June 15: Predators

A group of elite warriors are hunted by members of a merciless alien race known as Predators."

So I know I probably should have watched the original Predator for alien week, as I did watch the original Alien, but Predators was on TV and made for a much easier viewing. And while it may not be anywhere near as good as the original, Predators still entertains with plenty of violence, action, and gore. Plus, it has a pretty big name cast that all get to play fodder (and hide and seek) to the deadly, invisible, badass Predator. Predators also has a fairly decent plot that avoids from being too ridiculous, even if the dialogue is laughable at times. The film also gives way to Adrien Brody (The Pianist) being a true badass mother f**ker and shows that he may actually have what it takes to be an action star. Hell, his career has gone practically nowhere after his Oscar win in 2003 so why not fall into cliched action movies?

If The Pianist featured this Adrien Brody, the film may have taken a completely different route

In Predators, a bunch of ex-soldiers, mercenaries, and killers wake up as they are parachuting down into a jungle. None of them no where they are or why they are there and try to work together to figure out what's happening to them. After being attacked by a pack of alien dog creature beasts and have an encounter with a Predator, the misfit band of soldiers realize they are not on Earth but some strange alien planet. Royce (Adrien Brody) deduces that they have been dropped into an alien game preserve. With each soldier having a particular set of skills and being damn good at killing, they are a much tougher, meaner prey for the Predators to practice their hunting abilities on. Thus, cue the struggle to survive and outlive, outlast, and out-kill these alien captors and find a way back home, to Earth. Throw in Danny Trejo, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace (who oddly, fits), and a bunch of other badasses and Predators proves to be quite a ride.

And, in Predator fashion, a girl with a very big gun. 

Overall, I would recommend Predators if you're already a fan of the franchise. It is actually more of a sequel to the original two films, trying to stay away from the awfully awesome Alien vs. Predator movies. Once the action starts, it really never stops, and while most of the characters come and go too quickly, each actor is given a chance to shine and kill. The film does have plenty of things wrong with it, including some rather weak character development and piss-poor dialogue. However, the effects and action make up for the flaws and help remind you it's not meant to be taken as a serious action epic. When you narrow it all down, Predators is simply a game of cat and mouse, with the cat having heat vision, invisibility cloaking, laser cannons, and a tentacled face while the mouse simply has a bunch of guns. Boom goes the dynamite. 

The Good: 

a lot of action, a lot of blood, and a whole lot of Predator

The Bad:

a story that has moments of being pretty creative but with too much nonsense and underdeveloped characters to go anywhere epic

The Ugly:

some really bad dialogue that tries to be 80s awesome but comes across as 80s cheesy

Overall: 6.6/10

Trailer: