Movie Review: Predators
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Minor Spoilers (mostly from the first film)
Why is it that every time I go see an R-rated movie on opening night, at least three or four god damned mouth breathers have to bring their 4-8 year olds into the theater so they can be scared out of their wits for 90+ minutes? Guh…
Oh, it’s a pretty solid flick, too.
The first Predator was, if nothing else, one of the most iconic action movies of the 80′s and certainly one of the finer moments in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career. It was an excellent blend of the machismo-pumping, over the top action blockbuster with a more subtle, tension-oriented thriller; like the love child of Commando and Alien. Arnold got to say ridiculous things like “Stick around” after knifing some gun-toting extra to a wooden wall; but he also participated in some of the most excellent chase scenes in Hollywood history and spent a considerable amount of time adequately projecting solitude on screen. The film also established many other essential elements that Nimrod Antal, Robert Rodriguez, and the writers of Predators take particular care to include in their spiritual sequel.
First and foremost, the film does retain the mini-gun. I’m sorry to digress from more serious analysis but the mini-gun is an institution. When Jesse “Sexual Tyrannosaurus” Ventura used it to saw a goddamn guard tower in half in the original film, every 13-20 year old boy in the audience collectively thought “Oh my god, I want one”. Hence just about every major first person shooter of the 90′s was sure to include it as a mid to top level acquisition. Of course, it’s also highly impractical, and the movie does a good job using it just enough without making things feel too ridiculous.
Secondly, Predators includes an all important blade on blade fight. In the first film we get an implied confrontation between a machete-equipped Billy (the team’s awesome Native American tracker) and the Predator. It consisted of an appropriately badass build up, but ultimately resulted in nothing more than an off screen scream. This, while typically a decent film tactic, left a whole lot of people exceptionally unsatisfied. In the sequel, they make sure to provide the audience with a few cathartic minutes of an exotic character doing a refreshingly realistic sword battle with one of the creatures. It was like seeing the conclusion of a 23 year old “to be continued…”
On to more serious analysis; Predators contains an eclectic ensemble of characters with some very unlikely casting that works surprisingly well. When you see names like Adrien Brody and Topher Grace there’s temptation to scratch one’s head, but everyone fills the shoes of their chosen roles with at least adequate convincingness. While Brody does generate a few laughs during his inevitable shirtless scene, he still manages to project the aura of the type of bloke you don’t want to mess with. Likewise, the film paces itself well given how many characters we are bombarded with at the onset. Just about all of them have at least one or two moments in the sun, which is a refreshing change from most action movies that try to force ”super intense teams” down your throat before offing select underdeveloped members of them. The group is also written with very distinctive voices, especially Lawrence Fisburne’s Noland, who is just the right kind of crazy for his situation.
Where the film misses a few opportunities is in character conflict. There are a few betrayals to be sure, and a few initial fights with bullets and fists alike. Ultimately, though, most of these self-described “monster” characters are portrayed rather amicably. For people who are supposed to be assholes, they generate a lot of sympathy in one way or the other. I think it would’ve been fascinating to expand on the inherent conflicts between a solider who thinks they’re doing the right thing and a solider who knows they’re doing the wrong thing. Or to create a more clear-cut dichotomy between a group of killers with morals and a group of killers without them. That aside, the film still works in its current state, and does provide a few twists that don’t necessarily involve the Predators.
We also don’t get to see the alien nemeses for just about the entire first half of the film. This is a good decision that the other, less successful sequels in the franchise fail rather spectacularly at making. It allows for both character development and a nice crescendo of dread. While this movie does also fill the space with a bit of unfortunately expository/contrived dialogue, such as Brody figuring out what’s going on a little too quickly and overtly, I still like the call.
Overall, Predators is never boring. While it’s also not poetically riveting, at least one or two of the characters is bound to intrigue you enough to legitimately care what happens to them. It incorporates many of the aspects of the first film that made it so successful while adding an expected degree of contemporary polish (outside of a few unusually phony fire effects). It feels almost a bit like Die Hard 4, where everything is the same but also different. If you liked the first movie, get in line and grab tickets now. Even if you didn’t, you probably won’t feel like you wasted 107 minutes of your life.
7.5/10
© 2010 Jeff and Company