*** OFFICIAL PREDATORS REVIEW THRED. ***

[MachikoPR]

I like the IDEA of Mr. Black in the sense of him being a slightly different breed, bigger, meaner and all that junk. But when I watched the movie unfold, well...I liken Mr. Black to Jason Vorhees. See, I imagine Mr. Black as the retarded looking Predator that got teased as a kid only to get massive as an adult and take out his rage when given the opportunity. Not too offend anyone, but I'm prety sure that's what a Predator looks like with Down Syndrome.

I think you hit the nail on this one.

I just saw it last night (finally after weeks of waiting, release was very delayed over here)

Being a fan since the first movie and then the comics, etc., it is well known that Predators go out to hunt, in the prey's territory. They don't do it indoors (or at home, for that matter) they also hunt alone; they only do pack hunting when the prey are xenomorphs or they are beginners hunters.

Since the very beginning of the movie I had the feeling that the planet was more of a training boot camp than a "preserve" as they called it. And it really makes sense as to why the P1 was tied. If this P1 was the one that got captured by Noland and Drake (comic prequel) that makes him unworthy on the others eyes and explain why the others turned on him and tied him up. It is common behavior among alpha males to impose themselves as leader if the actual leader demonstrates weakness of failure. And if these "new breed" were in fact "defects" or "retarded" instead of "super", then with more reason they would torture and humiliate the P1 to show their supremacy.

The berserker demonstrated the lack of respect he held on the P1 when he performed the ultimate act of humiliation by cutting off his head and when he exploded the ship.
I, for one, am glad to have seen his face for the short time they showed it. I never thought I would say this, but, I find the P1 handsome compared to the new one. I honestly, deeply hated it. I really hope this would be debut and farewell for that breed.

also, if the new preds were "retarded", makes sense why they were killed so fast and easily as many in here have quoted, though I do not agree (Falconer put up a fair fight, can't get anymore honorable than that). I always say that the reason why predators get killed at all by humans is because of surprise element and bad luck, plain and simple.

I too would've loved to see P1 give more fight, but (if he was the one from the comic prequel) he was injured, even broken ribs, there's no way he could've won (only Van Damme wins with broken ribs "LIONHEART"). All he could do was try to regain his honor after the humiliation of his failure in a fight to the death.
I really liked the part when Royce cuts down the P1 and he grabs him by the neck, I'm sure the pred was thinking: "because of one of you wimpy F@##$$%
I ended up like this, I should kill you, but a deal is a deal and I must honor it, you cut me down, I'll send you home."

About Noland... after all that time hiding and scavenging for survival, he became practically a Predator himself. Ok, he went insane, who wouldn't? I believe that he was a real match for the preds when he first arrived and for a bit longer after that, but after 10 seasons... come on! The only reason he kept alive is because he stayed hidden, he purposely avoided confrontation because within his insanity he knew he was no longer a match for them. The only thing he had on his mind was survival. A surviving crazy dude will only think of himself and would do whatever it takes to stay that way, alive. Aside from the CGI explosion death, I liked everything else.

Totally loved the Hanzo/Pred sword fight, and agree with the quote that predators may not be accustom to sword fighting. At the end of that scene, the entire audience clapped with joy, cheering. It was the epic moment of the night.

Overall, I liked the movie, I was satisfied, and will definitely go watch it again. It could've been better, but it could also have been worse, I'm glad it turned out the way it is. Felt like redemption after AVP-R (which I don't hate but it definitely is the worst of all) without Wolf, that movie is trash.

Just hope they don't $#!T on the next one.

 

[MachikoPR]

I saw reference from comics:

In Jungle Tales you see a Predator being beheaded by an African warrior, the very same way Berserker beheaded P1.

There is another comic, which I don't recall the title, that shows a loony man who feels at home with the predators and even tries to gain their acceptance/respect by offering them his trophy kills to prove himself.

And in another one you find a predator choosing targets such as murderers, rapists, drug dealers, a pedophile, and a very violent cop. He even broke into a jail to get one of his targets.

Who knows if it was reference or just ramdom similitud, thing is, I loved it!

 

[PredatorSpirit]

I would give 0/10 for insulting the fanbase as badly as Paul Anderson

 

[PredatrHuntr]

The fan base has taken more of a liking to this movie than they ever did with AVP.

 

[Usurper]

Totally 100% agree.

AVP was not even a pred film.

 

[MachikoPR]

I wonder if they even do research on comics and novels.
I love the comic "Predator vs Alien Duel". That was the only reason I went to see the movie. Shame it didn't measure up, but... "kiss and makeup"

 

[JehdinThwei]

Totally 100% agree.

AVP was not even a pred film.

The story had such potential. Pyramid. Antarctic. 3 youngbloods out to prove themselves. Actually that should be a GREAT story. Then they ...... um, under delivered a sukoshi.

