Predators

*This review might contain spoilers

Royce (Adrien Brody) wakes up in mid air to find himself tumbling from the sky towards a dense jungle. A mercenary, Royce has no clue about his whereabouts and meets up with other people who seem to have landed on the ground in a similar fashion. The eight of them all have nefarious background except for Edwin (Topher Grace), a doctor, who sticks out like a sore thumb. Becoming the unlikely leader of the pack Royce discovers empty cages and dead bodies as he leads them to higher ground to figure out their location. Soon the group realizes that they are on an alien planet that seems to be a game reserve where they are being hunted by a ruthless alien race simply called Predators.

Back in 1987 when the first Predator hit the screen the big question would have been what the hell is the thing that is hunting the humans but two decades and several sequels later the concept doesn’t really hold any charm. With no surprise in finding out who/ what is hunting them the characters are more concerned with the place they land up in, which kind of adds a little suspense to the film in the initial portions.

Based on an idea submitted by Robert Rodriguez, way back in 1994, Predators is directed by Nimrod Antal, best known for his debut Kontroll, who manages to get the franchise back to its roots. Aiming to do away with the rather cartoonish take that recent Predator films especially Alien vs. Predtor threw up, Antal tries to concentrate more on the mood more than anything. It’s very difficult to look for ‘story’ in such genre films and knowing this only too well, writers Alex Litvak and Michael Finch structure the film in manner that has more style as opposed to substance. Having said that Predators nevertheless manages to hold pretty well for almost two thirds of the film and it’s only when the creatures are visible does the film start to plummet.

Predators is more of a mood piece more than anything. It does have the necessary action sequences, some of the pretty decent and is replete with the customary one-liners but don’t expect the world from the screenplay. Chosen for a specific purpose of ensuring people don’t recall Arnold Schwarzenegger, the original lead, Adrien Brody manages to grunt his way through the role. By the end of the film he starts looking like a walking advertisement for body supplements. The rest of the crew doesn’t really do that bad a job but a little more detailing especially with Laurence Fishburne’s catatonic Noland, would have helped.

The good thing about Predators is that it’s a complete throwback to the old style of action films that rely less on special effects. Even if you aren’t a fan of the series, Predators is decent enough excuse to munch some popcorn.

Rating: 2/5

Image- Movie Moron