Predators (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
'Predators' (directed by Nimrod Antal) is based on the Arnold Schwarzenegger film from 1987 ('Predator'). But it ain't no 'Predator'. The set-up for the movie has 8 elite warriors (trained to kill without conscience) are stranded on a 'game preserve planet', where they are being hunted by merciless aliens for sport. Dumped into the cast jungle of this far away world, their goal is simple: survive. This is made difficult by the fact that their massive weapons still aren't powerful enough to take-out the aliens; and they can glide around invisibly, anyway. Royce (Academy Award winner, Adrien Brody), the ex-special ops mercinary human leader, decides that avoiding predators isn't the best idea when it comes to surviving (in the long run).
Others in this group of 8 include: army sniper, Isabelle (Alice Braga), the only female - or person with a conscience, Edwin (Topher Grace), a disgraced doctor whose intentions are muddled, Stans (Walter Coggins), a death row convict, & other undesirables played by Louis Ozawa Changchien, Oleg Taktarov, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, & Danny Trejo. Oh, & Laurence Fishburne shows up in an odd cameo. One by one, the original eight dwindles down to 2 {good, most of them are deplorable, haha}. Can they survive, defeat the grotesque predators, & find a way back to planet Earth? I think you can guess the answers.
I just found 'Predators' to be blah -- blah, within the confines of this type of genre. The story is nothing unique. Watching each member of the 8 person team get terrified by, and then get killed by said predators becomes redundant. The dialogue is laughable; and ohh, since its rated R already, let's integrate the word "fu*k" into the beginning, middle, and/or end of every sentence - yeah, that's great - just what I want to hear, non-stop. The pacing of the film is uneven. Most of the characters annoyed the hell out of me. Adrien Brody sure gained muscle mass for this role, but he was somewhat unconvincing as the mercinary leader. Alice Braga; well, she does nothing for me. The predators look awesome, but I don't really understand what motivates them to use humans for sport.
Not all of it is bad. Some of the action is thrilling. The design of the predators are, as usual, intricate & horrifying. The set locales (actually, in Hawaii & Texas) are pretty neat. And it's a film in which you can turn off your brain, sit back, & get an adrenaline rush from the preposterous jungle mayhem. That said, the stupidity of it all, and again, a general feeling of 'blah' keeps me from recommending it. 'Predators' starts promisingly (like most movies), but it dissipates towards the end; and I hated the way the last 2 minutes or so were filmed. I suppose that uninspired is the word I'd use to describe 'Predators'. It could have been a lot better.
Others in this group of 8 include: army sniper, Isabelle (Alice Braga), the only female - or person with a conscience, Edwin (Topher Grace), a disgraced doctor whose intentions are muddled, Stans (Walter Coggins), a death row convict, & other undesirables played by Louis Ozawa Changchien, Oleg Taktarov, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, & Danny Trejo. Oh, & Laurence Fishburne shows up in an odd cameo. One by one, the original eight dwindles down to 2 {good, most of them are deplorable, haha}. Can they survive, defeat the grotesque predators, & find a way back to planet Earth? I think you can guess the answers.
I just found 'Predators' to be blah -- blah, within the confines of this type of genre. The story is nothing unique. Watching each member of the 8 person team get terrified by, and then get killed by said predators becomes redundant. The dialogue is laughable; and ohh, since its rated R already, let's integrate the word "fu*k" into the beginning, middle, and/or end of every sentence - yeah, that's great - just what I want to hear, non-stop. The pacing of the film is uneven. Most of the characters annoyed the hell out of me. Adrien Brody sure gained muscle mass for this role, but he was somewhat unconvincing as the mercinary leader. Alice Braga; well, she does nothing for me. The predators look awesome, but I don't really understand what motivates them to use humans for sport.
Not all of it is bad. Some of the action is thrilling. The design of the predators are, as usual, intricate & horrifying. The set locales (actually, in Hawaii & Texas) are pretty neat. And it's a film in which you can turn off your brain, sit back, & get an adrenaline rush from the preposterous jungle mayhem. That said, the stupidity of it all, and again, a general feeling of 'blah' keeps me from recommending it. 'Predators' starts promisingly (like most movies), but it dissipates towards the end; and I hated the way the last 2 minutes or so were filmed. I suppose that uninspired is the word I'd use to describe 'Predators'. It could have been a lot better.