THE MONSTERS return to the jungle this week in the franchise rekindle Predators.
When a random group of soldiers, mercenaries, murderers and gang members awake in a strange overgrown rainforest, they soon discover they may not alone.
Trapped within an enormous game reserve and hunted by unearthly killing creatures, the only hope of survival is to fight against their towering alien foes.
But with the ‘Predators’ sporting advanced weaponry, near invisible cloaking devices, and far superior strength, what hope do the humans have?
Repairing the damage
Attempting to repair a lot of the damage caused by the painfully poor Alien Vs Predator spin-offs, producer Robert Rodriguez confirmed Predators was always intended as a sequel to the first two films.
And it is this respect to the concept which stops the film becoming another throw-away genre sequel.
Predators is very much a continuation from Schwarzenegger’s first foray into battle with the mandible-mouthed aliens.
Transporting the narrative back to the jungle is a welcomed move and the sequel rule of ‘the same but more’ is applied as the rag-tag group face off against a number of Predators rather than one.
But what elevates Predators above the previous questionable features is the quality cast.
Recognisable faces
Oscar winner Adrien Brody plays completely against type as a hardened mercenary, but he totally embodies with the role without question.
While he may have received a critical nod for playing a forlorn Nazi-era musician in The Pianist, his machete wielding antics against blood-thirsty alien dogs never feel misplaced.
Backing him up is a solid cast of recognisable faces which adds weight to the film.
Laurence Fishburne adds a dollop of crazy to the proceedings while Topher Grace’s ‘fish out of water’ helps cover the generic character bases without seeming too cliched.
Steering the film is director Nimród Antal, who successfully maintains interest through patience.
Following a ‘sit-up and take notice’ start which throws the audience head-first into the premise, he lets the tension brew and resists the temptation to jump straight into easy scares and monotonous action.
Instead he crescendos throughout, bringing the Predators in as late as he can while punctuating the first act with occasional goose-bump inducing shivers.
Considering the 15 rating, the violence and gore is relatively tame, which may disappoint fans of the 18 certificate original.
One particular (literally) spine-tingling encounter with a merciless Predator impresses, but other than that the film fails to bring the visceral quality hoped for considering Rodriguez’s involvement.
Nevertheless, Predators’ back to basics approach and high-calibre cast make it an action-horror worth a watch.
7/10 - Gun-toting goodness.