The latest installment of the Predator franchise, simply titled The Predator despite it being the fourth film in the franchise, is a curiously strange entry in the series. For a series built on hard hitting action, an intense villain and equally intense violence, this latest entry is surprisingly...really funny.
Quinn McKenna (played by Boyd Holbrook) is an Army Ranger sniper who witnesses the a Predator crashing to earth from his failing spaceship. He goes to investigate and locates the wreckage of the pod, but no Predator. Grabbing a couple items, including the Predator face mask and gauntlet, he high tails it to the nearest town to mail the items home before he is picked up by Government agent Will Traeger (played by Sterling K. Brown), who knows Quinn witnessed something. Traeger decides to have him placed in a Veteran's psych ward to keep him locked up and Quinn is placed on bus with several other vets, including Nebraska Williams (played by Trevante Rhodes), Baxley (played by Thomas Jane), Coyle (played by Keegan-Michael Key), Nettles (played by Augusto Aguilera) and Lynch (played by Alfie Allen). Things go sideways when the Predator shows up at the base looking for the stuff Quinn stole. Meanwhile, biologist Casey Brackett (played by Olivia Munn) is brought in to assist and study the Predator. Back at Quinn's home, his young son Rory (played by Jacob Tremblay) has found the package his dad sent home and opened it, discovering the Predator tech inside. Rory accidentally activates the tech and begins playing with it. Quinn realizes the Predator is looking for the stuff he took. He convinces his fellow prisoners to help him break free, and along with this newfound band of misfits race to get back to Quinn's home ahead of the Predator, picking up Casey along the way and with Traeger and his goons in hot pursuit.
Shane Black makes his return to the Predator series here, this time as director and co-screenwriter alongside Fred Dekker. The result is an unusually witty and funny film that also adds some wild new twists to the Predator and their ongoing lore. For perhaps the first time since the first film, this movie manages to craft a unique and memorable assortment of characters to occupy the film. The band of misfits as I have come to call them are the assorted vets Quinn meets on the bus that become a unit of sorts against the Predator. They're a fun group, if not altogether there mentally (it is a bus destined for a Veterans Mental Health hospital after all), but they are a surprisingly lovable bunch that I found myself really rooting for. Dekker and Black also find some unique ways to twist the formula for the film by including Quinn's kid in the action, an incredibly intelligent kid on the autism spectrum who happens to have a talent with languages, which comes in handy when he starts playing with the Predator tech. There are also a few plot points that reminded me more than a little of another Shane Black/Fred Dekker movie, The Monster Squad. In fact, tone-wise, this film is very much in the same wheelhouse. All that we are missing is a character kicking Predator between the legs and remarking with astonishment, "Predator's got nards!"
Still, there is a reverence for the previous films that runs throughout this one. It references not only the first film but the second one outright, while also maybe obliquely referencing the third one (it's hard to fit that one in since it takes place on another planet). They even bring in Jake Busey to play Sean Keyes, the son of Gary Busey's character from Predator 2. At the same time, they do a great job of expanding on those previous films and trying to take the series in some interesting new directions. They aren't content to just rehash what came before and I appreciated that choice. That said, the tone of the film does seem a little off in places with one moment in particular standing out that had me wondering if wants me to laugh or is supposed to be an emotional moment. I wasn't alone there either with someone in the back of the theater laughing and I wasn't sure it was supposed to be funny. I would elaborate but it would be a huge spoiler. Suffice to say, for better or worse, it is definitely a Shane Black Predator movie.
The acting in the movie is solid, with Boyd Holbrook giving a suitably charming performance. Sterling K. Brown gives an interesting spin on the shady government spook, giving his character plenty of wit and personality, but underneath is a genuinely frightening menace. Olivia Munn was good as Casey Brackett, bringing both strength and intelligence to her character. Jacob Tremblay continues to impress as one of the best young actors working today with his turn as Rory. He really does a great job of capturing who a character like Rory would be like without him seeming stereotypical. I also loved the unique buddy relationship between Keegan-Michael Key and Thomas Jane's characters that brought a lot of humor to the film.
