The Kills & Deaths
Alright, so we knew going in that there would be some crazy kills and deaths. What suprised me was the lack of suspense and development in the fight scenes. The first death of the Tracker Predator; Mr. Tusks, was extremely short! A couple explosives and boom … gone! No, pun intended. Not an overall exciting death, and I thought it could have been expanded significantly. A firefight, hand-to-hand combat … Anything! But sadly no.
When the Berserker fought the Classic Predator, I must say, I enjoyed i!. We’ve never seen a Predator vs. Predator fight in all the films, so this was just way too cool! I would have liked our Classic Predator to have stood a better chance and to have delivered a good beat-down on the Berserker, but the exact opposite happened. The Berserker was just too big and too nasty. Again, the fight didn’t last very long, but for the couple minutes it did last, I couldn’t look away. Sad to see our Classic Pred get dominated at the end, but he did put up a good fight I would say!
The Berserker then fought Royce. Now, this scene was interesting and a tad ‘out there’ in my opinion. When Berserker turns Edwin over and discovers his chest lined with grenades; which proceed to explode right in his face, the Berserker seems to be unharmed. Tossed around a bit from the blast, but he suffers no noticeable injuries, and his mask is still intact and continues to work properly. Not realistic at all. But hey, it’s a movie! Royce then comes in, looking like Arnie did, covered in mud, just 200 pounds lighter. Haha!!
What was new
In Predators, the Predators themselves come with a new assortment of weapons and gadgets. The wrist blades are no longer wrist blades, but rather a wrist blade. Is this because these Predators are from a different clan? Possibly, but I personally preferred the dual blades on the previous Predator designs. Next up, the Plasma Casters. Definately some noticable differences here. The Berserker’s Caster seemd more powerful and required quite a long charge before firing. Unfortunately, we did not get to see any classic weaponry besides these two; no smart discs, or spears. No mines, or self-destruct devices. But we did see some “bear trap-like” traps that the Predators used to maim their prey. As well as some new force-field type trap. More information on the weapons will be available shortly.
The Good
What was good? 90% of the entire film was good! I personally really enjoyed it, and I’m an Alien fan above all else! But, seriously, Predators did impress me. I wasn’t too confident after FOX’s latest AvP films; NOT what we needed. It was nice to see them bring back a classic film, and not just reboot the original. I was happy they added a lot of similarities to the first film and that they brought back the original sound-track. Always good to hear that opening music in the jungle setting. Plus, who can forget the Little Richard song at the end, which played in the helicopters in the first film. Always fun to remember those moments.
What was bad? Well, a few things I personally would have liked to see but weren’t included: more character development and a more in-depth story. There’s a lot they can expand on with this film, and I hope they do. Another part of the film (and this is just a personal thing), I would have enjoyed hearing that famous Predator roar from the first film. That unforgettable battle cry! Unfortunately, that didn’t once make an appearance. Kind of a shame. Next up, making the wrist blades one blade and not including some other classic Predator weaponry. I would have liked to have seen some other weapons, especially with the level of computer animation we have now, so much could have been added with that. But I can’t complain much, Predators did do its job at reviving a dormant franchise. AvP had been taking over, and we were in need of a classic reminder.
All in all, I give Predators a 4/5. It was great, butit did not surpass the original in any way. I enjoyed watching it, and for the most part I was impressed. The acting was ten times better than that of the AvP films and the gore was well-balanced with action and suspense. I would see it again, no doubt. I encourage all who have not yet seen it – see it now! If you have seen it, write your own review in our fan review board. I’d like to say thank you to Robert Rodriguez and Nimrod Antal and the folks over at FOX for bringing back a classic and reviving the franchise with some good quality entertainment.
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This article was posted Saturday, July 10th, 2010 at 5:31 am by: Chris P
