Predators 2010

REVIEW: Predators IMDB

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MOVIE INFO

• Producer - Robert Rodrigues

• Director - Nimród Antal

• Primary Actors:
  • Adrien Brody - Royce
  • Topher Grace - Edwin
  • Alice Braga - Isabelle
  • Laurence Fishburne - Noland
  • Danny Trejo - Cuchillo
  • Oleg Taktarov - Nikolai

INTRO STUFF

• CHUCK
  • Iphone app universe, seeing more of Houston, job is close to resolution (move soon?)
• MIKE
  • Video Games (Fallout 3/ Transformers WFC), Monster Trucks, iPhone Drama

SYNOPSIS

• in a world where warriors are abducted to serve as sport, prey turn on their hunters in an attempt to survive and escape

WALKING IN F&T (FEARS & THOUGHTS)

• CHUCK
  • Crap, crap, crap...especially after seeing the preview of Machete
• MIKE
  • Aliens Vs. Predator...bad taste is still in my mouth...

FIRST ACT

• Have to mention - horrible trailer - Machete
• THE FALL AND CAST GREETINGS
  • Intro was interesting - falling, reaching for parachute release and 'pillow/steal,' but couldn't find it - alien parachute
  • Japanese guy took off his shoes - I think I would have kept them on
  • 'I'm a doctor - what am I doing here?' - good casting to help convince me
• This does not suck...this really, really does not suck...
• Music really brought me back to the first movie
• "It's a hunting preserve" did Royce read the script???
• I get the throwback to the original with the minigun...but it was a little too much...
• Feels analog...few digital effects...
• People walking around on location in a jungle...it was honest, not all high-tech whiz-bang first act....

...LATER SCENES

• ATTACK OF THE DOGS
  • Some died quickly, some seemed to take forever....why didn't we see the dogs again in the movie?
  • Cuchillo captured - dead body making noise - creepy vibes with the girl being last to hear his voice still after she kills him
  • The dogs had me worried, there were too many parallels between predators and human hunting...demistifying the whole thing...

• GO TO THE ALIEN'S CAMP
  • Meet a captive Predator - Civil War on the 'game reserve'?

•  
  • They went on the offensive very fast, liked that...gave movie more momentum...

• PLAY DEFENSE
  • The death row inmates quote 'get home, 5 o'clock...rape some women'
  • Wanted to see what the weird 'bug' creature would have done to someone before they would have killed it (they seemed to build it up with the cages and all, but we only get to see it die).
• HIDE IN THE SHIP
  • Laurence Fishburn's character - well played
  • Cool ships - was hoping for a partial try at an explanation of why they were there - the civil war maybe?
  • The Russian and his incendiary granade
  • I was not even sure what L.F.s character was doing there...why did he turn on them, because the script told him to???
  • Whole ship sequence does not really fit in with the rest of the movie...maybe they are inside...don't know...

• RUN TO THE OTHER SHIP
  • Loved the fight scene with the Japanese swordsman
  • Edwin kept the baby picture of the Russian?
  • Let the tied up Predator go and his weapons are just sitting on a rock next to him?
  • The Predator doesn't just nuke his opponent, but lets his head get lobbed off
• FINAL FIGHT
  • Predator finds his heart signature
  • The twist with Edwin
  • More parachutes - here we go again...

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• Civil War between the big Predators vs the bigger Predators? Interesting

...THE ACTORS

• Adrien Brody - Royce
  • Too many obvious one-liners, but he did a good job with the role
  • He was my biggest fear coming in...but he was great...

• Topher Grace - Edwin
  • Great casting, definitely helped me convince me
• Alice Braga - Isabelle
  • Was she supposed to be the girl from the first movie, I was confused..

• Laurence Fishburne - Noland
  • Actor of the show award - he played a great crazy man
• Danny Trejo - Cuchillo
  • Always one of the guys to get killed until...Machete
  • Where he is, Robert Rodrigues can't be far behind...

• Oleg Taktarov - Nikolai
  • Remember him from '15 Minutes'
  • Minigun? I get it that he is Spetznaz, but it is a little much...

QUESTIONS:

• How did he get the ship to take off without him in it? - Actually, I thought that the "good" predator set in the destination on his iGauntlet.
• How Long has Fishburn been there? Cause the next "season" seemed to start at down the next day.
• The "Bad" bredators just seemed to be lazy...they were stacking the deck against the prey...

THE MACGUFFIN:

• The ship?

Sponsorships

• BFGs...

Quote of the movie

• the cliche - "...because that's what I would have done"

CLOSING THOUGHTS
CHUCK Rating: 3.5

• Positives
  • Fun, consistent with the original series, good acting, good casting, and a good twist in the end
• Negatives
  • Too many obvious one liners and a few dumb unexplainable items.

MIKE Rating: 4.5

• Positives
  • Analog, fun, exactly what I have been waiting for...

• Negatives
  • Some references back to the original muddled the plot.