Let's face it, 1987's Predator is a B-movie. It's a cheesy concept, with a cheesy script with a corny-as-hell cast. But...despite all that, John McTiernan came along and directed the living crap out of it. Here was a movie that should have been one of the most ludicrous pieces of trash of the decade and instead came a dizzying entertaining action thriller....exciting, original, stylish and even funny.
The fun, but not nearly as great, sequel took the original concept but changed the tone to something that was less grounded in realism to one of over exaggerated bullshit. The original took corny actors and made them real. The sequel took real actors and made them corny. Both films worked, but McTiernan's approach was the far better choice.
So with Predators, the Robert (Sin City) Rodriguez produced sequel goes back to it's roots. Back, not only with it's jungle setting, but with it's serious military thriller tone as well. Like the first two movies it remember to gather a great cast, this time with two central characters, instead of a central 'Arnie'-type lead. So in comes the steely, gruff Adrian Brody as mercenary Royce who does what any lead is required of in these films...make the audience and his companions want to follow him. But Royce is a Predator in his own right, sometimes just as ruthless as the monsters hunting him. So the script wisely provides a counterbalance in the form of Alice Braga's Isabelle, someone equally capable in combat but with a more humane outlook. Both are excellent.
With many of the cast not expected to reach the story's conclusion, director Nimrod Antal rounds out the rest of the Predator's prey with strong memorable characters from Topher Grace's mild mannered doctor, Danny Trejo's Mexican bad ass, Walton Goggins morally void convict and Oleg Taktarov's Russian soldier, amongst others. Only Mahershalalhashbaz Ali's freedom fighter fails to rise to the top. All get memorable moments such as Louis Ozawa Changchien's Yakuza showdown with one of the hunters (it's been suggested that SvP: Samurai Vs Predator might be a worthy sequel!)
Inflatable fatty, Lawrence Fishburne turns up in a mid-movie cameo, and delivers an off the wall performance as Predator killer Noland.
The first half is perfect, with mystery, action, humour and suspense all present in equal measure. After a mid movie breather (reminiscent of the cellar sequence in Spielberg's War of the Worlds) the movie kicks back into high gear. If there's a criticism, this final stretch isn't as relentless as it was in either of the first two Predator sequels.
Predators feels very much like the legitimate, proper sequel to the first Predator movie. There's references aplenty from dialogue clips, music cues and familiar locations that will make fan boys giggle while the story takes the Predator mythology and expands on it, introducing new aspects of Predator culture and their hunting methods. It feels like the type of movie you would want to put on immediately after watching the 1987 original. And when it's release on DVD, I'm certainly going to do that!
Not as good as McTiernan's classic, but then again, what is. But it's an extremely entertaining sequel that made with an appreciation for the first Predator movie, as well as a respect for exploitation movies and sequels in general. While this film doesn't lend itself to a sequel directly, I'd gladly see a follow up of some sort, based on the quality on show here.
2 comments:
PREDATORS was a mostly successful quasi remake/reboot/homage to the classic 1987 original.
But Nimrod Antal is no John McTiernan.
Antal is a fairly straightforward point and shoot guy lacking the almost arthouse flair with the camera that McT had in the original. But at least he keeps the tone and the look of the film pretty much spot on. The cast are all good if no match for the mighty originals. Though Adrien Brody is surprisingly effective as a ruthless ass kicking warrior. There are some cool sequences and some nice action (loved the Predator vs. Yakuza sword fight) and the predators themselves are always great to watch.
My main problem is that to me this did feel like something of a retread of the original classic. And that's not a bad thing per se as it's perfectly good fun. But I hope that for any future predtales they can expand the imagination for the story a bit more and give us something truly cool and a bit different. A period Predator movie maybe (I do like the idea of Samurai vs. Predator) or maybe mixing up different warriors from history to take them on. Or dropping the Preds in to the middle of World War 2 or something. I know PREDATOR 2 gets a kicking, but I love it (cheese and all) because it is doing something a bit different.
Anyway, PREDATORS was a lot of fun. And if nothing else it was a lot better than both the AVP efforts put together.
Predators was never going to better McTiernan's original, so my expectations were set accordingly. But given the enhanced bulshit of the sequels since, it's refreshing to have a take on the franchise that takes itself more seriously.
This works in the same kind of way Superman Returns does (storywise, not directorialy). It's a reboot, telling the same basic story in the same basic setting...but adapted to serve as a sequel.
Better than it had any right to be, methinks.
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