I think that may have been it. I watched it again today and I saw it and thought maybe it could be.
"Predators" Discuss/Grade (Spoilers)
- Thread starter nx1701g
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I think that may have been it. I watched it again today and I saw it and thought maybe it could be.
No a Pred-alien would've been cool. I didn't care for the Black Predators. I hated how the jaw jutted out from the mask.
Predators
Rated R: For CGI blood, language and Adrien Brody's mud-covered abs.
My Grade: C+
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Adrien Brody as a gruff, hardened, chiseled-soldier. I'll let you sit on that for a moment or two. If that concept computes with you then this movie is for you, it doesn't compute with me so this movie was hard to swallow. It's also hilarious to me this movie was directed by man with the name "Nimrod." Couldn't be more apt. This movie plays out like a direct-to-video or SciFi Movie of the Week that, somehow, made it into theaters. The characters are stock and cliched, characters somehow figure things out or know things there's no logical reason for them to know, and things kind-of happen just because with no real reason or logic given. This is Predators.
The movie begins as our... "action hero" is falling from the sky in a parachute and he lands in a jungle, after some encounters with people who're apparently trained to shoot at anything that's moving without first determining its intent or who it is. Are characters also lack peripheral vision as characters are revealed to audience in places where they should have been seen by other characters. Whatever, movie.
Anyway, our characters consist of the fairly usual stock band of heroes for any action movie. There's Adrien Brody who's our tough, hardened, military soldier. There's the woman who's some-sort-of higher-end trained killer/soldier, there's a mercenary/killer from Africa, a death-row inmate, a TJ "mobster"/merc, another soldier who apparently can carry a 500-lb weapon that is set to God Mode, a Asian organized crime man, and then there's a wimpy-assed doctor guy. (I forget their names, not good with them and the sound in my theater sucked so not much was clear as everyone in this movie talks like they've got a mouth full of peanut butter.)
Or wacky group of forced-together characters soon find out they're on an alien planet (where it's apparently summer since it has a bizarre day-centric diurnal cycle) with creature that want to kill them but are apparently not very good at it. Seriously. A devil-creature of a Klingon targ and the wolf-monsters from Avatar attack a character and has him trapped and mounted for a couple minutes. The guy gets some bruises and scratches. But it's OK, because our characters fire their guns at creatures three-feet away and manage to hit not a dammed thing, it's possible they're en Basic for the Imperial Guard.
Anyway they deduce (mostly by lucky guessing) that they're in a game preserve as the "game" being hunted by the cloaking "Predators" from the original movie. The Predators, it seems, have advanced their technology a bit in the intervening time but not enough to make their heat-sensors distinguish between a 98* human and a 1000* fire, or to see through mud. It's OK, the humans haven't figured out how to put heat-sensors on their high-tech rifle scopes. (But they have invented God-Mode ammunition clips.)
Our characters stumble through the jungle, apparently thinking that it's better to be in a place filled with with trees, wet lands, and plenty of places for predators to hide rather than staying in the many clearings they stumble across. They find another man who's been there for a while and has gone crazy, and Adrien decides he wants to jack himself an alien spaceship and fly home! Seriously.
God, I fucking hate Adrien Brody. I mean he's an okay enough actor in more serious drama pieces but dude isn't an action star. He's just not. Near the end he's shirtless and covered in mud and he doesn't quite pull it off, certainly not compared to Schwarz. in the original. And the guy talks with a gruff voice because he's supposed to be this bad-assed gruff and hardened soldier. He come across more like Ross Geller thinking he's awesome because he took a couple karate classes at the Y and then screams when Rachel and Phoebe jump out from behind his own living room curtains. Dude just isn't an action hero and I didn't buy his character or his "bas assed soldier" voice or act either. The rest of the cast is serviceable in their roles even though one reveal came as almost no surprise to me and I'm still not clear what happened there. Probably the best character is the Triad guy who although doesn't say much comes across as the best character simply from his presence and he pays off in a great sword-on-sword battle with a Predator.
There's also a nice, almost, District 9-ian moment between Brody and a captured Predator that, well, doesn't pay-off quite as well as it should have. Whatever.
