Predators

With “PREDATORS” the third installment in the highly successful and fan venerated “PREDATOR” film series, audiences are granted a series chapter that is worthy of carrying the films name but also one that’ll surely carry on the popular franchise. Taking a different approach than the first two “PREDATOR” film, “PREDATORS” follows a group of ruthless killers who have collectively been brought together on a distant planet as game for an assembly of Predators. In an effort to save themselves the ruthless killers must ban together, despite their nationalistic milieu, to protect and in due course save themselves from these alien hunters.

Being a longtime enthusiast of the “PREDATOR” series and even that of the character itself, I must say a lot of anticipation was riding from me on this film and it certainly did live up to my own anticipation. Simultaneously however, the film lacked a sensible taste for being something totally new and fresh. Personally I thought too much of this film reminded me of the first “PREDATOR” film which found Arnold Schwarzenegger being preyed on by the title villain. The only major difference of course with “PREDATORS” as opposed to “PREDATOR” is the number of hunters and prey is multiplied. This little difference though resourceful could’ve been done with more gravity in the sagacity of its originality.

One thing that is for certain “PREDATORS” looks great and looks the way a science-fiction film should look. Filled with great visual imagery and creature designs, the predators looked great. Because of this the film takes a giant step in the right direction in terms of its artistic execution. A great deal of this artistic execution very well could be because of Robert Rodriguez who serves as the film’s producer. His expertise and history for overseeing films that are heavy on creative vision truly made him the best person to oversee such an ambitious project like “PREDATORS.” Even though I will admit I would’ve liked to have seen [Robert] Rodriguez handling directing duties on the film I will admit to liking Nimrod Antal as the film director. [Nimrod] Antal who has helmed such cinematic works as “VACANCY” and “ARMORED” did a fine job directing the film especially considering the film did in fact utilize an unofficial trademark of Antal which of course involves persons finding themselves in uncontrolled situations.

Auxiliary to this I must say the film’s more memorable attribute was seeing the acting involvement of Academy Award winner Adrien Brody who acts as the unsanctioned leader of the ragtag human prey. [Adrien] Brody hasn’t before taken on acting assignment like that of the one he takes on in “PREDATORS” and I must state it was very inspired. Thanks also to a rather extensive supporting cast including Topher Grace, Danny Trejo, Oleg Taktarov, Walton Goggins, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, and a very aggressively acted Laurence Fishburne the films acting portion works considerably great. I must also point out Topher Grace was a surprisingly good at portraying a character with a coming apart mentally and physically…this of course doesn’t really take place until the film’s final climax.

Looks great, but missing something might be the best way to describe “PREDATORS” in terms of its overall togetherness. The films visual artistic quality and direction make it standout and I must add again, the Predators looked downright amazing! Perhaps had the film had a better script thatbrought something more original and supplementary to the plot and even that of its character (more notably Laurence Fishburne’s character, there was little to no narration) then “PREDATORS” could’ve been a relatively unforgettable experience. For what it is worth though the film is an entertaining creature feature that’ll surely satisfy those fans of the originals but also introduce the title character to a new who audience.