This film is certainly one of the more interesting entries in the on-going Predator series. It is a very jokey and comedic film whereas the other films have been far more serious. Whether or not this works for you will greatly depend on how well you can enjoy a film like this that is perhaps tonally more in line with a Predator film a 13 year old boy daydreaming in class would dream up rather than a serious minded sci-fi action-horror film. Because that is the best way to summarize what this film is. It's not that it's a bad thing or a bad film, or at least I didn't think it was (plenty of critics are disagreeing with me there). I enjoyed it for what it was and applaud it for daring to be different, but at the same time I can say your mileage may vary.
After two failed attempts at making Alien vs. Predator a thing, it was decided to take things back to basics and make another solo film with everyone's favorite intergalactic trophy hunters with Predators. With an eclectic cast and a unique premise, this outing succeeded at least somewhat in bringing back what was great about the original film.
Royce (played by Adrien Brody), a Mercenary, awakens to find him falling through the sky. Soon a parachute automatically deploys and he falls to the ground, finding himself in a remote jungle...somewhere. He is soon joined by several others arriving by the same means: Mexican Drug Cartel Enforcer Cuchillo (played by Danny Trejo), Russian soldier Nikolai (played by Oleg Taktarov), Israeli sniper Isabelle (played by Alice Braga), Death Row Inmate Stans (played by Walton Goggins), Yakuza enforcer Hanzo (played by Louis Ozawa Changchien), Sierra Leone Death Squad soldier Mombasa (played by Mahershala Ali), and Physician Edwin (played by Topher Grace). The group sets out to try and figure out where exactly they are, none of them recognizing where they are. They soon discover that they are no longer on the planet Earth. Rather, they are on a planet that is treated as a game reserve for a species of aliens we know as the Predators. This unlikely group of strangers have no choice but to band together to fight the trio of Predators hunting them and if they are lucky try and find a way off the planet.
Predators was originally pitched to 20th Century Fox by Robert Rodriguez back in 1994 as a follow-up to Predator 2. Deeming it too expensive to produce at that point, they set it aside. When neither of their attempts to create a crossover franchise out of Alien vs. Predator panned out, they returned to the concept Rodriguez laid out. Alex Litvak and Michael Finch were brought in to re-write the original script by Rodriguez, with Rodriguez overseeing the production as a producer. Nimrod Antal was brought in to direct the film. With this outing, it is very much a return to the isolated jungle environment of the first film, but with the twist of it being on an entirely different planet. It's also the assembly of characters this time out, rather than a cohesive military unit we have a group of strangers each of whom are more than comfortable to cut and run to save their own skin if it comes down to it, adding a interesting, if nastier quality to the film. The fact that none of them completely trust one another adds an intriguing dynamic to the film. Where the scripting falters a bit is that the characters never really move past archetype, which makes it hard to care about them that much.
The film assembled an eclectic cast for the film, starting with Adrien Brody as a badass soldier. More famous for serious dramas, his casting raised more than a few eyebrows, including mine but much to my surprise, he really committed to the role and manages to pull it off. Alice Braga was pretty awesome as Israeli soldier Isabelle and along with Brody's Royce the other character that is the best developed in the film. Walton Goggins does a good job playing the creepy and very deadly Stans, whose idea of a good time is doing a lot of blow and then committing rape and murder, much to the horror of the very much out of his element (or is he?) Edwin played by Topher Grace at his most weaselly. I also liked Oleg Taktarov as Nikolai, the Russian soldier. Taktarov did the most he could with the character and made him surprisingly lovable.
Predators does a reasonably good job at taking the series back to the elements that made the first one so memorable. At the same time, it doesn't quite capture the same spirit as the first film. Still, it's a memorably entertaining entry in the series, even with the thin characterizations and rather lazily executed late in the film plot twist being it's biggest stumbling blocks. Still, for fans of the series there's plenty to enjoy here.
