Predators.

If you're wondering about context here. There is absolutely none. It has Topher Grace in it..? I guess he is kinda similar to Brock/Venom in this? Plus I gave it the 'Obscure Opinions' title because despite it being the first true Predator's sequel in twenty years and it has this huge cast - the film seemed to just come out and go away with little bang or even time, I thought this movie would have been bigger. Plus it is a B-Movie by nature, so I class this as my territory. So yeah, enjoy!

Now I have to say, I'm not really a huge Predator fan. I've never seen the first two in their entirety, I've seen the first VS movie but never bothered with the second because I heard it was terrible. I mean I don't dislike the franchise or anything, it's just one of those many films/series I should have seen and just haven't for whatever reason.

The flick received a rather mixed reaction from critics. Most critics agree that the film at least did its job of taking the franchise back to its roots but the main complaints for the film have been in the caricature like characters.  

Predators was released almost  twenty years after the second Predator movie and three years after the second VS movie. The film itself is meant to be as much a revival of the franchise as it is attempting to recapture the feel of the first two movies.

So well, I can't comment on how well it takes Predator back to its roots, but I can at least tell you if this movie is good or not, so let's dig into Predators.

Predators opens straight into the action as our protagonist is literally falling into an episode of Lost. Our protagonist is played by Adrien Brody. Following him is Danny Trejo, Alice Braga, Mahershala Ali, Topher Grace and then a bunch more actors I don't recoginise. These are basically the cast of TF2. The teams form rivalries and friendships and every 'player' is unique and brings something new to the table, just like a real class based shooter.


And that is the thing, I don't get the criticisms for this movie, don't they see this is basically Xbox Live the movie? This whole thing is built like an online shooter, there are no characters, just classes - that is okay in the context of the movie because that is all that is important. They are 'loaded' into the 'map' - this doesn't need to be explored much because it doesn't matter, all we need are the vantage points. The Predators 'create a server' for them to 'play' on. When you're playing CoD or TF2 or some other shooter, you don't look to the teammate beside you and think with a long sigh, 'this game would be so much better if I just knew more about you!'. The cast is big, time is short, violence is needed so who cares if the characters are paper thin, all we need to know, as the audience, as the player is that they are the assault class, that is the assassin, that is the medic, that is the heavy etc and the film delivers on that.

Once the map has loaded and the players have picked their classes the action can really begin, it's all big and exciting and just the camerawork and editing are just great, the action scenes are just pure adrenaline rushes, the camera is never static, the editing never slow - the camera gets up in the action so you really get a sense of the sheer power and awesomeness of the Predators and just the intensity of the action like another player on the team. And of course their opponents are another team with a range of different classes - only these guys are Predators. We'll call these the Red Team and the humans the Blue Team. And that is the entire plot, Red Team VS Blue Team. There are some twists along the way and slowly the Blue Team get picked off - normally in really badass ways but there ain't no respawns in this game, so it's all about the last man standing.


Eventually the Blue Team bump into 'The One Who Got Away' - Noland as played by Laurence Fishburne, is there a time when this guy isn't a complete and utter badass? He is a bit of a nutter but he provides most of the exposition - there has been an endless feud, a sport where the bigger Predators hunt the smaller ones, they bring humans onto their planet to hunt them with intent to learn, adapt, evolve and become better killers - and apparently they've been doing this for a very long time. Aside from this interesting but rather unnecessary exposition, I really don't get why he is in the movie, he doesn't even get one action scene.

And seriously, the Predators are one of the coolest creations ever. Their awesome tech, laser weapons, invisibility, infra-red vision, voice imitation - they are just so awesome. And plus they eventually team up with a Predator! EPIC! Predator on Predator action, baby. I think the only thing better is lesbians.
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The special effects are great, when CGI is used for things that aren't realistic anyway, it looks a lot less fake - it also seems there is a lot more practical effects than your usual Hollywood flick. Which makes me very happy. The set design is great too, it's just a generally great looking film.

So do I recommend it? I loved this movie, seriously about the only thing I can complain about is the waste of Fishburne, I really don't get why this was slammed by critics or why it wasn't more of an explosion when it came out. Predators is a great movie, that you should definitely check out - fan of the first two movies or not.

Think About It!

-Locke