Face-Off: Predator 2 vs. Predators

The Predators in this film don’t bother hunting their prey on Earth, instead abducting their chosen prey from the planet and transporting them to another planet they use as a game preserve. Aside from a strange sky and some alien artifacts scattered here and there, there’s not much to set this place apart from any jungle on Earth – which makes sense, it’s supposed to be reminiscent of the jungle setting of the original PREDATOR. Multiple callbacks to the first film occur in this setting, so if you’re looking for something fresh within the franchise this jungle world isn’t going to do all that much for you.

If Adrien Brody isn’t the least likely actor to be cast as an action hero, he’s at least high in the running. He may not appear to be a badass, but he did a fine job attempting to turn himself into one, packing on muscle and speaking gruffly. The film isn’t doing him any favors when it has him reenact Schwarzenegger moments, though. Brody’s mercenary Royce is paired with a secondary hero, Alice Braga as skilled IDF sniper Isabelle, who is actually the more likeable character and has knowledge of the Predators. Knowledge she gleaned from reading about the events of the first movie.

All of the characters the Predators brought to this game preserve planet are either soldiers or killers; some of them obviously so, some of them not so obvious, especially the one played by Topher Grace. How did he get in here? Walton Goggins is as entertaining as ever playing a death row inmate, Danny Trejo isn’t around for nearly long enough, and Laurence Fishburne shows up and acts crazy for a while. Some of the other actors may not have recognizable names, but they make an impression as they deal with this crazy situation and blast their way through the jungle. One of them even challenges a Predator to a sword fight that is shot like a samurai movie.

These Predators are different, larger, and they don’t get along with the classic ones. They even have a standard Predator tied up at their camp. They use some of the same equipment – the cloaking device, the lazer cannon, the spear. They have the blade gauntlets, but their blades are longer. They spice up their hunt with alien “dogs” that have spiky growths all over their body, and send out mechanical “hawks” that transmit video back to them. The elements that play up the hunter aspect are cool, but there are some changes that are just there for the wow factor. For example, a lazer cannon shot doesn’t really need to blow a person to pieces.

PREDATORS literally drops its characters into the action. After being abducted and knocked out, they regain consciousness while being dropped into the game preserve from a great height. It takes a while for the movie to build up, though. The filmmakers hold off 40 minutes before revealing the Predators, as if we didn’t know what movie we’re watching. From that point on, it’s an exciting chase with some fun bursts of action and altercations, but there are really only two sequences that stand out to me: the samurai fight and the ending, and the latter only because it has Brody doing a Schwarzenegger impression.