Action is decent, effects are good, music is lame (esp. the ending credits "theme") and the whole movie just, to me, felt like an overblown SciFi Channel movie-of-the-week or something you'd find on Pay-Per-View. It pales to The Human Centipede. Worth seeing? Eh, maybe. Not something I'd say to see in theaters, maybe worth a RedBox on OnDemand rental but hardly a movie one needs to rush-out to see, even though it's better than the Alien v. Predator movies but that's not saying much.
Eh, at least Adrien didn't fuck one of the predators.
Rated R: For CGI blood, language and Adrien Brody's mud-covered abs.
My Grade: C+
----------------------------------------------------------
Adrien Brody as a gruff, hardened, chiseled-soldier. I'll let you sit on that for a moment or two. If that concept computes with you then this movie is for you, it doesn't compute with me so this movie was hard to swallow. It's also hilarious to me this movie was directed by man with the name "Nimrod." Couldn't be more apt. This movie plays out like a direct-to-video or SciFi Movie of the Week that, somehow, made it into theaters. The characters are stock and cliched, characters somehow figure things out or know things there's no logical reason for them to know, and things kind-of happen just because with no real reason or logic given. This is Predators.
The movie begins as our... "action hero" is falling from the sky in a parachute and he lands in a jungle, after some encounters with people who're apparently trained to shoot at anything that's moving without first determining its intent or who it is. Are characters also lack peripheral vision as characters are revealed to audience in places where they should have been seen by other characters. Whatever, movie.
Anyway, our characters consist of the fairly usual stock band of heroes for any action movie. There's Adrien Brody who's our tough, hardened, military soldier. There's the woman who's some-sort-of higher-end trained killer/soldier, there's a mercenary/killer from Africa, a death-row inmate, a TJ "mobster"/merc, another soldier who apparently can carry a 500-lb weapon that is set to God Mode, a Asian organized crime man, and then there's a wimpy-assed doctor guy. (I forget their names, not good with them and the sound in my theater sucked so not much was clear as everyone in this movie talks like they've got a mouth full of peanut butter.)
Or wacky group of forced-together characters soon find out they're on an alien planet (where it's apparently summer since it has a bizarre day-centric diurnal cycle) with creature that want to kill them but are apparently not very good at it. Seriously. A devil-creature of a Klingon targ and the wolf-monsters from Avatar attack a character and has him trapped and mounted for a couple minutes. The guy gets some bruises and scratches. But it's OK, because our characters fire their guns at creatures three-feet away and manage to hit not a dammed thing, it's possible they're en Basic for the Imperial Guard.
Anyway they deduce (mostly by lucky guessing) that they're in a game preserve as the "game" being hunted by the cloaking "Predators" from the original movie. The Predators, it seems, have advanced their technology a bit in the intervening time but not enough to make their heat-sensors distinguish between a 98* human and a 1000* fire, or to see through mud. It's OK, the humans haven't figured out how to put heat-sensors on their high-tech rifle scopes. (But they have invented God-Mode ammunition clips.)
Our characters stumble through the jungle, apparently thinking that it's better to be in a place filled with with trees, wet lands, and plenty of places for predators to hide rather than staying in the many clearings they stumble across. They find another man who's been there for a while and has gone crazy, and Adrien decides he wants to jack himself an alien spaceship and fly home! Seriously.
God, I fucking hate Adrien Brody. I mean he's an okay enough actor in more serious drama pieces but dude isn't an action star. He's just not. Near the end he's shirtless and covered in mud and he doesn't quite pull it off, certainly not compared to Schwarz. in the original. And the guy talks with a gruff voice because he's supposed to be this bad-assed gruff and hardened soldier. He come across more like Ross Geller thinking he's awesome because he took a couple karate classes at the Y and then screams when Rachel and Phoebe jump out from behind his own living room curtains. Dude just isn't an action hero and I didn't buy his character or his "bas assed soldier" voice or act either. The rest of the cast is serviceable in their roles even though one reveal came as almost no surprise to me and I'm still not clear what happened there. Probably the best character is the Triad guy who although doesn't say much comes across as the best character simply from his presence and he pays off in a great sword-on-sword battle with a Predator.
