By Todd Murphy
BOTTOM LINE: After 23 years, Hollywood has finally made a worthy sequel to the cult classic, despite lacking some of the colour, character, thrills and mystery of the original.
THE GOOD: From the outset it is clear that director Nimrod Antal knew exactly what made the original Predator so good; wasting no time whatsoever, the film opens with a dramatic free fall for character Royce (Adrien Brody) as he regains consciousness while plummeting from the sky and lands in a jungle courtesy of an attached parachute. He is joined soon after by a band of other tough people who have been similarly dropped in to this jungle. Before long, this group who distrust each other come to recognise they are in the same situation, and as they start to help each other, they realise that they are on another planet and that something is hunting them. Going back to the jungle setting was the right thing, but the idea of creating an alien planet where the Predators deposit their game is a cool take on the story. It allows for the kinds of situations that we saw in the original film, but is free to explore some new territory. The first attack sequence by Predator dogs is fascinating, as are some of the hunting trap sequences. The film also does not take the easy option of slamming in wall-to-wall action, but rather takes its time to develop the characters and the situation. There are some nice touches, including different variations of Predators, a great Samurai-style fight and an intriguing final battle. The subplots involving Laurence Fishburne and Topher Grace are quite fresh for this story, and add a different slant to the proceedings. Even the music score closely adheres to Alan Silvestri's original music. "Predators" is a worthy sequel to the cult classic; monster-fighting fun wrapped inside a well executed high concept plot.
THE BAD: Being a sequel, the film unfortunately has lost some of the flavour of the original. Although the characters are quite good, they do not have the colour that the cast of the original film had. The amount of Predator action is also less than expected, particularly in the first half, and given the film has a plural title, you would be right to expect more; as a result, the film at times plays more like a remake than a sequel. The thrills and sci-fi mystery are diluted as well; the death scenes do not seem uniquely shocking or scary, and the sci-fi mystery that created a sense of awe and wonder in the first film is absent. It may just be that we have already seen this scenario so it loses its effect.
For the original review, follow this link: http://www.allaboutmovies.net/filmreviewpredators.htm
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After all the past flops using the Predator franchise, this one finally lived up as a competent follow-up to the original.
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