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About Jon
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Let’s go to the movies! I love the movie experience, study what happens on the screen and am writing about it to help you with your movie going decisions. Hopefully something in the blogging of a film’s big elements – screenwriting, cinematography, directing, acting, visual effects, sound, and editing (and sometimes automobiles) – will help movie fans discern where their entertainment dollars should go. I’ve been blogging about movies on 99x.com since April 2008 and have been listening to 99x since moving to Atlanta in 1996. I’ve worked on the Olympics and short films that have appeared at Sundance and other film festivals in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. I have a Master’s degree in film from Florida State University and regard film school as one of the best experiences of my life.
I currently live in Atlanta with my wife and two labs; love baseball, music, family and friends, good food, and of course movies. Just to blog down thoughts from an eyewitness perspective I avoid reading other movie blogs or reviews on a new release until I’ve posted my own. All references to box office results or cast and crew are culled from boxofficeguru.com, boxofficemojo.com, or IMDB.com. Wikipedia is not used in the writing of this blog. Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/jonlamoreaux for additional movie updates.
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Jon's Movie Blog
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Jul
9
Written by:
Jon Lamoreaux
7/9/2010 2:01 PM
 Predator (1987) and Predator II (1990) were pretty good. In my opinion. The rest, AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004) and AVP Requiem (2007) were examples of exploitation of past film and video game success, a way to draw you in by title alone and barrage you with special effect after special effect to make an extra buck. The kind of thing you do when you’re at the end of your franchise’s run; when you start to see box office results dwindle film after film. Here, in Predators we go a little nostalgic, revisiting the 1987 original in look, feel, and pacing; action sequences and scenes full of conflict occur in more succession with shorter periods of dialogue and get-to-know-each-character moments as the film progresses. I loved Predators for this reason alone, the plot structure, and the simplicity of the story. The clever dialogue and situational humor that develops is just the icing on the proverbial melting lights-are-on Krispi Kreme donut. Let me just say, if you’re a fan of sci-fi and action films, and liked any of the Predator films, then Predators produced by El Mariachi wunderkind director Robert Rodriquez, starring Oscar winner Adrian Brody and Oscar nominated actor Laurence Fishburne, is a must see. Talk about a reboot, Predators is defibrillator extraordinaire bringing back to life a franchise on the brink of extinction.
The Story: Eight weapon yielding individuals parachute into the jungles of an unfamiliar place where flora and fauna are as deadly looking as the alien hunters they encounter. Yes, it’s a hunting preserve on a distant planet God knows where and each of our characters, monsters in their own right on planet Earth—one a prisoner with a shiv who was awaiting death row, one a doctor, one a mercenary from Africa, one a member of the Japanese mafia Yakuza, one a Chechen rebel…you get the idea; these soldiers and mercenaries and killers in one way or another, who are the best at what they do, are brought to this strange planet to be hunted by the best at what they do. Which is to hunt.
The Goods: Our human prey assemble quickly under the leadership of Brody’s Royce. He’s a variety of soldier of fortune, maybe special ops at one point in his life, carrying an automatic shotgun weapon that looks like a Tommy Gun from the Prohibition 1920’s. Most of them don’t say much at first verbally but speak volumes through bullets and knife wielding and in doing so show us a little about themselves. Some like Hanzo the Yakuza gang member played by Louis Ozawa Changchien we almost learn more through wardrobe and choice of weapon than anything else. Soon our misplaced killer misfits discover a trap, and empty cages that parachuted before them. It’s not long before they’re being chased by alien dogs and realize they’re being hunted. We reach the thirty minute mark under an orange sky filled with a handful of strange moons and unfamiliar planets, like out of Planet of the Apes (1968) and realize director Nimrod Antal has had us so involved in the intrigue unfolding seamlessly and with such efficient pacing on screen that we were made to forget all of this alien predator stuff is preposterous.
The gang slow down a bit to talk things over, to come up with a plan and while the action sequences and conflict keep mounting like a metronome set to increase beats every ten minutes or so, we grab hold of whatever downtime we can with these strangely likable characters; murderers and monsters we wouldn’t normally associate ourselves with but with which we have great sympathy for at this moment. During these rest periods between survival overload, the dialogue gets surprisingly good and continues to develop as the characters grow, or should I say as we get to know the characters more. Not dialogue you find in an E. M. Forester film, or like the superb Michael Douglas film out currently called Solitary Man, but the one-liners and catch phrases heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis had the great fortune of uttering in the first Predator, or in Die Hard (1988) respectively. The kind of sentences that make great sound bites on film reviews shows and NPR. “They want you to feel something. To be human,” Royce says after one of the guys gets injured and they have to carry him. “And what are you,” asks Isabelle played by Alice Braga. “Alive,” Royce says.
It’s very reminiscent of Aliens (1986) where the soldiers cleverly come together and go on the hunt in an attempt to save themselves from being hunted. Some of the characters are even similar and speak in the same pattern of point-out-the-fact gloom and doom like Bill Paxton’s character from that film. And there are plenty of references to the past Predator films, specifically the original so much so that a comfort level sets in like you’re watching one of your favorite films for the umpteenth time, quoting lines and re-witnessing those cool shots like one handed dismemberments of human spine and head from a ferocious Rastafarian predator; or like images of exploding alien dogs and humans alike that splatter blood and carcass everywhere as if the film is in 3D.
There’s even an honorable showdown between one of our men and a Predator, in an attempt to let the surviving members of our team escape. Just as Sonny Landham’s character did in the first one, on a foot bridge, mano y predator. Yeah Sonny’s diversion didn’t last long in 1987 but it gave our guys the break they needed. Here, again, it’s tattooed Yakuza warrior Hanzo. He finds a samurai sword and in a field of tall grass that looks like wheat we get a scene of action-film art whereby waves of grass blow in the wind, and with birds-eye-view shots of our Hanzo and Predator, swords in hand, we see a balletic duel of blades that is a scene of art so rare in science fiction or action B-films and so great that I thought for a second I was watching an Akira Kurosawa film like Throne of Blood (1957) or Seven Samurai (1954).
Even better though is Laurence Fishburne’s character. His moments are short and sweet, and that’s all I’m saying. It’s almost a cameo, but he infuses the film with a burst of nitrous oxide that leaves you saying what the freak, man.
The Flaws: Brody’s voice inflection like Clint Eastwood is annoying. But it’s a cover-up as a loner means to exude confidence to his sudden group surrounding. As the film progresses he loses a little of the deep hoarseness and as we get the impression we’re seeing his true character evolve he changes to a more vulnerable, honest man. Obviously much of this is far-fetched, especially when they use some of their own men to trap or lure the hunters. It’s like these guys have no fear when they should all be shaking in their boots.
The Call: Boots or thousand dollar Yakuza shoes, put them on and get to Predators fast. Spend the ten and enjoy one of the best B action films of the summer, and of the last few years.
Rated R for strong creature violence and gore, and pervasive language. Running time is an awesome 106 minutes. Director Antal also directed Armored (2009) with Fishburne, and the Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale film Vacancy (2007). In addition to producing, Robert Rodriquez acts as Visual Effects Supervisor; effects here are just as good if not better than the other Predator films.
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