BEFORE: From one Schwarzenegger-related franchise to another - and sticking with sci-fi for now. I finally took some time today to block out August's schedule, after looking up some key celebrity birthdays, the month kind of came together. I also picked the movie I most want to watch, though it might take me a week to get to it.
I won't link through "The Predator" - that's cheating. Fortunately Arnold was in "Red Heat" with Laurence Fishburne, who appears in tonight's film. Almost forgot about that one.
THE PLOT: A group of elite warriors are hunted by members of a merciless alien race known as Predators.
AFTER: It's a classic bit of science fiction: a number of characters wake up in a strange surrounding - in this case, a jungle - and have no idea how they got there. Are they in heaven, hell, or limbo? Who put them there? Is the situation real, or are they on drugs, or are they all sharing the same dream or experiment? Much like that classic Twilight Zone episode that was based on Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author". (Can I reference Pirandello in a "Predators" review? I guess I can!)
The truth here is far worse than any of those possibilities - these 8 people are on an alien planet, which also happens to be a game preserve. Essay question: Man - most dangerous game, or other white meat? But why THESE 8 people? Turns out they're a bunch of soldiers, criminals and mercenaries - to test the skills of the Predators. But aren't the humans here also "predators" in their own ways? So there's a double-meaning to the title? (Aren't we ALL predators, in essence, when you get right down to it?)
So, the group's challenge - figure out who is hunting them, how to strike back, and how to possibly get home. No easy task, considering the skills of the Predators - and they've had enough encounters with humans by this point to know what they're capable of.
Another film that's loaded with action, and there are lots of those great "He's right behind me, isn't he?" moments - but there was something special about the first Predator movie. You rarely saw the alien, so it was like "Jaws" in the jungle - here the aliens are front and center, so they're a little less special somehow. I also found it a little hard to follow, since so much of the film took place in the dark jungle, at times I couldn't even tell what was happening.
Still, a worthy addition to the franchise - better than the non-sensical "Alien vs. Predator" films.
Also starring Adrien Brody (last seen in "King Kong"), Topher Grace (last seen in "Valentine's Day"), Alice Braga (last seen in "Repo Men"), Walton Goggins (last seen in "Shanghai Noon"), Oleg Taktarov (last seen in "Miami Vice"), Danny Trejo (last seen in "Fanboys").
RATING: 5 out of 10 pit-traps
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