Imagine waking up and you are falling from the sky. You have no idea how you got there, but you know that it can’t be long before you hit the ground. This is the way Predators (starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga) begins.
From that very opening scene you know that something is not right. The synopsis of the movie is that a mixed bag of humans are dropped off on another planet to survive being hunted by aliens who are known as Predators. Each person was chosen because of who they are on earth (i.e. military, terrorist, gang member) and the killing skills they possess.
The objective: stay alive. The whole film the group is trying to figure out what is hunting them and how do they survive to get off the planet. The Predators are exceptionally skilled killers who adapt to their prey and learn from them in order to become even more efficient at killing. The odds are highly stacked against the humans surviving.
The film was creative in how each person dies in their own unique way. Most of the characters’ personality leant to how their death was carried out. One of the best scenes was between Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien), a member of the Japanese gang the Yakuza, and one of the Predators. This scenes provides a taste of a good martial arts sword fight.
Before seeing the movie, and during the movie, I was wondering if and how they would acknowledge the original Predator (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger). I won’t ruin how it was done but I thought that it was incorporated in an interesting way.
I went to the movie with four other guys and Predators was the perfect guy movie. It has guns, explosions, killing, and plenty of other action. Surprisingly, the story line was not bad either. The movie did not just consist of random acts of violence and gore. There is also a good twist near the end of the movie.
Adrien Brody did a good job of being the alpha male leader of the group. I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to do it, but I thought he was a convincing lead as a tough mercenary, former military man.
Of course the movie leaves the door wide open for a sequel. I am sure the studio is waiting to see how well this first one does. But, if a group of guys, or gals, are looking to go see a typical guy movie, you will not be disappointed with Predators.
Stay tuned tomorrow for a second look at Predators and a moral that we can learn from it. Tuesdays will now feature a movie review of a movie that was released that weekend before it, followed on Wednesday by a typical moral post of that same movie.
