Jason KingPredators (6.5/10)
July 8th 2010 10:07
:
Better than I was Expecting
Category: No Category
OK - I was expecting this to be a 3 or a 4 out of 10 but got a bit of a surprise and enjoyed it more than I expected. It was engaging and entertaining and the success of the story was going back to the roots and making it quite a bit like the original. But that's about it - the negatives far outweigh the positives in this one.
Predators revolves around Royce, who gets kidnapped by the Predators and is taken to their home planet. Upon reaching the distant land, Royce awakes parachuting down into a thick jungle. There, he meets up with seven other human beings from Earth, who are from different countries and are armed with all sorts of weapons. They are all master predators of their own skillbase.
At first, the humans don't fully understand why they were kidnapped, but then quickly realize that they are being hunted.
To catch the human, Predators use predator dogs and predator falcons, and it turns out that the entire hunt is orchestrated by a Super Predator, who is a Predator on steroids.
The crew eventually run into a ninth man, an American who has been able to stay hidden from the Predators. They learn that this kidnapping/hunting has been going on for years. It's at about this time that the Predators become more vicious and violent in order to kill all the humans.
Sean said to me "what do you expect? It's a Predator film" and my response was "You can always make a good Predator film, Arnie did it". And while this film echoes and pays slight homage to the original and would have been a much better sequel to the original sequel but doesn't show too much originality and the actors are basic cardboard cutouts.
Adrien Brody, besides him constantly channeling Batman's voice to sound tough, to the point of me laughing a few times, I just can't believe him as an action hero. Is this his problem for being in such a great film as The Pianist to start out? I will always picture him as the humble guy struggling and not the big Hollywood action guy, although he has buffed up astronomically. Then there is Topher Grace who was my favourite in the film - at least he had personality and provided some comic relief, if his character was a bit predictable. I really liked Alice Braga and it was good to have a chick in the film who had "some balls".
![Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, Nimrod Antal]( "Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, Nimrod Antal")
I do not understand why a Yakuza would stop for a sword fight with a Predator - I get the whole honour of battling to the death but why did everyone else keep running? Why not come back around and guarantee they could shoot him to pieces?
One thing I did find quite humorous was the score. It is very reminiscent of an original crew Star Trek movie. John Debney, who wrote Scores for Sin City and Lava Girl and Shark Boy wrote the score for this after the original composer from Predator has scheduling conflicts. Debney tried to emulate the original score. I kept imagining Capt. Kirk would jump in for some hand to hand combat.
Nimrod Antal has succeeded with his direction with Rodriguez producing a script he originally penned in 1994. At the time Fox turned him down due to budget but this time they went back to it, I think his success with it is from an engaging sci fi action and limited use of CGI. It is more monster in suit with well used CGI when necessary as opposed to CGIing the whole thing.
Overall it is a pretty decent sci fi action and it craps over the sequel to the original and the AvPs we have seen over the years. If you like your sci fi you could do much worse than this. Out today and worth 6.5 out of 10.
Predators revolves around Royce, who gets kidnapped by the Predators and is taken to their home planet. Upon reaching the distant land, Royce awakes parachuting down into a thick jungle. There, he meets up with seven other human beings from Earth, who are from different countries and are armed with all sorts of weapons. They are all master predators of their own skillbase.
At first, the humans don't fully understand why they were kidnapped, but then quickly realize that they are being hunted.
To catch the human, Predators use predator dogs and predator falcons, and it turns out that the entire hunt is orchestrated by a Super Predator, who is a Predator on steroids.
The crew eventually run into a ninth man, an American who has been able to stay hidden from the Predators. They learn that this kidnapping/hunting has been going on for years. It's at about this time that the Predators become more vicious and violent in order to kill all the humans.
Sean said to me "what do you expect? It's a Predator film" and my response was "You can always make a good Predator film, Arnie did it". And while this film echoes and pays slight homage to the original and would have been a much better sequel to the original sequel but doesn't show too much originality and the actors are basic cardboard cutouts.
Adrien Brody, besides him constantly channeling Batman's voice to sound tough, to the point of me laughing a few times, I just can't believe him as an action hero. Is this his problem for being in such a great film as The Pianist to start out? I will always picture him as the humble guy struggling and not the big Hollywood action guy, although he has buffed up astronomically. Then there is Topher Grace who was my favourite in the film - at least he had personality and provided some comic relief, if his character was a bit predictable. I really liked Alice Braga and it was good to have a chick in the film who had "some balls".
I do not understand why a Yakuza would stop for a sword fight with a Predator - I get the whole honour of battling to the death but why did everyone else keep running? Why not come back around and guarantee they could shoot him to pieces?
One thing I did find quite humorous was the score. It is very reminiscent of an original crew Star Trek movie. John Debney, who wrote Scores for Sin City and Lava Girl and Shark Boy wrote the score for this after the original composer from Predator has scheduling conflicts. Debney tried to emulate the original score. I kept imagining Capt. Kirk would jump in for some hand to hand combat.
Nimrod Antal has succeeded with his direction with Rodriguez producing a script he originally penned in 1994. At the time Fox turned him down due to budget but this time they went back to it, I think his success with it is from an engaging sci fi action and limited use of CGI. It is more monster in suit with well used CGI when necessary as opposed to CGIing the whole thing.
Overall it is a pretty decent sci fi action and it craps over the sequel to the original and the AvPs we have seen over the years. If you like your sci fi you could do much worse than this. Out today and worth 6.5 out of 10.
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