Predators

If I wanted to use a strong word, I’d probably use "disappointment" first, but "wasted potential" seems more appropriate with hindsight. Antal is talented, there’s no denying it because for two hours I felt like I was watching unadulterated 1980s carnage. It’s aided by good cinematography, and Debney’s brilliant soundtrack (those native drums just work even twenty-three years later). The present bunch is worse. True, I can't expect psychological miniatures, but... damn, couldn't it have been stretched for a few more minutes so we could learn a little more about them? There are all sorts of excuses for this, such as the fact that action movies were made this way when the first film was made. But what do you do with one random survivor and a nutcase with a scalpel? It’s also hard to love a film where I have to hit my head a lot to shake the memory of any significant action out of it. In that regard, I'll be eagerly awaiting the Director's Cut on DVD. Until then, it gets a hesitant 3 ½ stars. PS: The first half earns five stars. (2010-07-09)

A tribute to the old films with all the trimmings. The slightly identical structure of the plot (a group of mercenaries, dying one by one, etc.) bothered me, but that’s probably the only flaw. The action starts right in the first seconds of the film, it has brilliant one-liners, solidly outlined characters, and the Adrien Brody is brutally cool, to the point where I didn't even want to believe it. The old good music, original sounds, and pleasantly “restored” effects, with their backbone still original, and even better. (2010-07-23)

I only saw the original two Predators from afar, so this movie was basically a Predator premiere for me. I can't say I didn't like it, but on the other hand, I can't say I was impressed either. The creatures in the film are all very well done, the music was great to enhance the atmosphere, and the actors were mostly good (I didn't really care for Adrien Brody as the capo, but that's just my opinion). Most of the scares were pretty predictable, so the scare portion was not exceptionally filled. In short, an average American-produced action sci-fi flick that benefits mostly from its predecessors. (2010-12-26)

Too bad there wasn’t more money, it could have been a great picture. Anyway, it’s made by fans, for fans, and that really showed on Predators. Blood, even the green kind, flows in copious amounts, there’s a thousand and one snappy lines, and, most importantly, it honors the original. Adrien Brody is ripped, I wasn’t expecting such a scrawny little guy to get in shape like this (maybe it’s time for me to hit the gym, if he can do it, why can’t I? :D) and his Royce is the classic type of soldier that you can’t help but fall in love with. The same goes for Oleg Taktarov and the Yakuza guy. A mention belongs to Topher Grace, who spiced the whole cast up very nicely. But casting Laurence Fishburne was a big mistake, he spoiled the whole middle of the movie. He wasn’t the right guy for the Noland character and overall held the movie back. Antal did a fine job, and thanks to him everything runs like clockwork, and the whole movie flows along nicely. This is also thanks to John Debney, who utilizes every last note of Silvestri’s original score, subtly embellishing it here and there for a more modern fit. P.S.: I wish I could say that more often about other translators too, but alas I cannot. (2010-08-20)

Antal has an incredible sensitivity for getting that eighties feeling right, in the end Brody surprisingly doesn’t seem like Arnie’s androgynous embryo (in the ending sequence his muscle-bound body was particularly impressive... or else CGI technology is much more advanced that I thought) and so only the more expensive half away from the jungle is the only thing that spoils it; not that it’s outright bad, but it lags far behind the first half in terms of quality. In the better half, it’s so good that it is better than the original. (2010-07-09)