First off, I loved the original with Arnold Schwarzenegger. This movie attempts to almost re-tell the first movie in a slightly different light. By different light, I mean completely different planet. This will be less of an actual review and more of a quick run-through, basically for me to point out things that are either wrong or silly.
The story starts as Adrian Brody is falling through the sky. After getting up and looking around he meets a Drug Cartel enforcer, who is equipped with two MP5s. Then shortly after that is set upon by a burly Spetsnaz dude with a minigun. Yep, the outrageous minigun from the first movie is back.
-Interlude-
So far we've seen two weapons that are impractical. MP5s are meant for accuracy in close quaters (hence their small size), so having two of them ruins the point of the weapon, besides looking cool. Also, the cartel enforcer has a gold plated pistol. Now, the minigun/gatling gun/vulcan/whatever. If you don't know, those things are heavy. about a hundred pounds, and if you take the battery (needed for a portable version) and put it on your back, maybe about 20 lbs less. But, if you add that in with all of the ammo to have it fire for more than 3 seconds, the load on your back easily exceeds 150 lbs. But that's still manageable by a big guy. However, upon firing the gun, the recoil would be well over 300 lbs, and would send any man, no matter how strong, flying backwards. It looks nice, but no.
-end-
The rest of this motley crew is made up of a spec ops sniper, a Yakuza member, a RAF death squad member, a death row inmate, and a "doctor." They try to survive against the Predators, successfully, until losing the enforcer. A short while later, they run into Lawrence Fishbourne, who has been stuck on the planet for about ten seasons (which may or may not mean ten years) and has gone crazy. He helps the crew out and takes them to his hideout, where he tries to
which forces the crew to alert the predators to their whereabouts. After some running and walking, the doctor gets lost and hunted by a predator, and he is saved by the spetsnaz guy. Which leads me to my next
-interlude-
This scene is probably the most improbable and over-the-top action movie shenanigans in the entire movie. The spetsnaz guy is taken down by a stun shot to the back, but has a trick up his sleeve; namely, two grenades and a claymore. However, instead of a quick explosion, as grenades and claymore do, there is a massive fireball that flows throughout the entire hideout (a large alien vehicle, about as big as a large house) and out a vent that leads outside. This is ridiculous because the insane amount of fire that erupts from two simple grenades and a claymore mine is simply preposterous. I'm pretty sure the majority of it is CG, but still, it was as if the grenades and claymore were made entirely out of gasoline, napalm and thermite. And instead of grenades and a claymore, there were 80 gallon drums.
Also, one of the best moments is when the convict jumps on the back of a predator and shanks him in the neck.
-end-
At this point, the crew is down to the yakuza, the sniper, Adrian Brody, and the doctor. Now, who here remembers that scene in the first movie where the one guy with the huge knife fights the predator mano y mano on the fallen tree? Well, the Yakuza member just happened to find a Katana earlier. So the same things happens in an open field, although lets just say the Yakuza guy and his Katana is far more effective than the other guy and his knife. So now we only have three guys left, the doctor, the sniper, and Adrian Brody. Incidentally,
-Interlude-
The sniper can't hit the broadside of a barn. Well, possibly, but she isn't a great shot for being a sniper. She is when it counts, though. In fact, none of the actual military members act very military at all. I guess it's because the actors have no real training, but there are things they do, or don't do, that real members of elite fighters would know to do or not do.
-End-
Adrian Brody attempts to find the predators ship with the other two, but the doctor get injured, and so the sniper stays behind and tries to carry him to the ship. Adrian meets and frees a tied up predator, who then fights another predator for him, which gives him time to get to the ship.
-Interlude-
This would have been a great moment for a 'Get to da Choppa!" joke. But sadly, no. Also, the phrase "It's a trap!" would have worked very, very well in an earlier scene. The movie also makes a reference to the original Predator. Just FYI.
-End-
So Adrian is running to the ship, the other two are heading along slowly, but the bad predator
, which causes the doctor to
The story starts as Adrian Brody is falling through the sky. After getting up and looking around he meets a Drug Cartel enforcer, who is equipped with two MP5s. Then shortly after that is set upon by a burly Spetsnaz dude with a minigun. Yep, the outrageous minigun from the first movie is back.
-Interlude-
So far we've seen two weapons that are impractical. MP5s are meant for accuracy in close quaters (hence their small size), so having two of them ruins the point of the weapon, besides looking cool. Also, the cartel enforcer has a gold plated pistol. Now, the minigun/gatling gun/vulcan/whatever. If you don't know, those things are heavy. about a hundred pounds, and if you take the battery (needed for a portable version) and put it on your back, maybe about 20 lbs less. But, if you add that in with all of the ammo to have it fire for more than 3 seconds, the load on your back easily exceeds 150 lbs. But that's still manageable by a big guy. However, upon firing the gun, the recoil would be well over 300 lbs, and would send any man, no matter how strong, flying backwards. It looks nice, but no.