There's also a nice, almost, District 9-ian moment between Brody and a captured Predator that, well, doesn't pay-off quite as well as it should have. Whatever.
Action is decent, effects are good, music is lame (esp. the ending credits "theme") and the whole movie just, to me, felt like an overblown SciFi Channel movie-of-the-week or something you'd find on Pay-Per-View. It pales to The Human Centipede. Worth seeing? Eh, maybe. Not something I'd say to see in theaters, maybe worth a RedBox on OnDemand rental but hardly a movie one needs to rush-out to see, even though it's better than the Alien v. Predator movies but that's not saying much.
Eh, at least Adrien didn't fuck one of the predators.
Guess I'd give it an "average." Like pretty much everyone else said, it starts out well, and it's kinda fun seeing everyone piece together the situation they're in... but once the Predators actually show up things get pretty dull and predictable.
But to be honest I think that has more to do with the fact that there's just NOTHING new you can really do with these guys. The whole Predator concept is completely fucking played out by now, and setting the action on another planet doesn't really change that (although maybe it would have helped if it actually looked like an alien planet).
I'm also thinking they could have found some more intimidating mercenary types than they did. At the very least, in a movie like this, you need some larger than life, muscle-bound badasses to root for. But the only one I was really dying to see kick some ass was Trejo, and he got dispatched pretty quickly.
But to be honest I think that has more to do with the fact that there's just NOTHING new you can really do with these guys. The whole Predator concept is completely fucking played out by now, and setting the action on another planet doesn't really change that (although maybe it would have helped if it actually looked like an alien planet).
I'm also thinking they could have found some more intimidating mercenary types than they did. At the very least, in a movie like this, you need some larger than life, muscle-bound badasses to root for. But the only one I was really dying to see kick some ass was Trejo, and he got dispatched pretty quickly.
Average
It's better than Predator 2, AVP and AVP:R, but I guess that's not exactly high praise...
What I liked:
- The setting on an alien world led to some interesting locales, though there was room for more creativity.
- Some of the music is taken from the original, which was a nice nod to the fans.
- Action scenes were well produced.
- Some graphic gore for horror fans.
What I didn't like:
- Some of the dialogue was cringe-worthy, especially from the deathrow guy trying to recreate the sexual banter of the original.
- The characters, especially Royce, seemed to buy into their role on this alien world a bit too easily.
- Those predator dogs, I think they were taking the 'hunter' aspect of their culture a bit too far.
- That uber-Predator with the massive jaw. Didn't seem to be much too it except that it was the leader.
- We finally see another humanoid species, and then we learn absolutely nothing about it.
- I figured at the end, since Royce and... female lead (I didn't get her name) had won, they'd be taken home as a sign of honor and respect. They're just left there for another sequel presumably.
It's better than Predator 2, AVP and AVP:R, but I guess that's not exactly high praise...
What I liked:
- The setting on an alien world led to some interesting locales, though there was room for more creativity.
- Some of the music is taken from the original, which was a nice nod to the fans.
- Action scenes were well produced.
- Some graphic gore for horror fans.
What I didn't like:
- Some of the dialogue was cringe-worthy, especially from the deathrow guy trying to recreate the sexual banter of the original.
- The characters, especially Royce, seemed to buy into their role on this alien world a bit too easily.
- Those predator dogs, I think they were taking the 'hunter' aspect of their culture a bit too far.
- That uber-Predator with the massive jaw. Didn't seem to be much too it except that it was the leader.
- We finally see another humanoid species, and then we learn absolutely nothing about it.
- I figured at the end, since Royce and... female lead (I didn't get her name) had won, they'd be taken home as a sign of honor and respect. They're just left there for another sequel presumably.
Can't be worse than Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) playing a marine in Blow. I don't have a problem with Brody in action mode. James Spader can buff up for a sci fi action film too.
This was a movie, however. And I think Brody was over-acting it a bit. I just didn't buy him as this gruff, war-hardened military man.
Above Average
Glad to see another solo Predator film out and one that stays within the franchise. Word was this was going to be a remake or re-imagine but with dialogue in the movie it clearly is in line with the others.
I agree with others Adrian Brody managed to convince me he was a strategic bad ass. Something I initially had some minor bias about but he won me over.
