Predators


Edwin: "Excuse me. Just what the hell is going on here?"
Royce: "We're being hunted. The cages. The soldier. All of us. All brought here for the same purpose. This planet is a game preserve. And we're the game. In case you didn't notice, we just got flushed out. They sent the dogs in, just like you if you were stalking boar or shooting quail. They split us apart and they watched. Testing us."
Isabelle: "How do you know this?"
Royce: "Because that's what I would do."


release year: 2010
genre: action/sci-fi
viewing setting: home Bluray 4/14/23 and 8/18/21 and 11/5/17 and 6/2/16 and home DVD, 5/7/13 and 12/10/11 and 10/25/10 and theater, opening night, 7/9/10

synopsis: An assortment of experienced military killers is dropped on an alien world, where they realize that they're the prey for something even more dangerous than themselves.

impressions: It was pretty good. Two criticisms, both minor: 1) Laurence Fishburne's character made little sense and didn't really belong here, and 2) This movie copied too many elements of the first movie. Aside from those little things, this was good - plenty of action, fighting, and various character personalities.

something this movie has that no other movie has: Direct spine-ripping from a living person.

acting: Adrien Brody, as muscular as a skinny guy can get, was the efficient, mostly unsymathetic main guy. Alice Braga is the sole female character, and she's pretty tough. Oleg Taktarov is a big Russian soldier with a minigun. Walton Goggins is a crude death-row inmate. Topher Grace is a doctor who doesn't really seem to belong with the rest. Louis Changchien is a cool Asian warrior, a Yakuza enforcer who's very quietly and calmly all business. Danny Trejo, as a ruthless Mexican cartel hitman, unfortunately continues his "I hardly ever get to live through a movie" streak. Laurence Fishburne, he of the impossibly-large head (it looks like a balloon with stubble in some scenes) is a soldier who was brought to the planet previously and managed to survive all this time.

final word: Slightly flawed, but still well worth seeing, and a good reboot to the franchise.

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