 

[tommynator1024]

Seen it too, now, finally. I got three big issues with this flick:

1.) What the hell was the P1 in it if they didn't use him?? I thought it a pretty cool idea to have him tied to that totem pole; however, I really hoped he'd raise some serious hell after being cut off. Ad least give a decent fight. He had it all, the wristblades, the plasmacaster - why not use that in the face off with the Berserker?? Even so - he got his ass kicked pretty hard; by the Pred that died all too easily too (see below); fears that RR would use him to show how awesome the new breed was were right, I guess

2.) The Preds were too small. Bulky, yes, in an ok way, but there wasn't that big a difference in height between the P1 and Brody. At least I didn't catch it; my mate was like, "huh, I really couldn't tell just by watching: Noland said the big ones hunted the small ones ... just by the size: which was which???"

3.) Brody killed off the Berserker too easily in my opinion; he was the badass. Brody was one too in his own right, granted; in an in-fight with a Predator, though, he should be the underdog, which didn't really happen; once he took up the axe, the Pred never once saw what was coming.

Furthermore:
- they gave away the Preds too early, the first time they were shown decloaked, all three right next to each other, was a thrown away chance for badassness; should have been in close combat, not in a totally different location without any prey.
- The sword fight between Han Zolo and the Falconer was pretty cool, the setting was great and the lighting awesome (bit darkish, though); I liked the fact that Hanzo kicked his ass, although it was kind of a tie; it felt an easy victory again, though. Pity


Other than that, I quite liked it. It didn't really have that special "holy **** yesssss" moment, and personally, I thought the Wolf for instance was much more of a badass. Leaner, meaner. Get the **** out of my way or you'll become part of the problem. I don't know, it could have been great, and I feel it was "just" good.

Maybe I was expecting way too much.

 

[MachikoPR]

2.) The Preds were too small. Bulky, yes, in an ok way, but there wasn't that big a difference in height between the P1 and Brody. At least I didn't catch it; my mate was like, "huh, I really couldn't tell just by watching: Noland said the big ones hunted the small ones ... just by the size: which was which???"


Other than that, I quite liked it. It didn't really have that special "holy **** yesssss" moment, and personally, I thought the Wolf for instance was much more of a badass. Leaner, meaner. Get the **** out of my way or you'll become part of the problem. I don't know, it could have been great, and I feel it was "just" good.

Maybe I was expecting way too much.

haha! you're right, didn't see much difference either between the two.

Love your description of Wolf.

I guess after seeing Wolf in action, his attitude, our expectations grew higher. And since the only other movie we saw a trio pack hunters was AVP, I hold my position that these trio of new breed were no pros.

 

[MachikoPR]

Take a look at this...

Found this post at another foroum were they made opinions about a sequel to Predators:

"What are predators supposed to be? They dress and act in a tribal manner, with hunting for pleasure seeming to be the sole interest in their society. They appear to be a highly advanced civilization with space travel and nuke wrist watches!? yet their sole purpose seems to be hunting for social status with an unfair advantage. We may assume they either stole their technology or came in to it after a hunting exhibition, or are these ‘hunting’ trips are a purely recreational pursuit within an advanced civilization, like a safari ? As they have immensely superior technology over their chosen prey they are clearly cowardly and low risk takers, in many ways similar to big game hunters in Africa , hunting down a lion from the safety of a land rover with a sniper rifle. Predators hunting is like a human playing a familiar PC game on the easiest setting, with the best weapons and advantages and limited potential risk i.e. pointless and not entertaining. "


What do you thing of it?
I go for the safari stuff, thrill and entertainment. (...at your own risk, 'cause in P2 the others could've stoped Harrigan from killing the pred.)
I don't know about you, but I like to play on easiest setting, what's wrong with that? not everyone enjoys the frustration of a challenge.
So if "the big game hunters in Africa" do it, why can't they. Who wants to loose or get killed in a game.

 

[tommynator1024]

I disagree with most of that. What's the superior part of what they carry? Cloaking device and plasmacaster. All armies in the world that remotely deserve the name wear camo, which is essentially what the cloaking device is - in a high end way of course. The plasmacaster may not need to reload and all, but after all it's a fairly regular gun, only more powerful. If you break it down to that level, every Earth soldier could do it - sneak through the jungle stealthily and kill from a distance, which is what a sniper does. The fact that they hardly wear any armor makes them very vulnerable in a manner. Infrared vision is available to us too.

It's basically not so much their advanced weaponry that gives them the edge but the capability to move without a sound and the strength and agility to do so in any kind of environment. That and the fact that their prey usually doesn't expect them. Extraterrestrials and ****, you know... ;-)

It has been said in the past that the original Predator was an allusion to the faceless terror of the Vietnam war. You may buy into that or not, but it's very much there, an adversary you can't see because he blends with the environment. Watch Clear And Present Danger, what the Spec Ops team does to the Colombian drug cartel is exactly that, and they're human, just very well trained and equipped.

The nuke's just for containment, it's not an attack weapon, so I wouldn't even count that.

 

[headdragon1]

What do you thing of it?
I go for the safari stuff, thrill and entertainment. (...at your own risk, 'cause in P2 the others could've stoped Harrigan from killing the pred.)
I don't know about you, but I like to play on easiest setting, what's wrong with that? not everyone enjoys the frustration of a challenge.
So if "the big game hunters in Africa" do it, why can't they. Who wants to loose or get killed in a game.

