This is third installment in the Predator-only story line, and fifth movie involving the characters known as Predators (including the two Alien vs. Predator films). The story was developed by Robert Rodriguez back in 1994 but obviously took some time to green-lit for production. It is directed by Nimrod Antal, and stars Adrien Brody and Alice Braga, with Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, and Topher Grace in good supporting roles.
** spoiler alert** A mercenary (Brody), a sniper/assassin (Braga), a Russian special forces solider, a Mexican drug cartel gunman (Trejo), a Yakuza enforcer, a death row inmate, an African death squad fighter, and a doctor (Grace) find themselves in the jungle of an unknown planet. These killers, (predators in their own right, if you will) soon discover they are the desired prey of a triad of the Predators we have come to know from the past films. After some gunfire and action sequences, the group finds themselves a few members thinner, when they cross paths with Noland (Fishburne). He is a former Air Cavalry soldier, who apparently has been living on the planet for some time, scavenging, and hiding out from the Predators, but apparently at the cost of his mental facilities. Noland reveals there is a "blood feud" between the Predators who are hunting the group, and some smaller Predators, one of which has been captured and being held at the larger Predators encampment. Noland, revealing his predatory side, then tries to kill the group at his hideout, but does not succeed. The decision is then made to free the smaller Predator to help fight the larger ones, and attempt to locate a Predator ship to escape the planet.
Predators moves at decent pace, and the action is entertaining. There are no big surprises, and nothing new revealed in the Predator mythology. The Predators are very systematic about their hunt, but unlike films past we are (sadly) not introduced to any new weaponry - or maybe I should say I did not notice any new weapons. The design and overall look of the different Predators we see had a more tribal feel to it, which I thought was nice touch. While the human characters seemed to be a bit cliche, it was still an interesting idea to see the incorporation of non-solider/cop types to battle against the Predators.
My biggest disappointment with this installment was Fishburne's character. It seemed like his character was built up, very well I might add, as he had survived on this alien world for years eluding the Predators, only to have him attempt to murder his human counterparts for no other reason (I could gather) than his possible psychosis? This plot item just did not feel right to me. It seemed like there was "missing footage" that would/could have offered something more to this decision. I also felt the revealed "blood feud" between the larger and smaller Predators could have been developed a little further, but that is a minor detail.
The movie can stand alone as a good action picture (you can watch this without having seen any of the prior Predator films). "R" rating is for violence and language.
I still feel there is world of Predator stories to tell that have not been explored with all the great mythology that has been doled out among the films, the comics, and video games.
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