With splatter-man Robert Rodriguez stepping into the producing shoes of another PREDATOR film, the stage seemed to be set for a solid revitalization of the franchise. The 1987 PREDATOR over time has become a classic, only to be followed up by a lame sequel and even lamer Predator vs. Alien spinoffs. PREDATORS, despite having ten zillion references (rip-offs) and a direct link to the original, a lot went wrong on the way, making this PREDATOR an unforgiveable bore.
A gaggle of badasses comprised of soldiers, mercenaries, convicts and murderers are abducted from Earth and whisked away to a game-preserve planet, where they are hunted by the Predators.
That one sentence just might be the shortest plot synopsis ever written by this blogger, and that’s really all there is to this film. It’s a cut and dry story of different folk from different walks of life put in a box and shaken up. The problem is when the box is opened after shaking, nothing of substance comes out. The characters seem to just exist to shoot things and swear a lot, and their interactions with each other are also light and very underdeveloped.
The lack of a real plot, or even a subplot, makes PREDATORS paper-thin. The pacing of the film suffers from our heroes (ha) wondering what is going on. The first and second acts drag on and on and on, and despite the fact that they are being hunted; there are no feelings of pending doom. The action scenes take a lot of pages out of the original film, and by the time they do roll around, a lot of interest has been lost.
With the exception of some shit-looking CGI alien-dogs, the visual effects are pretty good. The Predator creatures are nicely realized, as the filmmakers wisely stick to the practical costumes and masks. What the creatures actually get to do in the film is a little weak however, and they really don’t get utilized as much as they should be.
Adrien Brody gets most of the screentime and dialogue. His character, like all the others, is underdeveloped with no development. Lawrence Fishburne makes a short appearance that is confusing and weak, and Topher Grace’s character, despite having a few interesting turns, also falls short of anything resembling substance. Alice Braga’s character shows hints of depth, and she carries the role well in her limited action.
Director Nimrod Antal photographs everything in a dark tone which manages to create a barrier and makes it difficult to get wrapped up into things. The look of the film is really the smallest of problems, as there is an overall lack of emotion, energy, and most of all dread (not good for a “horror” film). It’s slightly better than PREDATOR 2, and any of the AVP films, but that’s not saying much at all. As a standalone it’s dull and lifeless.
BOTTOM LINE: Fuck it.
Alan, I agree almost wholeheartedly.
ReplyDeleteWhat did this add to the Predator story? Big preds hunt little ones and they all hunt anything they can on the game preserve. But why? Are they bored? Are they at the top of their food chain and have nothing else to do? Is it a tribal proving ground? Are they intergalactic SEALS and this is their test?
As for the characters...it felt as though there should have been more. More about them, more for them to do....something, ANYTHING.
A few things stand out: The Yakuza's fight, the glimpse of the mining vehicle, the old-school 80's action movie feel (tons of ammo!!!)
15 minutes. I think there's 15 minutes of film somewhere that makes the plot and characters much more than they were.
And Topher's twist was the least necessary plot development in HISTORY.