If a film could stalk you and figure out exactly what you want out of your horror/action movie, then this is the film that did it - a review of Predators

The movie in a nutshell: A bunch of crazy killer types are dropped from the sky. They are being hunted. By the alien race known as Predators.




I really don't want to tell you more because I don't think I need to. Either you already know what the plot is, or you don't. That is literally all you should know going into it. If you saw the original you won't get nearly as much enjoyment out of this one, but it is still worth your time. If you see this fresh you might think it the best action movie in a while.




This is a movie that is kick ass from the first second. It builds faster and faster towards answers and keeps you engaged from that first frame. The most important part is that it skips a lot of what would have been boring set up, and instead leaves that as a puzzle for the characters to solve and it works brilliantly. More importantly, constantly the movie employs LOGIC. It is rare for an action movie to do such, but if a character makes a decision often it makes sense, and if it doesn't make sense it does eventually via a further explanation of character. The premise is well done, simple, and is set up just right so as to keep the audience, as I said, engaged.

The movie opens up setting up a series of stereotypes. They are killers and they are for all intents and purposes a bunch of nameless and faceless characters to be killed off later. and in fact, the movie plays up this aspect by holding back on names until a logical character driven moment for a character. It works really well. A lot of the issues that could have come up are averted by good screenwriting. And you can of course LOL at the fact that Topher Grace gets dropped into this group. But I'll let that stand and let you make up your own mind on his performance when you watch the movie. They do get civilized rather quickly for killers and so they don't quite feel perfect, but they do feel overall solid. The characters are built up as being smart and being said to be actiony. It soon shows that each killer can back up what they claim with action and it is really important that the movie holds it in. Each of the eight main characters are distinct enough from each other that even without names you can know who each is without names. It is kind of hilarious that the Russian uses a minigun. Because both are known to be so efficient.

The movie keeps its first act well paced and shrouded in mystery. This is a movie about characters, not monsters. The sound design in here is really well done and really helps set up the tone between action and horror. It sets everything up through a system of fear so that rather than being about jump scares(there are only 2 or 3 in the movie) they use genuine tension to build towards truly horrific moments. The movie knows who scary it's antagonists are, and thusly slowly reveals them and keeps them in the shadows to remain scary. It is the Jaws effect.


The movie introduces several new alien designs that expands the Alien/Predator universe with new species. The film also gives us some new mythos to the Predator lore and while it does put some of the old non-movie predator movies out of cannon, it is authentic enough that it greatly expands the mythos. Most importantly it shows offa new design for the Predators and then also uses backstory to explain these new changes. It really works well.

The plot keeps up and once the humans finally see the predators they react true to life and once the first character dies, they start dropping for the rest of the film. The movie does eventually slow back down to explain some stuff, but it keeps the tension and the uneasyness going so that when the movie does slow down, you don't feel bored or taken aback by it. It's subtle. Then once a new character is introduced, the film steam rolls into the end of the film and you end up with some fantastic moments such as a predator taking a trophy, a outright duel, and the big finale.

Overall, I was enthralled by the movie and really enjoyed the experience. is it perfect? Of course not. But I also found it to be my favorite movie in the Predator series.

So overall, this movie gets a A-.
Check it out.