Talk us through itA group of eight people wake up parachuting into an unknown jungle. They have no idea how they came to be in this situation or what the scenario is that they find themselves in. This changes pretty quickly when they discover they are no longer in Kansas, are attacked by a pack of weird looking dogs, and run into a survivor from a previous aerial landing. Please note trying to avoid the lethal spoilers here. Our mix and match unit learn they are in a private hunting preserve and they are the game rather than the hunters. As numbers start to dwindle, due to a Yautja pack, plans are made to try and survive and to get off what becomes apparently clear is an alien planet. Can a team of cold blooded killers from earth overcome the most feared killers in the universe? This time it's total war!
Review“This planet is a game reserve. And we're the game.“ - RoyceI'm a tragic when it comes to either Alien or Predator movies and tend to go and see each entry in either franchise as soon as it opens. Clearly this has lead to some extreme disappointment in the past few years as Fox Studios has tumbled from one bad idea to the next without apparently wanting to work out why there is a fan base for the franchises. Make it and they will come has proven to be a bit of a disaster recently with older movie goers avoiding badly received entries and the hopeful next generation not heeding Fox's call to arms. Can't say I can blame people really, those AvP outings were diabolically inane. [Editor's Note: Yet he owns the DVDs]. So with perhaps a last gasp effort to reinvigorate the Predator franchise and Robert Rodriquez at the helm how did the latest film, Predators, pan out? Right from the first Predator POV, with associated alien sound bites, I knew I was in good hands. Finally a Director, and let's not forget Rodriquez driving things, who understands where the fan base is coming from and what we expect to see in a franchise film. Forget hocus pocus by sometime dark genre Directors and Fanboi film makers, this was the real deal. The unseen menace, the feeling of odds being so far stack against the human victims it wasn't funny, and the share tenacity of the lead characters to somehow survive a situation they had very little chance of comprehending, was all there. Nimrod Antal understood why we were sitting in the cinema and delivered exactly what we were expecting to see. Finally Fox have got it right, a return to the breeding grounds of the macho orientated Predator universe! The movie is going to be slightly slow for some viewers, there was grumblings from the bogan element as the end credits came up, character development is not what those people had come to see and they should really stick to the Twilight movies in all honesty. Through the first act things are on a slow simmer, if we excuse the Predator Dog attack, as the characters find each other and start to learn about their new found environment. The Audience get to know each of our eight human prey and if I had never seen a Predator movie before I would have been intrigued by what Director Antal was carefully constructing. His characters don't know how they came to free fall into an unknown jungle and are only interested in determining what is going down and more importantly how to get out of dodge. It's an engrossing start to the movie and Antal plays up the lush nature of his location as things gradually become more apparent, here the Audience are clearly way ahead of the characters. It's a jaw dropping moment when we discover we are on an alien planet, simply excellent use of CGI and backdrop to bring that home in the best example of bringing things into focus since we discovered Pandora was a moon orbiting a large planet. Antal mixes character development and audience sympathy with a truly inspiring use of backdrops and computer generated effects. Interestingly the Producers don't rely on making things too alien, a welcome relief. Antal keeps the focus either tightly on his protagonists or taking in long shots of the environment they are in. We never get the feeling that the jungle has closed them into the immediate, the Director is saving the claustrophobic moments for the second block, and brother do they work in the enclosed spaces of a derelict space ship. When the action goes down, and Antal isn't saving the horses there, things get fast and ferocious without the need for the sort of kinetic camera shenanigans that make a lot of action scenes pretty much unwatchable. The Director hits a high with sharp angles, multiple views, and always keeping the Audience aware of what is going down when the action gets off the leash. The final block of Predators is one heck of an adrenaline ride that is unapologetic as the testosterone flies off the screen. I was high fiving people I didn't know in the Audience as things hit a crescendo of metal meeting the flesh moments. 
