Page 18 THE VILLADOM TIMES
I, II, III & IV • July 21, 2010
‘Predators’ features grisly monsters, plot twists
by Dennis Seuling “Predators” reintroduces a familiar monster from the 1980s in a whole new context. It also stars Academy Awardwinner Adrian Brody, a seemingly odd fit for a horror/sci-fi picture, as humorless mercenary Royce who finds himself in a weird jungle with a group of colorful strangers from all over the world. Where are they? Why are they there? How did they get there? The film’s opening creates the kind of mystery that TV’s “Lost” milked for six seasons. Royce’s companions include an “enforcer” for a South American drug cartel (Danny Trejo), an Israeli sniper (Alice Braga), a Yakuza assassin (Louis Ozawa Changchien), a Russian Special Forces fighter (Oleg Taktarov), an American death row psychopath (Walter Groggins), a death squad soldier from Sierra Leone (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), and a disgraced doctor (Topher Grace). The film’s best moment is its opening scene. Royce is shown plummeting as his parachute fails to open until the last second. The other characters arrive the same way. They surmise they have been chosen for their skills, but why? The strangers form an uneasy alliance to discover where they are and how they can escape. Director Nimrod Antal uses a variation of the Richard Connell short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” in which a mad big-game hunter causes shipwrecks so he can lure survivors to his island and hunt them. In “Predators,” the hunters are a trio of seven-foot creatures who can cloak themselves in invisibility and a distant planet is the isolated game preserve, giving the creatures the home field advantage. Unsuspecting species from all over the universe are “captured” and allowed to roam the planet as the creatures close in and pick them off one by one. The movie soon becomes a battle for survival between the creatures and the humans, who must rely on their skills to outmaneuver their adversaries, avoid traps, deal with dissension in their own ranks, and kill their pursuers. For some reason that has nothing to do with the plot or with essential exposition, Laurence Fishburne pops up as a human who has survived on the planet for “10 seasons.” He
series of tusks that open to reveal a fleshy orifice with a series of sharp teeth. Though the viewers marvel at the precision of the special effects department in rendering such creepy looking creations, there is no sense of dread. The movie is formula all the way, so viewers know at the outset that almost every member of the group will meet his end in one gruesome way or another, and only a handful will last to the final credits. Brody plays Royce with deadly -- or rather deadening -- seriousness. He is supposed to be a fearless tough guy, but images of him as the sad-eyed piano player in “The Pianist” are hard to shake. This is an actor better suited to more cerebral roles. As an action hero, he tries too hard and never captures the raw grit of a mercenary, even when he strips off his shirt to reveal a well-chiseled chest during the film’s denouement. Braga’s Isabelle, the only female character, is beautiful -- almost too beautiful. Humidity, sweat, dirt, and blood do little to mask her angelic face, and it’s hard to accept that she is able to tote around that massive sniper rifle as if it were a cheerleader’s baton. Her acting is mediocre at best. It is summer, and movies like “Predators” have a place, especially in the hearts of young male viewers, who will enjoy the action, the grisly monsters, and the occasional plot twists. “Predators” is rated R for graphic violence and strong language.
Adrien Brody stars as Royce, a mercenary who finds himself in an unknown jungle with armed strangers in ‘Predators.’
2010
spouts dime-store philosophy while looking intense and a bit unbalanced. The movie, which has moved along briskly until this point, comes to a halt as unnecessary dialogue bogs down the story. The best aspect of “Predators” is the design of the creatures, often shown in close-up so every detail is crystal clear. The mouths are especially fascinating with their
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