Predators

When I was a young boy, I remember the joy that existed whenever my mother and sister were away for a weekend.  This did not happen very often, but when it did it meant that my father and I would eat all of the foods that we were not regularly allowed and that we would watch some awesome movies.  It was with my father on one such weekend that I first saw Predator, and I always knew, from the cover of the movie along, that I would love it.  Since that first memorable time seeing it, it is a movie that I have viewed countless times and could most likely recite ninety percent of the movie verbatim.  I have owned it on VHS, I own it on DVD, and it will be one of those movies that I will always possess in one format or another.

Because of my undying fondness of Predator, it has been hard to see what has become of the franchise.  The sequel was not so great, and Alien Vs Predator was a nightmare.  The second film that pitted alien and predator against each other seemed a big improvement, although that does not mean much because almost anything would have been an improvement.  I had believed that the Predator franchise (along with the Alien franchise, another one that I hold close to my heart) was done forever.

And then Predators came out, a movie which I never cared about and never bothered to see until ultimate boredom one day brought me to this film.  While on its own it is not a ground breaking film, it is a very fun action movie and it is made with such a passion for the 1987 film which captured many people’s imagination.  It helps that it had one of the original producers of Predator returning, as well as having the skilled Robert Rodriguez as a producer.

The movie is about a planet that functions like a game preserve, bringing in warriors from earth (or deadly baddies from other planets) for the predators (awesome ass aliens) to hunt down for sport and for trophies.  What a simple concept, which is great because that means we don’t have anything convoluted story lines that are abundant in many a film.  That is not to say that you will not notice a plot hole or two, because there are a number of those, it just means that the story is simple and straight forward.  People with guns are brought to a planet to be hunted by aliens with guns.  Simple.  And the best part is, that is a simple plot that guarantees much action.

As we get the action sequences that we so desire, we also get a warm and comforting feeling of meeting up with an old friend.  This movie knows just how much the franchise had been ruined and seems to have been made as a love letter to the original and its fans.  The music and sound effects are all identical.  There are sequences that are straight out of Predator (tumbling down a hill and falling into water, knife fight with a predator).  As well, there are lines directly from the first movie.  None of these things are clunky and stand out, but are organically placed and woven into the movie so the die-hard fan can feel the love and nostalgia for the film that was an all-time action classic.  Some people who see it may believe they were just copying Predator, but I see it as a love note to the original and a way to reset the franchise back to its original tone and feel (if only Ridley Scott did that with Prometheus).

I had been worried that Adrien Brody would be an awful lead for this movie, as I did not think that one of the Gillette ‘Masters of Style’ would be a good action hero in a movie that was set to recapture the essence of 80s action.  I owe Mr. Brody an apology, because he was actually quite good in this sort of role.  I kind of rolled my eyes when I first heard him talk in a raspy tough guy voice, but before long I was loving it.  This film is not about taking itself seriously, but about having a great time while watching a brainless action movie.  The cast also had Danny Trejo (probably on account of Robert Rodriguez being attached to this film.  In fact, most of the producers had worked with Rodriguez before), Topher Grace, Lawrence Fishborne, and Oleg Tactarov (a cherry for the top of this sundae for fans of early mixed martial arts).

This film is in no way perfect, but it easily achieves the objective of entertaining the audience and does so by doing something that the last two movies involving predators have not done, and that is that it does not take a dump on what made these man-hunting aliens awesome to begin with.  If you find no place in your heart for mindless action movies, or if you think that such movies are stupid then you will have no clue why I am talking so greatly about this franchise.  However, if you grew up in the 80s watching the action movies it produced, or if you had your imagination seized by the 1987 Predator then you know where I am coming from.  This movie entertains, but it also re-acquaints us with an old friend and it does so with many a gun shot and explosion.

Rating – 3 out of 4 stars