John’s Movie Musings

Have you grasped the cultural significance of the original Predator?  Released way back in 1987, it starred two(!) future governors.  Had Carl Weathers not starred in Action Jackson a few years later, there may have been three.

Predator has also survived some of the crappiest sequels ever imagined. The Alien franchise is still trying to recover from its unfortunate couplings.  But after going back for seconds, I kinda feel like the friend who told my buddy to stay away from that girl the first time around.

So after all this time, Robert Rodriguez  comes along to reboot the franchise.  OK, it’s certainly due.  But he reboots it by keeping the first one intact.  You see, Predators is a direct sequel to the original.  All those other movies?  Pretend they never happened.  But really, I think that’s the only way you could reboot this.  Keep the awesomeness of Arnold’s “Get to the choppah!” and forget everything else.  That’s how everyone remembers Predator anyway.  So, win-win.

For a Predators reboot, we need a new action hero.  Someone who embodies the testosterone of the 80s action star.  So Rodriguez brings us Adrien Brody.  Wilco. Tango. Foxtrot.  OK, not my first choice (nor my twentieth).

Brody plays a mercenary (*laugh) dropped into a dense jungle with a bunch of other military/criminal types.  And Topher Grace.  While they all try and figure out why Topher Grace was selected with the rest of them, you’re trying to figure out why Topher Grace is in a Predator movie.

Obviously Predators has some… interesting casting choices, but they all work.  Adrien Brody even convinced me he could fire a gun without rubbing the “owie” on his shoulder every time.  Better still, the story works.  Now, this is Predators we’re talking about, so you better realize what you’re getting yourself into.  But if you’re looking for a great hunter/hunted flick, this’ll do nicely.

Grade: B+