Prey for us: a beefed-up Adrian Brody leads the pack in Predators
Directed by Nimród Antal. Starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Laurence Fishburne. 15A cert, gen release, 107 min
JUST LOOK AT that “s” at the end of the title. Robert Rodriguez, producer of this long-mooted extension of the
Predator
franchise, looks to have fashioned a twisty rod for his own back. By implicitly referencing
Aliens
, the Texan suggests that the new film will be bigger, busier and – think how many clones James Cameron’s film inspired – that it will redefine the action genre for a generation.
There's not much chance of that. But, for most of its duration, Predatorsproves to be a pretty efficient, nicely atmospheric intergalactic western. It probably helps that Rodriguez – more gifted as an instigator than a director – has passed the reins on to Nimród Antal. The Hungarian-American director of Kontrolland Vacancybrings a sense of sweaty unease to the superb opening act. Sadly, the film then descends into the usual morass of running and shouting.
The opening scene finds Adrien Brody descending in a parachute towards a threatening, unfamiliar jungle. He has, it transpires, no memory of how he got here. While Adrien is gathering his thoughts, several other equally puzzled hard-nuts – City of God's Alice Braga and Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo among them – hit the ground and begin waving their guns around. It takes a while, but the impromptu platoon eventually work out that the planet is some class of massive game park and that they have been gathered as prey for hunting aliens. After a degree of bickering, they accept the fact that Brody should act as informal leader and begin devising survival strategies.
The nicely weird opening scenario lends the establishing sequences an original class of tension: the title, it emerges, refers to both protagonists and antagonists. Back in the jungle, the picture manages to combine the malarial fug of the original 1987 film with the busier fury of its underrated 1990 sequel.
Unfortunately, Predatorsloses it when the sun goes down. The final showdown is as muddled and vague as anything in the recent, underpowered Alien vs Predatorspin-offs. Still, there is enough good stuff here for us to look forward to a promised part four with a modicum of enthusiasm. Just don't expect Aliens.
DONALD CLARKE