I agree with the easy mode and i dont have a problem with it. At the same time I hate how people say they have all this honor from it tho. They really try and stay stealthed the entire time as per P1 the only reason he came uncloaked was his cloaking device got busted. He wasnt honorable at all. He just was forced to pay by Dutchs rules.

 

[Skullsplitter]

It's FINALLY release here in Holland, and I went to the cinema with my girl. Local Cinema shows it a magical once a day, the next cinema is about an hour away using public transport. We showed up, a line that went across the square the cinema is located, there's only one counter open and there were about 17 seats left. That kinda ruined my day. I looked forward for this day over the past few months, and now it's (for this locale rather magically) so popular there were only 17 seats left and there was a queue of some 70 people still waiting, ten minutes before the show.

Another day, tomorrow we will go to The Hague, see some sculptures outdoor and finally visit the cinema twice in a day. (Predators first, then dinner, then Inception once more)

 

[Skullsplitter]

Quick review of mine:

Predators tries to reinvent the wheel and get's stuck halfway

With Predators, the combination of Robert Rodriguez and Nimrod Antal try to bring back the scare and the feel of the original that brought us the crab-faced alien that hunts for sport and prestige.

The premise is that the main characters are selected for hunting on a off-world game reserve, slowly piecing together the puzzle they're stuck in. This could work rather well, and does the trick nicely for about the first hour or so.

I really felt the story could've used some more weight, as none of the characters really draw the audience in, nor are their actions logical or reasonable at times. For example, the way the first victim is picked off and how the rest of the cast works with it just don't feel natural, whereas the attack on the rebel base in P1 felt unstable, unprofessional but fitted perfectly in the rest of the setting, plus the way it was done just worked. Not in Predators IMO. Too many loose ends, too shallow of a story and too little detailing the context. I'd go as far to say it really didn't matter to me how the film ended, just because it started where it originally begun, rendering all action in the past hour quite redundant.

Now, what I did like on Predators, is the tone it sets. The actors portray their characters with conviction, make them believable within the space given. The whole show is build to make you believe the pieces involved, and actors, creatures and props sell it well.
Brody almost single-handedly saved the film by playing a character you'd hate to love, an rather inhuman mercanary who rather tries to use his fellow survivors as bait than to collaborate with them from the start, just to get to higher ground and secure survival.

Then the creatures. ADI, eat your heart out. I know, ADI didn't get the same instructions, but at least the Predators felt like mean fuckers again, and even though the details are less naturalistic and a little more stylistic, KNB did one HELL of a job there. Sure, the mandibles twitch more than the classics did (or at least felt less naturalistic) and some details were off (yes, we fans have sunk that low that we trip over the way the skin folds in the face of a Pred), but overall I'm deeply impressed by what they have achieved. Movement of the creatures themselves could've been better though, also a Little more screentime would've been nice.

Overall, I'd give Predators a meager 7, largely for Brody, considered this could be a LOT more judging by what they had on board for this ride.

 

[seahunterr]

I liked the movie, I place it second after P1 in entertainment. I like the idea of the game preserve, the preds have a more or less even fight as they are seeking the ultimate challenge and hunt, not a turkey shoot. That's why they get killed, not because they are weak. Arnie killed one with rocks and trees more or less, the pred was enjoying the hunt and fight, not so much the kill which he could have done several times. My favorite part was seeing a P1 original improved upon after 25 years! Much better detail on the skin and face, the Pred acting good, but the legend KPH without question is what made the P1 great.

 

[Skullsplitter]

My favorite part was seeing a P1 original improved upon after 25 years! Much better detail on the skin and face.

LOL Whut? You're joking, right?

 

[seahunterr]

No joke, it's a far better pred now, my opinion

LOL Whut? You're joking, right?

 

[morbius]

I have to agree. i think the improved P1 was awsome. the face was realy well done. it allmost looks younger than the real P1, and i loved the leather wraps that are around his arms.

 

[Skullsplitter]

But the painfully visable paint application, the overstylized sculpt of his face and armor, off-folds in his mandibles (the top mandibles were at an incorrect angle anyway)... I mean, it's pretty damn close, but no sigar.

That being said, I'd be more interested for KNB to do another original design based on the P1/P2 eastatics but making a more unique version of it that copy-pasting the P1 again.

 

[Consular Hunter]

Well, just seen it here in the Netherlands, 6 0ut of 10.

The new predators looked like an overgrown female, especially in the last scene with the fight between the good old pred type we know and the weird crab face.

Fights between preds and humans as well as between preds amongst themselves were too short in my opinion, characters two dimensional except LF who actually portrayed a schizofrenic quite convincinly.

The Samurai sword battle was not up to specs, though the killing of each other followed by the two bodies laying in the wind swept field reminded me of a Kurosawa or other Samurai film but then not as good.

They could have done such a better job, also with the stalking of the prey...

Wish brody would have had that agility when he hid from the Nazis in the Piano LOL

However the ending leaves open a possibility for a sequel and probably one day we will see a war between the preds and the humans who, just like in avatar and starship troopers come to kick ass in their own space ships...

Overall, an entertaining hour and 45 minutes.

CH