It is only natural that a film like Predator would spawn a sequel. This time around, they switch up the literal jungle for the urban jungle for a second go-around with the intergalactic trophy hunter that is one ugly motherf...well, you get the idea. Despite the absence of Arnie this time, this sequel manages to be a reasonably entertaining follow-up that expands on the mythology of it's titular villain as well.
1997 Los Angeles is besieged by a nasty gang war and an equally nasty heatwave that has tempers flaring. Right in the middle of it is LAPD Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (played by Danny Glover), along with his partner Danny Archuleta (played by Ruben Blades), Leona Cantrell (played by Maria Conchita Alonso) and new transfer Jerry Lambert (played by Bill Paxton). They are trying to bring an end to the gang wars in a city that is quickly descending into chaos. While investigating a building after an intense gang battle, they discover several gang members massacred inside, including one that is strung up in the rafters. After members of the rival gang are massacred in a penthouse apartment, Harrigan and his fellow officers are prevented from investigating from the head of a Government task force claiming to be investigating the warring gangs, Peter Keyes (played by Gary Busey). Suspicious, Harrigan and his team continue to investigate not only the slayings but Keyes and his agents, bringing them face to face with the Predator himself.
Returning to script the sequel are the screenwriters of the original film, Jim and John Thomas. Rather than just do the same thing for a second time, they wisely mix things up for the sequel. They received a lot of criticism for moving the action to an urban environment for this film, but honestly that's probably what I would have done if I had written it. Of course, such a change in locale offers some challenges. They would need to find a valid reason to keep our intrepid hero in the fight when every ounce of his being should be telling him just to get the hell out of town, which is a viable option this time. They overcome this by making the fight personal for the officers, which works within the film even though it does lean on cop movie cliches, especially cliches that were prevalent at the time. But I am willing to give the film a pass on it though because at the same time it does expand on the mythology of the Predators in the film, especially as the movie works to it's climax. There are little touches here that would reverberate throughout the rest of the series, and even, for better or worse, inspire Alien vs. Predator. The film is directed reasonably well by Stephen Hopkins, who adds his own flair to the film, directing the action sequences with a certain sense of style, with the showdown on the subway being a specific standout scene. Returning for the sequel is Alan Silvestri, providing another rollicking score for this film.
The casting in the film is really great. I love that they cast Danny Glover for Mike Harrigan, going for someone that is removed from the super macho guys of the first film, but also a capable action hero. It's a refreshing change of pace and Glover gives a wonderful performance as the stressed out, irritable Harrigan. Plus, after seeing him play the straight man Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon films, it's fun to see him play the more reckless cop for once. Gary Busey brings his special level of crazy to the proceedings as the shady Peter Keyes who, as anyone likely would guess, is not on the scene to track drug cartels and gang activity, but in fact tracking the Predator. I also need to talk about Bill Paxton in this film. He only has a supporting role in the film as Jerry Lambert, but he makes the most of every moment he's on screen, riding the line between amusing and annoying, but seeing as how it's Bill Paxton it's always amusing to me. It's also with this movie that he achieves one of the rarest geeky distinctions, where (spoiler alert!!!) he has been killed on-screen by a Terminator, an Alien and a Predator.
Predator 2 may not be as good as the first film, but at the same time I do feel it is a bit unfairly maligned as far as sequels go. It does a good job mixing things up a bit from the previous film while also expanding upon the original film and not resting on just doing the same thing as the previous film. It is it's own distinct film and not simply a retread of the original film, which is something I can admire. It's not perfect, but it is a lot of fun.
"If it bleeds, we can kill it."
Looking back on the original Predator, it really feels like the ultimate 80's action movie. Filled with burly, macho guys spouting the most ridiculous, equally macho one-liners, such as Jesse Ventura's infamous, "I ain't got time to bleed." Filled with heavy artillery and a distinctly memorable villain, this film became an instant action movie classic.
