Predators (2010)

director: Nimrod Antal

writers: Micheal Finch, Alex Litvak (story) by Robert Rodriguez

starring: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga

genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Truth be told, after the bitter direction the Alien Vs. Predator franchise took, anything else afterwards would be a serious step up. Clearer vision was needed and Robert Rodriguez was the right man to handle it. He might not have made the direction of the film be too complex but it's still a fun action flick that not for one second tramples on films of past or be a complete waste of time.

The plot is pretty simple. Trained soldiers, criminals and violent personalities are thrown on a deserted planet as prey for the alien Predators. They have to unite together and survive and find a way off the rock if possible.

Predators advantage as a film is that it surpasses the tragic and god awful AVP films. Predators managed to return the franchise to greener pastors or more like bloodier. AVP films were not only dumb, badly written and acted but were made worse by the lack of blood. How can you not make a Alien or Predator or AVP without blood. It's crazy but it's happened.

A film's that has too much respect for its predecessors films and lots of blood can have its shortcomings. One of them is it's simpleness. This a minor complaint due to the fact you would need a very original and a great idea to surpass the first film Predator (1987). But Predators simpleness proves to be both it's weakness and  initial strength. Strength by keeping it simple and not going off bounds and making a entertaining film. But it's weakness by not playing it risky, innovative or into pushing the franchise into a more interesting area.

I could go on into more detail about the film but there is no point. Predators has good action, many great actors and the blood and guts are all well deserved for a Predators film. But due to it's simple story, plain characters, lack of even greater action set pieces and clear purpose for the film, it does not go far at being one of the standout action films of the year. My advice is wait for it to come out on DVD.

Personal Rating:

Review by Paul

P.S. Predators is not a direct sequel to the previous films in the franchise so it's OK to see the film without having any knowledge of the previous ones.