5/ PREDATORS. 2010. DIRECTED BY NIMROD ANTAL.
Produced by the acclaimed Robert Rodriguez no less. Predators follows a mismatched team of soldiers and criminals (including Adrian Brody, Laurence Fishburne and Danny Trejo) find themselves trapped on an alien planet. They soon discover that this planet is a game preserve for a group of bigger and meaner predators. Predators that hunt other predators. It’s up to the prey to fight back, before they become yet another trophy in the predator’s collection.
Unlike Predator 2, Predators does fall into the trap of same-stuff-different-film. Outside of the alien planet and “berserker predator” plot-points, this is basically a re-tread and update of the original. Not to mention the film’s pacing is way too quick. It’s 90 minutes long, but it only feels like 50. It’s definitely one of the few films that I feel should have been longer. But as updates go, Predators is far from bad. The action is exciting. The characters, while one-dimensional are still interesting and likable. The directing is chaotic and awesome. The “berserker predators” (when they finally lose the masks) do look a bit too under-designed and silly. But with the masks on they are a pretty big threat. And it looks amazing, which is very impressive considering the small budget.
It’s an easy one to put on and enjoy. I know I’m going to anger a few people with this next comment. I do actually think that Predators does do some things better than the original did. Namely in its action scenes. If it was given a longer runtime to flesh out the world and characters a bit more, then Predators could very well have become a modern sci-fi action classic. But as is, it’s a well-made and extremely enjoyable action film. If you haven’t seen it already, check it out. You might find you’ve been missing out.
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