Aki87's spoiler free review of Predators

Hey all. Well I just got back from seeing Predators from my local Cinemark, which is the only one in NJ, I didn't want to sell my soul for a ticket price at the closer Loews. Anyway, This film is the movie we have been longing for in this series in a long time, and I mean a LOOOOOONNNNGGGGG time. This film bypasses both AVP movies and also ignores the second film. Predators is a fun, gory, action packed movie I been waiting for all summer long. Lets admit it that, this summer season has been...weak. So many films are being released on the same day to compete with each other, that it makes it tough to pick which to watch. Films are being dumbed down to the lowest common denominator for audiences. Comic films are scattered and only a few have done well. So far to me the best film I seen this year was KICK-ASS(until next week with Inception). So FINALLY after all the crappy 3D, ripped off plot movies, the god awful action rom-coms, we get a film that works great as a sequel and as a stand alone film. This will be a spoiler free review. Just what I thought about it in terms of Story, Acting, effects, and pace. With that lets begin.

The story: The film is not a remake or a re-imagining of the classic action original. The story revolves around a small group of well-trained and highly deadly people from various places and ethnicities, and place them in a jungle planet. Each one is picked off as they try survive while being chased by not 1 but 3 Predators. Overall the story is well done and has some good moments in it, there are of course subtle nods and mentions to the original, in some essence its this series version of ALIENS. It follows a similar concept about a group of people being hunted and ultimately having one finding a way to defeat it. The first act is the introduction of who these characters are, the second act is the chase, and the third act is them fighting back. There was some meh moments but it doesn't take away from the story.

The Acting: This was a very unique ensemble, since all the bigger action stars were busy filming with Expendables, we get a variety of actors that all play off each other so well. Adrien Brody plays the harden bad-ass who always seems to be one step ahead of everyone. My two favorite characters are the yakuza guy named Hanzo and the prisoner Stans. Hanzo has the best and most glorious moment at the end(he's this films Billy) and Stans is full of funny moments. The biggest surprised was Fishburne's character Noland, he is a man that survived for 10 seasons and is deranged person, he's only in the film for like 10 minutes but he is a cool character. I can't forget to mention the Predators themselves, these guys are really cool, awesome designed, and the classic version being in it was cool. These weren't CGI characters, everything was done by amazing effects team, which was lead by Greg Nicotero.

The Effects: this was a well done film for such a small budget. The predators looked spot on, they weren't all CGI, all were hand made by a special effects team. The moments that were CGI were done really well, it looked real even with some touches of realism, kinda like District 9. There were parts where the cgi monster ended and the real creature prop began, it was cool.I LOVED that this was not in crappy 3D conversion, it was good'ole fashioned film making. Its not SUPER gory, but when it is, its tasteful and not over the top.

The pace: its 108 minutes and the second act feels long but it helps establish a few more things with the characters. It could have been trimmed by a few minutes but it wouldn't have made any difference in terms of how good it was. There is NOTHING at the end of the credits, so once its over you can go.

So, overall I really loved this film, while its not the best of the three, it does the series justice and is such an ambitious sequel. I highly recommend it to those longer for a good R-rated action movie. It pulls no punches and has a fun time doing it. I give it a B+. See you all next time. Aki87 OUT!!!!