Movie Review: Predators

When the announcement was released of the possibility of a new Predator movie, I couldn’t have been any less interested then. Especially because the last time we saw the Predator – was in AvP Requiem. And I even did not go to watch it. For me the only Predator that ever existed was the first one. Rumour has it – that after the release of Rocky IV, since Rocky had run out of earthly opponents, a sequel would involve Rocky having a one-on-one combat with an Alien. Writers – Jim and John Thomas took the joke seriously and that’s how the idea behind Predator was born. I recently re-watched the original 1987 movie, and even today, I could feel the impact of whatever was happening onscreen [ to be discussed in a following post ]. The thing that got me really interested though in this reboot of the franchise, is the inclusion of one name and one name only, and that is  - Robert Rodriguez. ‘Nuff said. And that is why, this movie is included in my ‘ 10 movies to look forward to in 2010′.

Having watched Predators last night, I am not quite sure if it did deliver on all my expectations. But then, my expectations from a Robert Rodriguez produced Predator reboot is going to be sky-high. But, if you take out that, the movie is a full on roller coaster ride.  It almost satisfies every fandom request; pretty much to the extent that sometimes I felt this was a fanmade movie – not in terms of amateur camera techniques, but in terms of story elements.

*** Possible Spoilers Ahead ***

So the basic premise is,  that a group of strangers are being dropped from the sky and they wake up in freefall. All of them are loaded with their favourite weapons and they land on this ‘reserve’ which is an unknown territory for all of them. The mix of characters is very interesting – so we have mercenaries, an FBI most wanted convict, an Eastern European war soldier, a South American femme fatale and a Japanese ninja amongst others. How all these strangers need to collaborate in order to survive the jungle, and the unknown beings living there is what forms the story. Now, we know what the Predators are, but they don’t. And each of these characters have their own background story which kinda fits into the larger storyline.

The inital parts of the movie where these strangers are stranded on this unknown reserve and when they try to survive by killing alien horned-dogs instantly reminds me of LOST and also somehow uncannily of Battle Royale. The situations faced by these people are almost played out on a mental level as well. And that is what keeps the movie more intriguing as the layers unfold.

Not to forget, the brilliantly choreographed action sequences and the building tension scenes that lead to it. There’s pretty much everything you would ask for from a Predator movie. I reckon there’s more gun-shots per frame in this movie than any other I have seen [ but this will be soon dethroned by Expendables innit! ]. And then there are plenty of roaming monsters and enough blood bath to keep your eyes open ( or closed ). But the most interesting fight of all was one which made me think of it as a fanmade movei – yes, they friggin’ included a one-on-one Alien vs Ninja fight. Yes they did, with all the red and flouroscent green blood splattering all over the green field in a dark night setting. And yes, when saw that Samurai sword, all I could think of was – Hattori Hanzo. And the ninja dude has like tattoos and shit. That fucking rocked my socks off.

But IMHO the whole species of Predators thing did not fit quite well. We know and possibly love to hate the original creature with all its “ugly motherfucker”-ness looks. So, I really don’t see the point in creating a bigger, larger and more lethal Predator who is like a ‘wolf’ to our original Predator ’dog’. Also, when our dude Adrien Brody rescues the ‘dog’ Predator, I don’t really believe that he would show some kind of loyalty because he was liberated by a man – who is sort of food to him.

More possible spoilers [ Now you really have to stop reading if you haven't watched this movie ].

I really did not like Morpheus, I mean, Laurence Fishburne, with all his bad diet results, ending up as a survivor for ten seasons – and yet there is not a single grain of stubble on him. There is some sort of a nod to Tom Hanks’ Castaway in Fishburne’s character as he speaks to an imaginary friend, but that’s pretty much it. And the climax  twist with Topher Grace’s character was not so amusing. And the whole hallucinating effect was irritating.

But to wrap it up, I’d say that Predator vs Predator fight was seriously fun. Beheading, Green Blood splatter, head falls of – I loves it.

It is still unknown by the end how these people were thrown in to this alien planet reserve. Although some of the questions are answered by Fishburne’s character, there is still a lot to be answered. I just wish this was a TV series, and I could get some of the answers next week, rather then wait for the prequel/ sequel to be released. And if it was a TV series, this would have been revolutionary. As a movie, Predators is just about right. It annoys me a little with its minor jutting out flaws, but on the whole, it kicked ass.

Go watch it, and jump to the comments now and write something. Please. The comment box needs you Cheerio!

Tagged as: action, Aliens, Movies, Review, Sci Fi