Predators – Come and get me!
When I think of Predator, the original – the imagery I have in my head is the Governator all buffed, muscled and bulging, covered in mud, just urging for the Predator, the chameleon-esque ‘monster’ to come and get him. Or isn’t it a horror movie cliche where the protagonist reaches this point of absolute confidence that he’s got the villain/monster/thing beat and with arms, hands, fists triumphantly in the air they yell something to the effect of ‘Come and get me?!’. Its fantastic.
This new version, not so much a remake, but a continuing of the Predators franchise is indeed better than both Alien vs Predator films combined. Which is great. It almost overwrites that waste of a movie mashup. But only just..
We see the Pianist, I mean Adrien Brody lead a gangly and unlikely crew through the jungle, from all walks of life and the world – a silent but deadly Yakuza dude, a Sierra Leone bad-ass army guy, one of the FBI’s most wanted, oh, and Topher Grace – all dropped (literally dropped from an airplane) in a jungle setting for some fun and games with the ole Predators in their natural habitat. Very Jurassic Park. Well, except for the cute lil lamb as the bait – instead, its this motley crew.
Whilst this film is an improvement on previous Predator instalments – what made the original ‘work’ in this element was that all the marines that came into contact with the predator were muscle-bound, revved up, testosterone oozing marines. It was SHOCKING when they got taken down, and gutted, and sliced, and cut up by the Predator. This time around – even though Yakuza man just has that charisma and oozes confidence – you need more than brains, or a sword to fight the Predator. Or they just need to convey that you think they *could* beat the Predator. With this cast, though you do feel great knowing that Adrien Brody (with an unforgettable name I won’t spoil for you) is leading the team, and determined to get off the island (arg, I mean jungle) there is not enough character development (even for an action/sci-fi flick, I know) to care, or relate enough to the characters to barrack for them, or even remotely think they can make it out alive.
I was left a little disappointed by this instalment, and for a scaredy cat like me? I barely covered my eyes.
