Predators

Adrien Brody OK, mais Liam Neeson aurait été meilleur :) Alice Braga, la meilleure du groupe de tireurs d'élite. L'identification avec le classique de la bande originale de Silvestri se produit dès les premières secondes et les motifs musicaux qui caractérisent le monde original sont préservés et utilisés de manière judicieuse. Les scénaristes restent également fidèles aux éléments clés de l'intrigue et aux principes sur lesquels l'original était basé. Ce n'est pas du pillage, c'est de la citation, guidée par sa propre raison, avec respect pour l'original et surtout un amour évident et enthousiaste pour lui. Dans le cadre d'un budget modeste, la bande de Rodriguez a réussi un petit miracle. Du moins dans la première moitié du film, qui m'a vraiment ramené à l'époque où j'étais fasciné par les images de films. La deuxième moitié, qui commence par l'arrivée du personnage de Fishburne, essaie d'être "cool et branchée" en misant sur des rebondissements (inutiles) inattendus et joue davantage avec les éléments originaux, ce que j'ai peut-être plus de mal à accepter que la nouvelle génération (morpheusienne) qui n'est pas attachée à l'original et qui a été élevée dans ce genre avec des scénarios plus sophistiqués. La pureté de l'original disparaît, mais que pouvons-nous faire, une mise à niveau était nécessaire et les dommages ne sont pas importants, car nous restons toujours à des années-lumière de la médiocrité et de la légèreté infligées par les crossovers parasite Alien vs. Predator, dont la mauvaise réputation affectera sûrement aussi les recettes de ce film. Les Prédateurs ne méritent pas cela, car même s'ils ne finissent pas aussi brillamment qu'ils commencent et même s'ils jouent des cartes là où ils ne devraient pas le faire (un résumé plus existentiel rendant également hommage à La Planète des singes ?), ils resteront longtemps le seul sequelle honnête et réussi du phénomène des années 80. Merci, Roberto! (02/07/2010)

Antal has an incredible sensitivity for getting that eighties feeling right, in the end Brody surprisingly doesn’t seem like Arnie’s androgynous embryo (in the ending sequence his muscle-bound body was particularly impressive... or else CGI technology is much more advanced that I thought) and so only the more expensive half away from the jungle is the only thing that spoils it; not that it’s outright bad, but it lags far behind the first half in terms of quality. In the better half, it’s so good that it is better than the original. (09/07/2010)

If I wanted to use a strong word, I’d probably use "disappointment" first, but "wasted potential" seems more appropriate with hindsight. Antal is talented, there’s no denying it because for two hours I felt like I was watching unadulterated 1980s carnage. It’s aided by good cinematography, and Debney’s brilliant soundtrack (those native drums just work even twenty-three years later). The present bunch is worse. True, I can't expect psychological miniatures, but... damn, couldn't it have been stretched for a few more minutes so we could learn a little more about them? There are all sorts of excuses for this, such as the fact that action movies were made this way when the first film was made. But what do you do with one random survivor and a nutcase with a scalpel? It’s also hard to love a film where I have to hit my head a lot to shake the memory of any significant action out of it. In that regard, I'll be eagerly awaiting the Director's Cut on DVD. Until then, it gets a hesitant 3 ½ stars. PS: The first half earns five stars. (09/07/2010)

The weakest predators in the history of film were playing cat and mouse with the worst soldiers on the face of the Earth. Adrien Brody put on about 15 kilograms of muscle for this role, yet he still looks like a stick. Goggins, on the other hand, generally plays fags in most movies and here he is supposed to put in an absolute performance worthy of the SAS. Neither of them managed to clear that hurdle. It looks embarrassing, and what’s even worse is the Chinese guy, who swordfights one of the predators. I don’t know if the predators were just sick of what a bunch of amateurs those morons were, of they were the weakest predators ever. However, both those things made sure that even otherwise good ideas were buried with everything else in this film. (03/10/2016)

After “Arnie’s” first one, this is hands down the best film in the Predator universe, though the original holds that first place mainly for the cult status it has gained over the years. By this I mean that both are basically the same, but whereas Predators is intentionally silly in a cute 1980s way, in Predator  that’s unintentional and therefore better (or worse, depending on how you see it), thanks to is earnestness. Nimrod Antal proves that the fears about his choice as director were unwarranted. I wasn’t expecting any interesting directorial tricks, but Predators is a film where the craftsmanship and the sense for execution and atmosphere are more than enough. I had a little problem with Adrien Brody, who’s maybe a bit too good a character actor for the role. In short, Predators is almost excellent, I got exactly what I wanted. PS: “Die, you space faggot” is almost as great as “You’re one ugly motherfucker”… (08/07/2010)