I agree there was an Alien skull cooking in the fire pit at the Pred camp.
I also like that we finally saw another type of aliens body after 30 years. Given time maybe we'll find out what they are.
There may be some quotables from this film but some more viewing is in order.
I know I'm in a small minority but I do want a third AvP film.
Given how Predators ended I'm hoping a Predator 4 comes along soon. This film had a good showing. Estimates have it at $25m on a $40m budget to place third for its opening weekend.
Glad to see another solo Predator film out and one that stays within the franchise. Word was this was going to be a remake or re-imagine but with dialogue in the movie it clearly is in line with the others.
I agree with others Adrian Brody managed to convince me he was a strategic bad ass. Something I initially had some minor bias about but he won me over.
I agree there was an Alien skull cooking in the fire pit at the Pred camp.
I also like that we finally saw another type of aliens body after 30 years. Given time maybe we'll find out what they are.
There may be some quotables from this film but some more viewing is in order.
I know I'm in a small minority but I do want a third AvP film.
Given how Predators ended I'm hoping a Predator 4 comes along soon. This film had a good showing. Estimates have it at $25m on a $40m budget to place third for its opening weekend.
Yeah I was surprised to see a pretty big crowd at my theater too.
But if there is another Predator movie, I really think they're going to have to change some things up. Perhaps show us one of their previous visits to Earth (such as during the Civil War, which I think one of the comics did). Or have these Predators wiped out and replaced with a newer, bigger threat that operates in a completely different way or something.
Because right now, things have just gotten WAY too freakin predictable.
But if there is another Predator movie, I really think they're going to have to change some things up. Perhaps show us one of their previous visits to Earth (such as during the Civil War, which I think one of the comics did). Or have these Predators wiped out and replaced with a newer, bigger threat that operates in a completely different way or something.
Because right now, things have just gotten WAY too freakin predictable.
Yeah we basically thought that was about it, and it isn't really the sort of quote you want to throw around out of context either!
I voted "Below Average".
Frankly, I was bored. I found the characters unengaging, the story uninteresting, the special-effects unimpressive, and the action scenes unexciting.
In my first post, I mentioned Marion Zimmer Bradley's Hunters of the Red Moon. There were some weird parallels between that novel and this movie...
I'm not saying that the screenwriter actually plagiarized Zimmer Bradley's novel, but I would be very surprised if it wasn't one source of inspiration for the screenplay.
And if that's the case, it's too bad the screenwriter threw out everything that actually made the novel (and the first movie) interesting and engaging.
I mean, seriously: the characters in Predator were cardboard cutouts--but at least their initial mission into the jungle gave me some time to get to know them, along with some reason to sympathize with them, and invest myself in their ultimate fate.
The characters in Predators, by contrast, were complete ciphers.
Who the hell are these people, and why should I care what happens to them? Frankly, everything I did learn about most of them just made me sympathize with them less. For the most part, it seemed like the Predators were just disposing of human garbage. And if the filmmakers were trying to introduce moral complexity into the story, they failed.
Blech. Roll on Inception, I say.
Frankly, I was bored. I found the characters unengaging, the story uninteresting, the special-effects unimpressive, and the action scenes unexciting.
In my first post, I mentioned Marion Zimmer Bradley's Hunters of the Red Moon. There were some weird parallels between that novel and this movie...
...especially the business with the Yakuza and the samurai sword.
In the novel, the main character is a man from Earth, abducted by aliens and sold to the Hunters of the book's title. While he is training and preparing, he is given a choice of weapons, and finds a Japanese samurai sword, that he chooses for partly sentimental reasons.
In the movie, of course, the Yakuza finds the sword in the weapon stash, and we get a big sword fight between the Yakuza and one of the Predators.
That made no sense at all in the context of the movie--it was a hunt, not a duel. But Zimmer Bradley's novel is full of that kind of hand-to-hand combat.
In the novel, the main character is a man from Earth, abducted by aliens and sold to the Hunters of the book's title. While he is training and preparing, he is given a choice of weapons, and finds a Japanese samurai sword, that he chooses for partly sentimental reasons.
