Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Predators (2010)

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Posted by Dennis M Dow Jr (Member # 1970) on 07-12-2010, 10:35 AM:

Saw this Saturday Night at the Fabian 8 in Paterson NJ. First off was very annoyed that at the 10:15pm show had to listen to a baby crying. Also the constant white of text messaging was pissing me off.
That said now a review. This is an ok movie. Considering who they cast in it (All Wrong), it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
The movie starts with Adrien Brody's character waking up during while skydiving. As he lands he meets up with Danny Trejo and Alice Braga. As they meet with the rest of the characters they all find out they were doing something else and then woke up in a free fall.
The acting in my opinion was wooden as only Walter Goggins (the Shield) was the only one who showed any emotion in the scenes he was in.
Lawrence Fishburne, I think, was just there to be there really adding nothing to the movie.

There wasn't as much graphic killing as you would expect from a Predator movie. Overall gave it 2 outta 5 stars

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-12-2010, 12:31 PM:

Has there ever been a movie with Lawrence Fishburne in it where he hasn't been "just there" adding absolutely nothing to the movie? How this totally expressionless "actor" ever gets cast is beyond me. So sad....seems he met the same fate as Han Solo -- face frozen in carbonite.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-12-2010, 12:58 PM:

Laurence Fishburne replaced William Peterson as one of the main characters on "CSI" (the Vegas version). He's pretty good on that.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 07-12-2010, 06:10 PM:

I agree -- bad casting. And, can we just talk about Adrian Brody for a moment -- like, didn't he used to have a bright future before he started doing bad movies like SPLICE and, now, PREDATORS?

Saw this movie Saturday night (7/10) at Pacific Theatres at The Grove in Los Angeles (Aud #1). Lots of jump, weave and positive dirt on the print. Not good, since this was only day 2 in release. Entire image was out of focus. Verified during end credits.

And now, the movie -- adds nothing substantial to the original -- They're in a jungle -- something's after them -- they can't see what it is. The screenplay pays lip service to character arc but whatever transitions there are happen suddenly at the eleventh hour. As for the mystery of how and why they are there, it's never satisfactorily answered -- i wanted to know who was behind it and what it was all about. And, no, I don't want to wait for another sequel for these answers.

Even more maddening --> $12.75 for the ticket and $11 for parking. It would have been cheaper to buy the video of the **far superior original film**

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 07-12-2010, 06:29 PM:

Another "scope" sequel to "flat" predecessors...

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 07-12-2010, 07:24 PM:

...and no 70mm prints this time either, but digital "prints" to compliment the 35mm prints.

Anyway, saw it Friday 11:15am show at the Maya in Bakersfield. New complex featuring leather highback rocking chairs. Only a BAD first reel marred the otherwise excellent presentation (major color shifts for about 5 minutes). The sound was beautifully tuned.

The film was however, average BUT watchable. Kinda confused about the whole predator chained up business. Why??? And didn't ANY of those parachuting down notice that the sky wasn't Earth's? Still, I was reasonably intertained for a couple of hours.

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 07-12-2010, 07:26 PM:

quote: Manny Knowles
As for the mystery of how and why they are there, it's never satisfactorily answered -- i wanted to know who was behind it and what it was all about.

So them saying, we were brought here to be hunted. And then LF character telling them that they bring people every "Season" isn't a well enough explanation of the who and why. They are brought by the Predators and hunted by the Predators to further "evolve" as hunters and fighters.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-12-2010, 07:58 PM:

quote: Manny Knowles
Entire image was out of focus. Verified during end credits.

You sat there for the entire movie and didn't find a manager?

Theaters really need to have a number patrons can text presentation problems to. I mean, if everyone is going to text during the movie anyway, might as well make it useful.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 07-13-2010, 12:58 PM:

Brad -- I've grown tired of being the one who goes out to the lobby complaining about things, missing the setup of the movie, and still never having the problem addressed to my satisfaction.

Kurt -- no, that's not enough. Who snatched the earthlings? How come they don't remember actually being snatched? Everything in this movie was a choice on the part of the filmmaker. On this point, they chose to be vague. It's lazy storytelling.

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 07-13-2010, 09:49 PM:

quote: Manny Knowles
Who snatched the earthlings?

I think your really start to nit pick here Manny, you really can't expect the movie to spend the first 15 minutes explaining how each "Killer" was picked up from earth. That is just bad story telling. I still don't understand your question of Who Snatched the earthlings, this is the most obvious thing in this very straightforward movie.

There was alot of things that could of and should of been done differently but to complain about who snatched and who brought them there is so far down on the list I don't see the concern.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 07-15-2010, 12:38 AM:

What can I say? I disagree. I think it can be done -- and it doesn't necessarily have to come at the beginning either. But whatever. I'm not going to waste time arguing about PREDATORS.

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 07-15-2010, 07:22 AM:

Agreed, we agree to disagree [Smile]

I'm not looking to argue over a meaningless movie.

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 07-15-2010, 02:14 PM:

I saw it Sunday afternoon. Had heard that it was getting 3 and 4 star critic reviews, so had expected it to be decent but was only ok. Adrien Brody's tough guy voice was annoying though out. Alice Braga was ok and at least they didnt cast Michelle Rodriguez. The nit-picky thing that bothered me the most was that they used almost the SAME score from the origional movie through out the entire length of the film. At least in the second one the first music you hear is from the first movie so you know you are watching a Predator movie but then changes and origional score for the rest. The only other thing was the Predators seem a bit too easy to kill and they didnt introduce anything new as far as alien tech which was always interesting from film to film. 2 out of 5 stars from me...

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 08-01-2010, 10:53 AM:

I'm kind of with Manny here. I would have liked a little more development. I too wondered how they people were kidnapped. I mean, it seems unlikely some Predators would drop in the middle of a war zone, observe for awhile to find the most worthy foes, then snatch them out. I like the idea of them contracting with other humans to do the leg work for them, then they just hunt.

I was duped (my own fault) into thinking this was a Robert Rodriquez directed film. It is not. I don't know what role he played, but it must not have been a very large one. Creative assistance maybe? Needless to say, I was disappointed, but mostly because I thought it was going to be as good as Rodriguez's norm.