The Producers miss one of the pitfalls of recent Alien/Predator movies by introducing some new creature designs to have us grooving along to. Here I'm doing my best to forget the “newborn” (Alien Resurrection) and the “predalien” (AvPR)> which were regrettable developments at the best of times. The Predator Dogs rocked the house down, all teeth and fury, and the new Predator design had me drooling into my popcorn. Antal presents us with the traditional Predator look and then dwarfs it with a far darker larger Predator that ups the menace scale till it hits defcon 5 on your coolness meter. Seems the traditional Predators are also the prey of a larger more deadly version of the intergalactic hunters. I was loving the new designs and wasn't expect them in the movie to be honest, I would have been satisfied with traditional Predators. We get three new look Predators that are simply wicked good. Full marks to the creature design crew for throwing something on my plate that had me rushing the screen demanding more slow mos and focus on the new designs. Hands down complete winner there and worth the price of admission alone. If you thought the original Predators were the meanest mofos on the street, well meet big brother! Please note I've excluded stills featuring the new designs as I believe everyone needs something new to see on their cinema diet. As stated somewhere above or maybe that was in my head, there were a couple of twists in Predators that caught me completely off guard and added depth to the whole experience. Don't try and work them out as the movie progresses, the enjoyment is in something unexpected coming your way just when you think everything is cut and dry. One early plot foreshadowing didn't quite go in the direction I thought it was going to go, full marks to the script writers for blind siding me there. And before you ask, if a movie is good enough I submerse myself in it without playing the "what's going to happen" game. I leapt off a high diving board and went in deep with Predators, actually I'm probably still waiting to surface. I'm running out of room here and don't want to hit epic proportions in this review, I'll save that for the DVD “Director's Cut”, besides which I would kind of like to get this one published sooner rather than later. So one final point and we'll hit the normal before calling it a wrap. [Editor's Note: The word limit is 1,200 amigo, you are well past your allotment here already]. To a certain extent Predators can be viewed as an attempt to reboot the Predator franchise. This would be a real “reboot” as opposed to the bogus nonsense being thrown about in regards a Spiderman reboot. How exactly do you reboot a franchise that has had three consecutive blockbusters? You don't, it doesn't need rebooting in any shape or form, lazy reporting. Anyway Predators very much brings to mind the original Predator movie where Arnie sorted things out for us. Similar plots, a group of heavily armed dudes and one dudette in the jungle facing a merciless enemy. We even get the one dude deciding his fate and honour rested on facing the Predator alone, excellent homage right there and I for one really dug the yakuza warrior. I was left wondering about the movie title, is Predators to Predator what Aliens was to Alien. More is better or something? A point to ponder I guess in those long nights while we await the invariable follow up movie, I'm predicting a World Wide hit for Predators by the way. Adrien Brody (Royce) was exactly right for his role and really brought across the mercenary aspect of his character and the knowing more than is apparent. Brody is all over things and surprisingly works as an action character. Alice Braga (Isabelle) brought it home for the ladies, and was another bridge to the original movie. Braga hits the right notes and had me nodding my head in appreciation. Don't worry I wont cover the whole cast here though Topher Grace (Edwin) and a cameoing Laurence Fishburne (Noland) are worth a mention. Every single actor here is delivering into the mix. Alan Silvestri, who did the score for the original Predator movie, was approached but declined the invitation due to prior commitments leaving the door open for John Debney with an assist from Mr Rodriquez to dazzle us with the soundscape. Debney did the right thing and gave us a modern update to the original score, it rocked the house down with Antal's visuals being in very safe hands. On a side note Little Richard's “Long Tall Sally”, used on the end credits here, was also on the soundtrack of Predator. It's a trivial pursuit question waiting to happen kids, you can thank me later. Final thought for gorefans, hell yeah! Caregivers with small children, as opposed to some of the morons in my session, be warned this isn't one to take the pre-teen set along to. There's be-headings, limbs being severed, and all manner of deaths. We're not talking gorenography but it gets pretty fruity.
Summary ExecutionIt's been a long wait between drinks for yours truly but finally a Predator movie we in the dark genre film club can stand proudly behind. While not as good as the original Predators still packs a punch and delivered on what I was hoping for. I was ready to be disappointed once again but am happy to report things are back to the bright side of excellent in the Predator universe. Finally a Director who understands slow build ups work in dark genre flicks, you don't have to show all your stuff in the first five minutes. Am I going to catch the movie again, hell yeah, am I going to invest in the DVD, betcha arse I will. I'm so hyped at the moment that I'm seriously thinking of throwing the first two Predator movies on the player before hitting another session of Predators!I caught the first session of Predators on opening day, damn there's something seriously wrong with watching a full on action flick this early in the daily schedule, so have limited box office info at the moment. Early figures from Oz show the film making something north of 700k on opening day, with Predators kicking off in fourth spot. That's a good result thus far for the movie in this market, fingers crossed for the rest of the weekend. For anyone wondering The Horseman opened at two locations and it's a total disaster for the local revenge flick. If you, like myself, dig the whole Alien/Predator thing then Predators is a must see movie. You are going to be extremely disappointed if you don't catch this one on the big screen. A solid return to excellent dark genre film making that has revived my flagging interest in the Hollywood product. Hunt this movie out and prey on it's machinations, Predators shows Fox hitting form finally on a keynote franchise.
ScaryMinds Rates this movie as ... The odd issue overcome by share movie magic, the Predator movie we have been waiting half our lives for.
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