In the movie, of course, the Yakuza finds the sword in the weapon stash, and we get a big sword fight between the Yakuza and one of the Predators.
That made no sense at all in the context of the movie--it was a hunt, not a duel. But Zimmer Bradley's novel is full of that kind of hand-to-hand combat.
I'm not saying that the screenwriter actually plagiarized Zimmer Bradley's novel, but I would be very surprised if it wasn't one source of inspiration for the screenplay.
And if that's the case, it's too bad the screenwriter threw out everything that actually made the novel (and the first movie) interesting and engaging.
I mean, seriously: the characters in Predator were cardboard cutouts--but at least their initial mission into the jungle gave me some time to get to know them, along with some reason to sympathize with them, and invest myself in their ultimate fate.
The characters in Predators, by contrast, were complete ciphers.
By the end of the movie, all we know about Adrien Brody's character is that he's a mercenary, and his name is Royce. Whoa--easy on that characterization, guys. We wouldn't want to bore the audience with all the little details of this man's life.
Who the hell are these people, and why should I care what happens to them? Frankly, everything I did learn about most of them just made me sympathize with them less. For the most part, it seemed like the Predators were just disposing of human garbage. And if the filmmakers were trying to introduce moral complexity into the story, they failed.
Blech. Roll on Inception, I say.
^^^^
About the only thing I can agree with is that it did seem the Predators were "disposing of human garbage".
Was it necessary for too much personel backstory though once you figured that out?
I was more interested in seeing how or if they could become something more than who they were when they were dropped off into the "game preserve".
Royce, insert reason(s) here, decided to come back for the last two in the group. Seems to me the Royce on Earth wouldn't have done that. Was it compassion? Concern? A sense of humanity? Or just she was the only chick?
I think the sequel is set up, if it picks right up, would allow for us to see how Royce 2.0 is shaping up.
About the only thing I can agree with is that it did seem the Predators were "disposing of human garbage".
Was it necessary for too much personel backstory though once you figured that out?
I was more interested in seeing how or if they could become something more than who they were when they were dropped off into the "game preserve".
Royce, insert reason(s) here, decided to come back for the last two in the group. Seems to me the Royce on Earth wouldn't have done that. Was it compassion? Concern? A sense of humanity? Or just she was the only chick?
I think the sequel is set up, if it picks right up, would allow for us to see how Royce 2.0 is shaping up.
The trouble with Royce and what's-her-name was that they were blanks. They were almost 100 per cent characterization-free. How can a character grow and change if you never establish who they were to begin with?
And you're right to discuss Royce's big moment in the form of a series of questions. It's not clear why he goes back. It's not clear why he does anything. He's like the point-of-view character in a first-person shooter, complete with Big Fuckin' Gun and a bunch of expendable meat-shield NPCs.
I could have forgiven this kind of nonexistent characterization in a movie that delivered when it came to thrills and kills. But Predators did not deliver. Like I said: I simply found it boring. In fact...
And you're right to discuss Royce's big moment in the form of a series of questions. It's not clear why he goes back. It's not clear why he does anything. He's like the point-of-view character in a first-person shooter, complete with Big Fuckin' Gun and a bunch of expendable meat-shield NPCs.
I could have forgiven this kind of nonexistent characterization in a movie that delivered when it came to thrills and kills. But Predators did not deliver. Like I said: I simply found it boring. In fact...
...the escape from the crashed spaceship was one of the clumsiest, most poorly-directed action sequences I've seen in a long time.
They were missing detailed characterization to be sure. As you said they were "human garbage" or at least all but Isabelle(Alice Braga). Dialouge indicates she was still working for the government, therefore we could assume those were noble deeds she did. She just did them with joy, thus making her qualify to be nabbed.
Royce was a mercenary. Those guys are always rough, selfish, uncaring about anything but the $$ or themselves. Is it that important to know what drove him to become one? I admit it wouldn't hurt, hell it could play a role in why he came back. It just doesn't ruin it for me that I don't have those answers.
Yeah I don't really think fleshing out these characters would have made much of a difference. Hell, the ones in the original movie were so one-dimensional they could have come out of a freakin G.I. Joe cartoon. But the setting they were in felt so gritty and real that you didn't really mind.
