Predators (2010) Directed by Nimród Antal

Isabelle: We need to work as a team.
Cuchillo: Does this look like a team orientated group of individuals to you?

This movie certainly plunges into the action.  When we come in, it is in free fall.  Our hero (Adrian Brody) awakens plummeting earthwards, and struggles to open his chute before becoming a greasy stain.  He hits, and while he can't be said to hit the ground running, he limps darn fast.  Nor is he the only one in his predicament; a huge scary Mexican, Cuchillo (Danny Trejo, King of all Scary Mexicans) is pointing guns and demanding answers.  That is better than Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov) who just starts shredding the jungle until our hero can reason with him.

There are eight of them in total.  The others are the woman (Alice Braga) an Israeli sniper, Stans, a convict and poster child for condom use (Walton Goggins), Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) a revolutionary from Africa, Hanzo (Hatori?) (Louis Ozawa Changchien) a Yakuza, and the oddball, Dr. Edwin (Topher Grace).  Seven of them are stone cold killers of one stripe or another, Merc (Brody) Drug Cartel enforcer (Cuchillo) and regular military (Nikolai).  Only the doctor does not fit the pattern.

Nor are they the only thing that has been dropped.  There are cages, where things unable to work a chute have been dumped.  And what they are is...horrifying.  And they are tough to kill.  Nor are they the first people here; there are...traces.  And our hero begins to form a theory; they are in a game preserve.  And they are the game.

And when they reach an open area and see the gas giant they are orbiting, and the other moons (Pandora?) they realize just how deep they are in.

Of course, we know what is hunting them.  They are big, strong, ugly, and use chameleon tech to be invisible.  Predators.  Of course, that label could be applied to them as well....

Considering the brilliance of the first movie Predator, and the problems with Predator 2 and the mixed success of the Alien Vs Predator efforts, I was filled with an assortment of trepidations.  I am happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised.  They rather got it right.  There is such a thing as redemption (As Alien Resurrection proves).

I was initially worried that this fails because we were unable to bond with the "heroes."  Dutch, Mac, and Billy were tough as nails, but engaging.  They were also nuns compared to this group.  But part of the movie is the slow growth of trust and camaraderie amongst this population of Sociopaths and psychopaths.  And part of it is how the enemy uses those emerging emotions against them.  

Brody's role as the hyper focused survivor is the performance of the piece, but there is not a weak one in the lot.  Goggins' whack job serial rapist is a deeply disturbing, frequently funny character, the humor only underscoring the horror.

Further, the direction is brilliant; the pacing is superb.  Often a director of this sort of movie will try to keep the tension so high, it leaves you tired when you leave the theatre.  Instead, like the hunt, it is periods of building tension, followed by the release of the hunt, complete with explosions.  It is gory, scary, and foreboding.  I also like that it is not a reboot; it is simply another in the franchise.  It adds its own touches, but doesn't feel the need to touch on all the others, like including an Alien Trophy.  I think it stands a good chance of breathing life back into the franchise.  Lord knows we need a franchise with some life in it these days.
If you are hunting down quality action and adventure this summer, stake out Predators.  Just remember, what you are hunting may be hunting you.

Like Stans, this review is Lean-N-Mean at 650 words.

Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Action Movie
Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.