Uninspired & Predictable

Grade: C+

Predators

Indian Release Date: 06/08/10
CBFC Classification: A
Running Length: 1 Hour 46 Minutes

Cast: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Danny Trejo, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Laurence Fishburne
Director: Nimrod Antal
Screenplay: Alex Litvak & Michael Finch
Cinematography: Gyula Pados
Music: John Debney

“She says the jungle... it just came alive and took him.” – Poncho, Predator (1987)

John McTiernan’s 1987 Sci-Fi / Action flick ‘Predator’ will forever remain as one of the finest examples of the genre. Coming close on the heels of yet another classic flick, James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ (1986), ‘Predator’ combined elements of two genres to near perfection and created a nail-biting thriller that sizzled with tension & crackled with nervous energy. The atmosphere created by the near claustrophobic confines of the thick jungle in the first movie, combined with Alan Silvestre’s iconic background score, dripped heavily with tension. So even though the review is about the third direct entry into the stand-alone ‘Predator’ series, I will often use the original as a benchmark because the manner in which this movie’s made, its part-tribute, part-remake & part-sequel.   

In the opening sequence which literally begs you to forsake any apprehensions about this not being a testosterone induced thrill-ride, a man, Royce (Adrien Brody) regains consciousness to find himself mid-air. He’s plummeting to the ground at a very high speed and doesn’t seem to know what to do. Luckily his parachute opens in the nick of time & has a relatively harmless landing. Once on the ground he comes face to face with seven other characters;  
    
 
1.    Isabelle (Alice Braga) – An Israeli army sniper.
2.    Stans (Walter Goggins) – An American inmate on death row for raping women.
3.    Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov) -  A Russian special forces (Spetsnaz) soldier carrying a newer version of the          enormous mini-gun Blain (Jesse Ventura) did in the original
4.    Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) – An officer from the Sierra Leone R.U.F. army
5.    Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien) – A Yakuza enforcer
6.    Cuchillo (Danny Trejo) – A Mexican drug cartel enforcer
7.    Edwin (Topher Grace) – A doctor

Plus the eighth being Royce who’s a former military commando turned mercenary. Most of them are such vicious killers who wouldn’t think twice about slicing each other up if not for the unexplainable situation they find themselves in. They are forced to team up to figure out where they are & more importantly why. Answers come slowly & not before they, one by one start getting picked off by unseen creatures fondly known to moviegoers as Predators. Thus the rest of the movie plays out like a variation of the ‘Final Destination’ movies where death is certain for 90% of the cast but in what order & how, is the element, which the audience is left to lay their bets on.

Plot-wise the movie’s pretty slim and since much is already known about the Predators from previous cinematic appearances, there is little suspense left. The movie just shifts the action from Earth to another planet that still remarkably looks like Earth. Considering the thrilling opening sequence the movie ends up wasting an inordinate time in trying to setup an initial segment where all the characters do is walk around trying to figure out where they are & why are they there. This would have been fine if this were the first movie in the series or if something new and worthwhile had been told to us; but it’s more than content just following the path of the original. We still learn little of the Predators other than it being repeated how great hunters they are and their only aim in life seems to be to become even more adept. Wonder how exactly does the predator society function? Is hunting, a rich man’s sport there too?

Knowing Robert Rodriguez I was certain of one thing even before the movie came out; I was certain the C.G.I. work wouldn’t be able to match the best work in today’s date. Troublemaker Studios has always had this problem, you can clearly see this from the sub-standard special effects work in the ‘Spy Kids’ movies, ‘Sharkboy and Lavagirl’ and even last year’s ‘Shorts’. The effects aren’t sub-par throughout but in parts like the predator hounds, the shoddy work is more than evidently clear. There is however a glorious shot of the sky, showing the multiple heavenly bodies in close orbit around the planet. It’s an all together another fact that if the planet had so many natural satellites at such proximity, they would wreck havoc with the atmosphere and environment of the planet. But who cares bout such little details?

The design of the new Predators isn’t vastly different from the earlier ones; though the new ones look more menacing than the older, smaller ones. I liked the little reference to the ‘Alien’ series by having the main Predator wearing a xenomorph mandible on his mask. Their new modes of vision & cloaking mechanism greatly benefit, from new special effects.

There is almost no build-up to the dozen or so random shoot-up-fests that abound the movie’s script resulting in them turning into all noise and no excitement. You’d exactly be able to guess how the fight sequences are going to end. Unpredictability is not one of the movie’s fortes.     

The tributes to the original fly thick and fast. Right from the jungle setting to the large portions of the plot, certain action sequences (the waterfall jump and others) and even the finale, are all essentially rehashes of scenes from the first part. One of the reasons I liked ‘Predator 2’ (1990) was that they tried doing something different, in a different environment with a new set of characters that did not seem like inferior copies of the ones in the original. Yes the first sequel had its flaws but was a damn good movie in its own right. It’s a shame more people do not appreciate it.

Alan Silvestre’s iconic theme from the original plays only during the credits & I’d say not having the theme during the movie robs it of more than a little suspense.

One of the main reasons the original worked was because the movie started off as any other action movie about a Special Forces team sent in on a rescue mission. The initial raid on the guerilla camp in the jungle was thrilling as hell & by that time we knew the characters, so we had people to root for. When the shit hit the fan & the predator made its first proper appearance nearly forty minutes into the movie we wanted the team to survive & not to forget a highly charismatic Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Unlike the original, none of the characters comes close to root for; I mean whom would you choose between, an African warlord or a Mexican drug-lord or maybe a serial rapist? Plus none of the characters really share any camaraderie which only serves to make this motley crew of individuals rather unlikeable.

Adrien Brody is cast against type & essentially filling in for Arnold, does a surprisingly effective job. He’s suitably beefed up and his gruff tone adds a nice touch to the character. The rest of the cast is utterly forgettable with the exception of perhaps Laurence Fishburne as the insane Noland and Danny Trejo as the wise-cracking Cuchillo. The presence of Noland & his actions in the movie have almost no logic but Fishburne gives such a loony performance that it’s difficult not to laugh even when he’s trying to be serious. Too bad he’s barely around for a few scenes but he steals each and every one of them; though, funnily for someone who’s lived on an alien planet without a proper supply of food for nearly ten years, he looks extremely well fed.  

Director Nimrod Antal, who long back had made an amazingly tense Hungarian movie called ‘Kontroll’ (2003), knows how to craft a thriller. Unfortunately inspite of having the right ingredients here to cook up a truly pulsating action flick here, he instead chooses to go the tried and tested path; resulting in a movie that’s at best nothing more than a highly ordinary Sc-Fi / Action flick. Now with the groundwork laid out for a new franchise it’d be interesting to see where the already planned sequel goes; hope it’s more interested in being an original creation than an inferior tribute.

Final Verdict: Go watch the original on DVD and even watch the second one. Both are better than this uninspired & strictly mediocre effort.

Grade: C+

- Movie Review by Danish Bagdadi
 

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