-end-
The rest of this motley crew is made up of a spec ops sniper, a Yakuza member, a RAF death squad member, a death row inmate, and a "doctor." They try to survive against the Predators, successfully, until losing the enforcer. A short while later, they run into Lawrence Fishbourne, who has been stuck on the planet for about ten seasons (which may or may not mean ten years) and has gone crazy. He helps the crew out and takes them to his hideout, where he tries to
kill them and take their stuff
-interlude-
This scene is probably the most improbable and over-the-top action movie shenanigans in the entire movie. The spetsnaz guy is taken down by a stun shot to the back, but has a trick up his sleeve; namely, two grenades and a claymore. However, instead of a quick explosion, as grenades and claymore do, there is a massive fireball that flows throughout the entire hideout (a large alien vehicle, about as big as a large house) and out a vent that leads outside. This is ridiculous because the insane amount of fire that erupts from two simple grenades and a claymore mine is simply preposterous. I'm pretty sure the majority of it is CG, but still, it was as if the grenades and claymore were made entirely out of gasoline, napalm and thermite. And instead of grenades and a claymore, there were 80 gallon drums.
Also, one of the best moments is when the convict jumps on the back of a predator and shanks him in the neck.
-end-
At this point, the crew is down to the yakuza, the sniper, Adrian Brody, and the doctor. Now, who here remembers that scene in the first movie where the one guy with the huge knife fights the predator mano y mano on the fallen tree? Well, the Yakuza member just happened to find a Katana earlier. So the same things happens in an open field, although lets just say the Yakuza guy and his Katana is far more effective than the other guy and his knife. So now we only have three guys left, the doctor, the sniper, and Adrian Brody. Incidentally,
-Interlude-
The sniper can't hit the broadside of a barn. Well, possibly, but she isn't a great shot for being a sniper. She is when it counts, though. In fact, none of the actual military members act very military at all. I guess it's because the actors have no real training, but there are things they do, or don't do, that real members of elite fighters would know to do or not do.
-End-
Adrian Brody attempts to find the predators ship with the other two, but the doctor get injured, and so the sniper stays behind and tries to carry him to the ship. Adrian meets and frees a tied up predator, who then fights another predator for him, which gives him time to get to the ship.
-Interlude-
This would have been a great moment for a 'Get to da Choppa!" joke. But sadly, no. Also, the phrase "It's a trap!" would have worked very, very well in an earlier scene. The movie also makes a reference to the original Predator. Just FYI.
-End-
So Adrian is running to the ship, the other two are heading along slowly, but the bad predator
wins and blows the ship up before it can leave the planet's atmosphere
reveal that he is not a doctor at all, just a homicidal serial killer. He paralyzes the sniper with a neuro toxin and is about to kill her when Adrian Brody shows up, having not made it to the ship in time. The doctor almost kills Adrian, but he is speedy quick and subdues the serial killer by shoving a knife in his mouth, then uses him as part of a trap.
After that, Adrian fights the predator, old school Predator style, with fire and mud and an axe (when the shot cuts to Adrian Brody shirtless covered in mud, one can only help but think of Arnold in the original, and let's just say Brody is no Schwarzenegger). Adrian runs around covered in mud with a background of fire. However, the predator gets the upper hand, and it looks like Adrian is about to lose, but that sniper finally gets her gun and gets her aiming skills back just in time.
-Interlude-
At this point, while the predator is looking up at Adrian, and he is staring back at it, it would have been a great time for Arnold's line, "You are one ugly mother f**ker." But no.
-End-
So that wraps it up. I had no true gripes with the movie, except for a few I mentioned. All in all, it is a great movie, definitely on par with the original. The acting is good, the Predators are wonderful, the characters are great, the effects are well done, and well, basically everything is good about it. Go see it so you can understand my rambling (and because it's a good movie).
-Interlude-
At this point, while the predator is looking up at Adrian, and he is staring back at it, it would have been a great time for Arnold's line, "You are one ugly mother f**ker." But no.
-End-
After Adrian cuts of the predators head with the axe, the sniper (who got shot in the arm with the predator's arm blade) and Adrian are sitting as they notice a ship in the sky. They stand up as the parachutes of more beasties and more people come down to play The Most Dangerous Game.
So that wraps it up. I had no true gripes with the movie, except for a few I mentioned. All in all, it is a great movie, definitely on par with the original. The acting is good, the Predators are wonderful, the characters are great, the effects are well done, and well, basically everything is good about it. Go see it so you can understand my rambling (and because it's a good movie).
