t a remake! It’s a continuation of the storyline left off by Predator 2! I thought this film was perfect for what it was. It showed great homage without relying too heavily on the first film, and the it slightly mirrored it well. The Yakuza and Predator fight scene is what we didn’t see between Billy and the Predator in the first film! Also – how could you not absolutely jump up and Jersey Shore fist pump when you heard the song that played during the closing credits!?
No Predator was stabbed to death with a Swiss Army knife. There were three hunters and a captured one. One died by explosion from the Russian. One died by sward from the Yakuza. The captured one was killed by the hunter’s leader…and the leader was killed by Brody.
Attention to details might have made this movie more enjoyable for you. Also…it was not a remake of the original, but meant to be the third since it ignores the two AVP movies.
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