There's good and there is bad with the movie
Predators. I do like that they tried to reboot the series by taking it back to the basics of the original
Predator. But the thing that actually rubs me the wrong way is that it's a literal "remake" without it being an "outright remake". Putting a gang of misfits in the jungle to not only fend off each other, but go up against 3 Predators and a 4th who happens to be warring against a more elite
Predator is indeed a step in the right direction. But
Adrian Brody (Royce) just isn't a Action Hero, no matter how hard he try's and I didn't particularly like that he basically apes
Arnold's performance at the end. Even
Alice Braga is just a substitute for
Anna from the original film. Also, having
Royce pairing up with the 4th
Predator was nothing more than an attempt to ride the coattails of
Aliens Vs. Predator.
The pacing at times for this one felt off and they dispatched with some of the "bigger" names in the cast fairly quickly and easily. I was expecting a lot more from
Danny Trejo and yet he was the first to go, and we don't even get to see him go Mano-a-mano with any of the
Predators. Also, I'm really dumbfounded about what
Laurence Fishburne was doing in this one. They give us a great backstory about his character
Nolan and how he has survived for 7 Seasons on the Planet and that he personally killed 3
Predators, and yet they have him getting killled pretty easily with no confrontation whatsoever. The way he bites the big one undermines everything he had just told the group and makes no sense at all.
The other thing that is somewhat troubling for me is in how each participant was snatched by a "light" and then dropped onto the Planet by way of free-falling. They have to give us something more to go on than "we were brought here to be hunted". I need, want and demand more back-story to this!! It's not all bad. There are some pretty cool thrills to be found in the movie and I enjoyed some of the confrontations, especially the sword fight with
Hanzo and the
Predator. But the movie could and should have been so much better. It's a step in the right direction.
I'd give this a
Rent for sure.