Movies: Predators

The original "Predator" is a classic '80s sci-fi action movie, mixing steroid-fueled machismo (cf. The Handshake) with some truly thrilling sequences. Over the years, though, the franchise steadily declined, with a mediocre direct sequel and a couple of awful "Alien v. Predator" films.

When news got out that Robert Rodriguez was producing a true sequel to the Predator series, there was much rejoicing. When it was further revealed that Rodriguez was completely ignoring the AvP continuity, there was even more rejoicing:



In the movie, a group of heavily-armed human warriors is thrown into the jungles of an alien game preserve, as prey for a hunt conducted by you-know-who. They're a serious bunch - a Yakuza gangster, a Mexican cartel enforcer, a Spetsnaz soldier, etc. - but individually, none of them are a match for the extraterrestrial killers that are stalking them. You know the drill: in order to survive, they must overcome their differences and band together.

Director Nimród Antal has done some interesting work (his 2003 debut, "Kontroll," is probably the best film ever made about Hungarian subway workers), so it's a tad disappointing that "Predators" plays it so safe in the plot department. On the other hand, the movie is stocked with fun character actors - Danny Trejo and Laurence Fishburne can chew scenery with the best of them - and it's very close to the tone of the original, in that it doesn't allow realism to get in the way of awesomeness:



Rating: 7/10