Yet another of those "classic" films that I had only seen for the very first time just recently, Predator is every bit
as amazing as people said it was. This was back when Arnold was in his prime, back
when R rated movies were amazing and weren't cut down to get a PG
rating, back when films weren't afraid to be bloody and violent and
gory, back when you could just have a bunch of US military style guys
murdering the Hell out of people in a jungle and cheer for them. Back
when films weren't about lens flares and science fiction wasn't all
about terrible CGI.
I know I sound like that guy now, but it's an amazing film, something
you could never make these days and have it be as good. If you were like
me and have yet to see this film, you should do so now because you will not
regret it.
Moving along, if there's one thing I can really complain about in the second film, it's that
it felt like it had less Predator in it than the first. It dragged on
with gang war nonsense that I didn't care about, and the Predator's role
in everything up until the last forty minutes made me wonder if they
were trying to make it seem more heroic or if they wanted to just one
up the other film on body count. I suppose it's the nature of the
hunter to take down dangerous prey for trophies, but given how the
Predator seemed so focused on the main character even very early on, the film
made it seem like the gang killings were just violence for the sake of
it.
Or maybe it was some writers venting about gang violence happening
during the production of the film?
Aside from that, what little of the actual Predator action there
happened to be was on par with the first film. Actually better, when you
consider the main character was nowhere near as built as the character
of Dutch from the first one, which made the fight all the more amazing. Seeing the Predator of the film actually being killed by this smaller
man, a fear not even somebody played by Arnold in his prime could do,
made it all the more amazing and fulfilling.
Despite not being an amazing sequel, it's still worth a watch for the
last forty minutes or so when, for me, the film really picks up. It's
not worth skipping the first hour if you love violence and want more of
the same you came to expect from the first film (a la skinning the prey,
ripping out the spine and skull for trophies, impaling guys with arm blades, etc),
but it gets bogged down with gang war stuff that, personally, I could
have done without.
I must admit that Predators, for a movie from 2010, had a lot more practical
effects and actual locations than I would have expected. I was rather pleased by the fact that they didn't just film the majority of the movie on a sound stage and add everything in post. Which didn't stop that from happening, mind; when they showed the sky of the world they were on, it was pure CG, the same with the crashed ship, likely of Predator design, later on in the film.
As an action
film it's a passable, if pretty by the numbers movie; I knew exactly who would survive the moment
I saw them, the only real surprise was the order in which the others
died. As a Predator film, it feels as though the skill and mystery has
diminished over time, to the point where they seemed more dependent on
technology to be hunters.
I know, that's an odd thing to say about a series that started with a
Predator using infrared vision and energy weapons to hunt, but in
Predators they had heart monitors, augmented hearing and used
hunting dogs while using less stalking with almost no picking people off one by one. But at least they finally sort of gave some proper use to the voice mimic
that was introduced in the first film and was used for nearly no effect
in it and the second.
I'm also half surprised by the R rating; I mean, short of one person
getting blown to a bloody pulp, the violence wasn't near as bad as the first film. But I supposed what got it was language, because they
dropped fuck nearly 50 times through the film. Now, in no way
am I prude when it comes to filthy, deplorable words, but there comes a
point when I wish they would have varied it up a little. When I hear
the same expletive used so many times it loses all meaning and impact.
The biggest draw of the film is, not so oddly, the fact that there is
full Predator on Predator fight near the end. Watching
the two beat the crap out of one another was a joy to see, and made me
wish there was more of that in the film, since they eluded to some blood
feud for all of two lines and then dropped it completely. The real
downsides, of course, are that it comes much too late in the film and that the knock down, drag out fight between the two large sacks of ugly lasts for less than a few minutes. After which, we're left with a
"final confrontation" that both films previous did better.
As a stand alone film, I wouldn't really recommend it, but if you've
seen Predator and Predator 2, it's worth a watch, if just to say you've
seen every official Predator film that isn't the AvP movies.
Speaking of those movies... yeah, I saw them. I'll mention that in a later post.
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