Predator 2010 sequel10/30/2023 Throwing Brody’s performance into relief is a brief and glorious cameo by Laurence Fishburne as Noland, an air cavalry soldier who has been living on the planet for several years. With his arched eyebrows and squinted eyes, it seems like Brody’s trying to communicate world-weariness, but instead, he looks confused by anyone who takes him seriously. But he seems to be playing a parody of a tough guy, delivering all of his lines in a comical whisper. The usually lanky Brody clearly puts on muscle for the movie and looks impressive during the requisite shirtless standoff at the climax. We see that most clearly with Brody’s performance as Royce, an ex-special forces mercenary who insists that he cares only about himself but constantly helps others in the group. They have as much cultural specificity as the boxers from Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out.Īnd yet, it’s that very silliness that makes Predators so effective. Changchien’s Hanzo remains stealthy and quiet, revealing the missing fingers on his hand and dies during an honorable duel with a Predator. Taktarov’s Nikolai is a massive Spetsnaz soldier who carries a chain gun and gets sappy talking about his family. Despite the skill of the actors involved, they fundamentally play stereotypes. They’re brought to a planet that functions as a game reserve, and the group tries to stay alive against the trio of Predators testing their skills. They each play different examples of earthling killers: Ali as a death squad soldier from Sierra Leone Louis Ozawa Changchien as a Yakuza assassin Braga as a sniper in the Israeli Defense Force (because apparently dumb Americans can’t tell the difference between a Brazilian and an Israeli). Except for Danny Trejo and possibly Oleg Taktarov, Predators starred actors who would either become bigger names later in their careers, such as Mahershala Ali and Walton Goggins, or those known for dramatic or comedic roles, including Topher Grace and Alice Braga. So instead of gathering recognizable action heroes, Rodriguez and Antel opted for character actors. There was no cultural milieu into which oncoming producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród Antel could ground their movie. With the spark of The Matrix extinguished by too many inferior pretenders, and The Raid: Redemption not coming for another year, action movies lacked a clear identity. In the same year that Schwarzengger and Stallone would pioneer the “Geezer Teaser” genre with The Expendables, action movies were in a fallow period. But when the Predator arrives and decimates the commandos, the movie settles into its thesis: these guys may be big, but there’s always something bigger.īy 2010, things had changed. McTiernan spends ample time not only showing us the heroes wreaking destruction but also bragging about their muscles and sexual abilities. Predator both celebrated and undercut these movies, playing like the most over-the-top ‘80s action film for its first half. Big guys like Arnold and Sylvester Stallone carried big guns to make big explosions and drop big quips. After decades of heroes like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, ‘80s action embraced excess. To fully appreciate the legacy set by the original Predator, one needs to remember the state of 1980s movies. And yet, it’s that surprising approach which puts Predators above the overheated nonsense of Predator 2 and the misplaced schmaltz of The Predator, making it the only worthy successor to the original film (at least until Prey, which is on Hulu now! ). No one expects a challenge from one of Wes Anderson’s repertory players or the guy from That ‘70s Show. Half of the original’s fun involved watching meatheads like Arnold, Carl Weathers, and Jesse Ventura get torn to shreds by an elite hunter from outer space. Some may argue that this callback captures everything wrong with the later movie. Rather it’s Royce, the decidedly lither mercenary played by Adrien Brody in the 2010 sequel Predators. “Kill me!”įor most people, the above description recalls an iconic scene from Predator, the 1987 action horror classic directed by John McTiernan, but the human I’m describing is not Major Dutch Schaefer, the hulking special forces agent played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Do it now!” he bellows, taunting the hunter. He stands in the center of a trap, ready to lure the hunter into one final showdown. To throw off the hunter’s heat vision, the human has stripped off his shirt and smeared mud over his muscled body. After watching his comrades be hunted and torn down by an alien hunter, the human prey is ready to fight back.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |