Film Review: Predators (2010)
Amongst Hollywood films remembered for all the wrong reasons, John McTiernan's 1987 Predator stands as perhaps the most tragic case. Today, that genre classic is chiefly recalled for featuring two future American governors in its cast—or for its director's subsequent legal troubles—rather than for being one of the finest science-fiction action films of the 1980s. The franchise's reputation suffered further indignities through a perfunctory 1990 sequel and a catastrophic crossover with the Alien series that left devotees of both properties thoroughly dismayed.
Producer Robert Rodriguez's 2010 attempt at resuscitation, Predators, therefore adopts a back-to-basics approach. Not only are the xenomorphs jettisoned entirely, but the film returns to a concept predating the original: where McTiernan's jungle was meant to be an alien world rather than Cold War Central America, Predators finally places its action on precisely such a planet—a bespoke game reserve where the Predators hunt specially selected human specimens for sport.
The prey comprises an international ensemble of killers: a surly private mercenary (Adrien Brody), an Israeli military sniper (Alice Braga), a Russian Spetsnaz veteran (Oleg Taktarov), a Sierra Leonean warlord (Mahershala Ali), a Mexican cartel enforcer (Danny Trejo), a Japanese yakuza (Louis Ozawa Changchien), a death row inmate (Walton Goggins), and a seemingly ordinary doctor (Topher Grace). This disparate group must overcome mutual suspicion and marshal their lethal expertise to survive an invisible, physically and technologically superior adversary—and, should fortune favour them, devise some means of returning to Earth.
Fan reactions to Predators will likely prove bifurcated. On one hand, Michael Finch and Alex Litvak's screenplay hews so faithfully to the original's template—occasionally recycling identical dialogue—that viewers may struggle to determine whether they are watching sequel or remake. John Debney's score compounds this déjà vu, sounding suspiciously like a facsimile of Alan Silvestri's iconic brass-and-percussion compositions. On the other hand, Hungarian-American director Nimrod Antal, previously noted for the claustrophobic heist thriller Armored, demonstrates considerable facility with his eclectic cast, rendering this adherence to formula as something more than merely competent Hollywood craftsmanship.
Where Predators distinguishes itself from its progenitor is chiefly through superior special effects and the consequent diminished necessity for physically imposing yet dramatically limited performers. Most impressive is Adrien Brody, hitherto associated with gaunt, emotionally depleted characters such as the pianist Władysław Szpilman. For this production, he has so thoroughly bulked up as to be entirely convincing as a bruiser one would want at one's side should a night out take an unpleasant turn. This transformation alone commends the film even to viewers with only passing interest in the action genre.
Rating: 7/10
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