Dutch (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his team of mercenaries arrive in the Central American jungle to rescue a captured prisoner from an insurgent camp. His team consists of a group of equally burly men such as Mac (played by Bill Duke), Blain (played by Jesse Ventura), Billy (played by Sonny Landham), Poncho (played by Richard Chavez) and Hawkins (played by Shane Black of all people). They meet CIA agent Dillon (played by Carl Weathers), who gives them the info on the location of the camp and joins them as they set out into the jungle. Along the way, they find a wrecked helicopter along with three bodies strung up in the trees by their feet and skinned from head to toe. Thinking it's the work of the insurgents, they continue on to the camp. When the assault on the camp goes sideways and all the occupants are killed, Dutch realizes Dillon set them up to retrieve intelligence at the camp rather than any prisoner. Taking the lone survivor of the camp, a woman named Anna (played by Elpida Carrillo). As they leave the camp to make their way to the rendezvous point with a helicopter to get out of there ("Get to da choppa!"), it quickly becomes apparent that they are not alone in the jungle. They are in fact being hunted by a lethal, high tech alien with camouflaging armor that makes it invisible ("Not totally, he has a tell-tale shimmer!" -Sterling Archer). Seeing the mercenaries as worthy adversaries, he begins hunting them through the jungle.
The origins of Predator came from an off-hand joke upon the release of Rocky IV that the only thing left for Rocky to fight was an alien. Taking inspiration from that, Jim and John Thomas wrote a script for the film. The script was quickly sold to Joel Silver to produce, looking to make it his next big budget action flick. He recruited John McTiernan to direct the film. Employing some groundbreaking effects to portray the camouflaging armor of the Predator and a lean narrative, McTiernan crafts a thrilling action adventure film that barely lets up from beginning all the way to the end. The creature design by Stan Winston is unique and memorable. I also like how the villain is written, clever and cunning. He isn't just some mindless animal, but has certain rules and principals that he abides by. For example, he never harms Anna because she is unarmed and, as Dutch observes, "That's not sporting." I also found it interesting that The Predator kept it a fair fight, all through to the climactic showdown with Dutch at the end of the film. It's the little touches like this that make the Predator such a memorable villain. Still, the film is a violent one, with the Predator taking trophies of his victims, usually their skulls. as we see vividly depicted in the film at one point. On the scoring side of things, Alan Silvestri turns in a memorable score that keeps the film propelling forward like freight train.
On the casting front, the team managed to assemble some of the burliest, most many dudes they could find to stand toe to toe with Schwarzenegger, including Apollo Creed himself Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Bill Duke and Sonny Landham cutting an imposing presence. Over on the what the hell are you doing in this movie side is Shane Black as Hawkins, the dorkiest of the mercenaries. First introduced reading a comic book and trying to make Landham laugh with very dirty jokes that definitely wouldn't fly today (they are all centered around a certain part of the female anatomy). Still, he comes off and the geeky kid brother of all the other guys and is certainly the odd duck out. It is amusing though, because Shane Black went on to have a far more lucrative career as a screenwriter and director of such films as Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and The Nice Guys. What is even funnier though is that he is the writer and director of the latest installment of the series, The Predator, which I will be tackling in a few days.
Predator unwittingly kicked off a franchise of films that has survived over the past 31 years, including two movies where the Predator faced off with the Xenomorphs of the Alien franchise, with decidedly mixed results (in other words, they sucked). Still, the original film ranks the best of the bunch (granted I haven't seen the fourth one and I am a Shane Black fanboy, so I may be singing a different tune in a few days). Despite that, I do feel the follow-ups are worth a watch as well and will be revisiting them as well in the coming days.
Now we come to the latest big screen adventure for Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, this time not based on a specific book, but rather just inspired by the character. Prior to re-watching this film I had no memory at all of it, despite having actually seen the film previously, aside from the fact that it starred Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, and Kevin Costner and very little else. That is not a good sign.
