Predators

If it's true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then it's safe to say that the homage-riddled sequel Predators is tripping over itself trying to flatter the greatly engaging and hugely memorable John McTeirnan-directed original. Produced by Robert Rodriguez, who first penned a potential Predator sequel script back in 1994, and directed by Hungarian filmmaker Nimrod Antal, Predators ignores the other Predator-themed movies (a direct sequel, plus two Alien vs. Predator crossovers) and essentially drools in appreciation of the 1987 original.

On one hand, this slavish obsession with the material is great, because we know Rodriguez and Antal are serious about giving fans of the franchise what they want. But on the other hand, the movie quickly begins to feel rehashed and it never comes close to standing up to the original. It's a luke-warm, lightly microwaved version of McTiernan's heart-pounding action flick. Predators is watchable and occasionally entertaining, but it tries so hard to ape the original that this latest alien hunter adventure never adopts its own identity.

From the plot to the visuals to the characters to the attempts at humour, Predators is always following in the footsteps of the original. Of course, that wouldn't be such a problem if the plot was briskly paced, the visuals were striking, the characters were memorable, and the jokes were actually funny. If this carbon copy flick actually managed to capture some of the magic of the first movie, then the approach taken by Rodriguez and Antal would be more successful.

Ultimately, their attempt to duplicate the original movie's strengths and abilities doesn't work, but it isn't a total failure right from the start. The first portion of the movie is handled pretty well, because it represents a slow build of conflict (both internal and external) and the growth of tension seems to promise something genuinely exciting. It's the same setup that we saw in the original, but the early moments of Predators imply that this tribute-oriented approach might actually work.

Just like in the first movie, a group of weapon-brandishing humans begin wandering through a jungle, unaware that a highly efficient alien beast is hunting them. The one big difference is that the original movie took place in a South American jungle, while this latest sequel takes place in an alien planet jungle. That may sound like a significant difference, but Antal has chosen to shoot the movie in actual locations, instead of on stylized sets or using an excessive amount of CGI and green-screen work. The result is an alien jungle that looks exactly like one of our earth jungles, so the visual vocabulary of Predators isn't very different from what we saw in the first movie.

The new cast play a group of highly dangerous killing machines that supposedly represent the greatest warriors on our planet. They include Adrien Brody as a cold-blooded mercenary who lost his humanity long ago, Alice Braga as a dedicated sniper from the Israeli Defense Forces, and Danny Trejo as a jittery drug cartel enforcer, just to name a few. They all hail from various corners of our world and they all have their own notion of how to survive in a seemingly impossible situation. This new group tries very hard to be memorable, but even with the long stretches of scenes where the characters simply chat with each other in between monster-killing mayhem, I never could muster up much emotional interest in who was going to live or die.

Brody gives it his all and he certainly has acting chops that exceed that of the average B-movie action star, but he doesn't really fit the ruthless killer role particularly well. He's so busy shredding his character of anything resembling a soul that he forgets to make his character an intriguing anti-hero. Brody's charisma is never strong enough to make the brawny, beefy role really connect with the material. Braga is passable, though she brings little to her role beyond a steady finger on the trigger. As for Trejo, it's always fun to watch him do his angry shtick, but he's never really given an opportunity to shine here, so that's additionally disappointing.

The rest of the cast is little more than cannon fodder, ranging from an annoying mass murderer whose journey to this alien jungle saved him from execution back home to a Yakuza member who is basically present to have a blade-on-blade showdown with a nasty Predator. The notion of collecting a group of Earth's greatest killers and plopping them into an alien jungle where the Predators can hunt them with ease is kind of fun, but it's tough to be entertained when you don't care about anyone or anything in the movie.

Antal wants to make his Predators movie a character-driven affair, but the characters aren't strong enough to steer this flick in the right direction. The movie just keeps running out of steam and the time-wasting tactics that are employed in anticipation of the big finale are increasingly frustrating. But again, the early moments of the movie are actually pretty good. The promise of something exciting lingers over that early chunk of the movie and there's reason to be hopeful.

The movie's eventual demise starts to become especially apparent following the first glimpse of an actual Predator creature. Well into the movie, the humans finally come face-to-face with an unmasked beastie and we get to see the other famous image from this franchise: the three red dots that form a triangle and signal that a Predator has its explosive sights set on you. Suddenly, it feels like we're in for something special and Antal is ready to crank up the intensity. But after the briefest of action sequences, the narrative once more ditches the titular villains and introduces us to the movie's biggest mistake.

Laurence Fishburne shows up and the whole thing goes to hell. Playing a survivor who's long since gone bonkers on this planet, Fishburne mounts an undeniably convincing campaign for a Razzie award. He's absolutely horrible in his handful of scenes and I can't think of a single kind word to describe his performance. Fishburne's presence erodes what little quality this movie contains. By the time the characters are ready to return to Predator-killing action, the movie has become such a lifeless bore that it can no longer be revived.

It's a shame that Predators implodes well before the finish line, because despite the lack of originality, the first half is a worthy addition to the franchise. At least there is still some fun to be had with the Predators themselves. Stan Winston's iconic creature design is still as excitingly unique as it was twenty-three years ago and the brilliant creature effects team at KNB (led by Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger) provides some solid work in this sequel. Antal and the KNB team include some juicy gore effects in the movie, so there are a few moments of bodily destruction that are fun to watch in the context of an R-rated creature feature.

But Predators spends too much time hiding in the shadow of the original and any attempt to intensify this lately limp franchise is irreparably damaged by Fishburne's laughably awful performance. You might also think that there's additional pleasure to be had thanks to a sheer number increase, since the pluralisation of the title implies that there will be multiple Predators for the humans to contend with. There are a couple extras tossed into the mix, but it remains a very small group and they're never as intimidating as when they first battled Arnie in the jungle some decades ago. This latest entry in the series will entertain you for a few minutes here and there, but it's recycled material all the way. It turns out that a few Predators really aren't better than one.