Directed by:
Nimród AntalCinematography:
Gyula PadosComposer:
John DebneyCast:
Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Олег Тактаров, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, Louis Ozawa, Mahershala Ali, Carey Jones, Brian Steele (more)VOD (5)
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Robert Rodriguez presents PREDATORS, a bold new chapter in the Predator universe, shot under the creative auspices of Robert Rodriguez, stars Adrien Brody as Royce, a mercenary who reluctantly leads a group of elite warriors who come to realize they've been brought together on an alien planet... as prey. With the notable exception of a disgraced physician, they are all cold-blooded killers: mercenaries, Yakuza, convicts, death squad members - human 'predators' that are now being systemically hunted and eliminated by a new breed of alien Predators. (official distributor synopsis)
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After “Arnie’s” first one, this is hands down the best film in the Predator universe, though the original holds that first place mainly for the cult status it has gained over the years. By this I mean that both are basically the same, but whereas Predators is intentionally silly in a cute 1980s way, in Predator that’s unintentional and therefore better (or worse, depending on how you see it), thanks to is earnestness. Nimrod Antal proves that the fears about his choice as director were unwarranted. I wasn’t expecting any interesting directorial tricks, but Predators is a film where the craftsmanship and the sense for execution and atmosphere are more than enough. I had a little problem with Adrien Brody, who’s maybe a bit too good a character actor for the role. In short, Predators is almost excellent, I got exactly what I wanted. PS: “Die, you space faggot” is almost as great as “You’re one ugly motherfucker”…
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The weakest predators in the history of film were playing cat and mouse with the worst soldiers on the face of the Earth. Adrien Brody put on about 15 kilograms of muscle for this role, yet he still looks like a stick. Goggins, on the other hand, generally plays fags in most movies and here he is supposed to put in an absolute performance worthy of the SAS. Neither of them managed to clear that hurdle. It looks embarrassing, and what’s even worse is the Chinese guy, who swordfights one of the predators. I don’t know if the predators were just sick of what a bunch of amateurs those morons were, of they were the weakest predators ever. However, both those things made sure that even otherwise good ideas were buried with everything else in this film.
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Too bad there wasn’t more money, it could have been a great picture. Anyway, it’s made by fans, for fans, and that really showed on Predators. Blood, even the green kind, flows in copious amounts, there’s a thousand and one snappy lines, and, most importantly, it honors the original. Adrien Brody is ripped, I wasn’t expecting such a scrawny little guy to get in shape like this (maybe it’s time for me to hit the gym, if he can do it, why can’t I? :D) and his Royce is the classic type of soldier that you can’t help but fall in love with. The same goes for Oleg Taktarov and the Yakuza guy. A mention belongs to Topher Grace, who spiced the whole cast up very nicely. But casting Laurence Fishburne was a big mistake, he spoiled the whole middle of the movie. He wasn’t the right guy for the Noland character and overall held the movie back. Antal did a fine job, and thanks to him everything runs like clockwork, and the whole movie flows along nicely. This is also thanks to John Debney, who utilizes every last note of Silvestri’s original score, subtly embellishing it here and there for a more modern fit. P.S.: I wish I could say that more often about other translators too, but alas I cannot.
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Antal has an incredible sensitivity for getting that eighties feeling right, in the end Brody surprisingly doesn’t seem like Arnie’s androgynous embryo (in the ending sequence his muscle-bound body was particularly impressive... or else CGI technology is much more advanced that I thought) and so only the more expensive half away from the jungle is the only thing that spoils it; not that it’s outright bad, but it lags far behind the first half in terms of quality. In the better half, it’s so good that it is better than the original.
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Predators would love to come across as an enriching tribute to the original, but then turns out to be a weaker and oddly strange remake. Unfortunately, what worked twenty years ago as an uncompromising rampage now in a more psychological concept (?) sometimes seems amusing and tiresome. The disappointment is even greater because the introduction, full of confused tough guys and tension, promised a lot. Yet when the script decides to involve the strategic side of things in the finale and clumsily adds complications and twists involving the characters themselves, everything goes downhill. Not even the good acting duo of Adrien Brody and Topher Grace can save it.
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Gallery (127)
Photo © Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
![Predators - Photos - Oleg Taktarov, Walton Goggins, Alice Braga, Adrien Brody](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/000/230/230512_2abe8d.jpg)
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