Predators (2010)

Yes, he actually said "Die you space faggot".

When I was a young man, I enjoyed few movies more than Predator. The film packed more men per square inch than probably any other and, despite the overtly homosexual tones, the movie broadcasted testosterone filled action to any pubescent boy watching. As I grow older, the movie remains a cult favorite of mine but the lackluster sequels and Alien vs. Predator movies have, frankly, ruined a lot of the enjoyment of my favorite masked space bad-ass. Finally, Predator has gotten a halfway decent sequel and, while it's not fine cinema, it's awfully entertaining.

A seemingly odd assortment of killers awaken while falling from the sky on a strange jungle world. As the struggle to get used to their new surroundings, the become the game in an alien hunting preserve belonging to the burly, dreadlock sporting aliens known as Predators. The cast features some familiar faces, including Adrian Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace and Danny Trejo, and was the brain child of cult favorite Robert Rodriguez. While Rodriguez did the writing and producing, he left the directing up to relative new comer Nimrod Antal. The film received lukewarm critical and financial success, but compared to the recent outings of the franchise, Predators is a slam dunk.

If your a fan of the original movies then Predators will probably appeal to you. There's nothing terribly unique about what you'll see, but there are certainly some entertaining moments to be had. Brody is, unsurprisingly, pretty goofy while he tries to be a bad ass, but the rest of the cast seems to do alright with their assigned roles. Rodriguez's touches are all over the place and it helps the movie from becoming overly serious or dark, which is one of the things that made the AvP movies such a joke. I didn't leave the theater cheering, but I did, for the first time in years, leave and Predator movie relatively satisfied. More than the actual quality of the movie, that alone made it worth seeing for me. I'm not promising you'll enjoy Predators, just that you won't leave getting something other than you expected. If you want a fine, cheese sniffing cinema experience go elsewhere, but if you want to see a dude fight a predator with a samurai sword, this movie will deliver.

5/10