“A HUNT ON AN ALIEN PLAYGROUND”
Starring: Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Danny Trejo and Walton Goggins
Directed by: Nimrod Antal
MPAA Rating: rated R for strong creature violence and gore, and pervasive language.
Genres: Action/Adventure and Science Fiction/Fantasy
Run Time: 1hr 47min
Release Date: July 9th, 2010 (wide)
Distributors: 20th Century Fox
By John Delia
The fifth Predator film has come to town and this one goes all out to please the action junkie. Predators slides in at second best of the series just below the original. The actors, direction and cinematography are all in sync and the simple storyline does entertain. If you are looking to see copious amounts of gratuitous violence then search out the movie Predators, it’s a non-stop blood bath.
The film opens with eight people falling from the sky into a thick jungle. Each is a strong willed warrior from various factions including mercenaries, violent convicts, serial killers, Special Forces and more. Moving about in the rough terrain they realize that they’re on a strange planet where the occupants are aliens who have one goal, kill. When the first attack begins Royce (Adrien Brody) takes command of the group. But their foe has the upper hand and the band of high skilled killers starts loosing numbers while attempting to survive the hunt.
It’s not hard to see producer Robert Rodriguez’s (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn) influence on the film. The flick shows his totally radical side creating battle scenes so ferocious that they made me cringe at times. Noted for his blood letting Zombies and Grindhouse thrillers, Rodriguez ups the Predator series a notch, at least in the terror department. And director Nimrod Antal aims to please using every ploy in his movie tool kit to make this film gut wrenching and terrifying.
Brody puts on a good show as Royce the smart leader of the misfit group. He wouldn’t hesitate to use one of them as bait to ferret out the ugly ferocious aliens for a kill. The film has some very good support actors, but the most memorable is Alice Braga (I Am Legend) as the cold-blooded Israeli defense force trained Isabelle.  She delivers a ‘no surrender no retreat’ character in the vein of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley in Alien and Michelle Rodriguez’s Trudy Chacon in Avatar.
Finally, the cinematography takes a big role in Predators capturing a dismal jungle, corroded spaceships, an awesome visual of the alien galaxy and close-ups of creatures you don’t ever want to run into. The CGI and special effects artists create the dank environment of the alien planet, produce some evil alien devil dogs and add some cool elements during the fight scenes.
The film is rated R for strong creature violence and gore, and pervasive language. Guys make sure you wear a long sleeve shirt if you bring your best girl along as she may be digging her fingernails into your flesh during the blood bath.
FINAL ANALYSIS:Â A cool sequel that serves action junkies a heaping helping. (3.5 of 5)