Predators

Predator Survives, 14 July 2010

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom


*** This review may contain spoilers ***


The original "Predator" with ,Arnold Shwarzenegger, is now 23 years old, its sequel 10 years old. So reinventing the premise of the story had the advantage that a whole load of new sci-fi monster movie fans will be unaware of its existence, and could be sold to afresh, and the disadvantage that its original audience had long since left it behind. This third effort succeeds because the basis of the story is still good, and has been modernised ,with even better special effects. Although formulaic in plot, it does still deliver, and stays just the right side of kitsch.

Adrian Brody convincingly takes Arnie's place as a mercenary who finds himself mysteriously parachuted into an unknown jungle with assorted desperadoes . He quickly discovers that the jungle is not friendly in a pleasingly thoughtful , and understated performance. Disconcertingly the open quarter of an hour seems like an out take from "Lost", but as soon as the monsters appear we return to familiar action ground.

An early mini-dinosaur attack nods to Jurassic park, a derelict spaceship is reminiscent of Aliens, and the showdown with THE Predators is an homage to the original. Innovation is in short supply here, but the genre themes are well explored and well executed. The studiously diverse multi-racial cast is a bit too knowing for my liking with snapshots of lazy racial stereotyping marginally irritating. The first half works better than the second, with the break point being when they discover a human survivor holed up in a wrecked spacecraft. At that point the "Chase" finishes, and the story suffers, even though the action ramps up.

The cinematography is excellent throughout, and the musical score is traditional, but superb. The idea of an alien planet upon which a technologically superior race predates on humans for fun has more mileage in it which will no doubt be explored in the fourth of the series which must surely come after this