Jack Ryan (played this time by Chris Pine) is studying at the London School of Economics when the September 11th attacks occur and goes into the Marines. He is a helicopter crash while serving in Afghanistan, critically injuring his spine. During a lengthy recovery process, he meets third year med student Cathy Mueller (played by Keira Knightley) and sparks begin to fly as she helps him with his physical therapy. He also attracts the attention of Thomas Harper (played by Kevin Costner), who was impressed with his reporting and analysis during the war and recruits him into the CIA. Flash forward ten years and Ryan is covertly working on Wall Street, looking through financial transactions for signs of terrorist activity and dating Cathy. He starts to notice a large number of secret and blocked financial files belonging to Viktor Cherevin (played by Kenneth Branagh). Unable to access them to do an audit gives him a plausible reason to travel to Moscow to investigate. What he finds is that Cherevin's shadow investments could destabilize the United States economy following a terrorist attack, along with several other countries while benefiting Russia. Harper instructs Ryan to obtain proof of this from Cherevin's highly secured office, but there is an additional wrinkle: Cathy has followed Jack to Moscow to surprise him since she was suspecting he was having an affair. Since Cherevin is aware of Cathy's arrival, she has no choice but to become part of the mission with Jack and Harper.
This Jack Ryan outing was directed by Kenneth Branagh from a script by Adam Cozad and David Koepp. It's not based on a particular Tom Clancy novel and is instead just taking inspiration from the characters contained within the novel. I suppose this approach makes sense, especially after 9/11 I seriously doubt that Clancy's next novel in the series, Debt of Honor, could be adapted, at least in any sort of faithful way given how that novel ends. Still, even though the film looks slick and Branagh stages his action sequences well, the film feels like it's been assembled from spare parts left over from the other films. It clocks in at a brisk hour and 45 minutes and is an okay time waster for a rainy Saturday afternoon, but as a memorable political thriller, which these films have been at their best, this one is found severely wanting.
The cast assembled for the film is an impressive one. Chris Pine makes a reasonably decent Jack Ryan. Aside from a couple of scenes though, he's primarily placed in a stock action hero role for the bulk of the film, chasing cars and fighting bad guys. But there are a few moment's when the character shines through. After narrowly dodging an assassination attempt, Pine's Jack Ryan contacts the CIA for assistance and the way he talks to the contact on the phone and completely frazzled which really rang true to me for a character who is more used to being behind a desk than being an actual operative. Then we see his analyst skills in action on the airplane back from Moscow to America as he pieces together Sherevin's plot and figures out where the attack is going to be (it's impressive, but is pulled together and figured out far too quickly). The problem though is that later he's performing complex car stunts, chasing terrorists on a motorcycle and generally being the super agent he never was to begin with, which creates an annoying inconsistency with his character. Keira Knightley does well in the role of Cathy Mueller, a character finally stepping into the main plot of the film and figuring into it in a major way, after being sidelined for most of the previous films, it's just unfortunate that it happens in the worst entry of the series. Still, her reaction when she found out Jack was in the CIA and not having an affair was pretty amusing. Kevin Costner take the mentor role this time out as Thomas Harper, and manages to make his character the most interesting in the film, working wonders with what little material he has. Kenneth Branagh's Sherevin is a reasonably threatening villain, with a soft spoken nature that is generally creepy and forgoing the usual overacting one might see in this type of role.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a straight-forward formula spy thriller clearly designed to create a new franchise. It lacks the depth and nuance that popularized the best of the Jack Ryan films, going for more straight-forward action thrills that we've seen dozens of times before. It follows the plot line we expect beat by beat with very few surprises. It's calculated product meant to populate mall multiplexes lacking in any sort of memorable depth, thought or personality of it own. It's not terrible, it's just painfully mediocre.
The Sum of All Fears had a long journey to the big screen. Originally intended to be Harrison Ford's third outing as Jack Ryan, when an agreement on the script could not be reached, Ford eventually dropped out. Eventually, the producers made an decision to reboot the series with a younger Jack Ryan at the start of his career at the CIA. In the process, the film became something very different from it's source novel.
CIA analyst Jack Ryan (played by Ben Affleck) is summoned by Director Bill Cabot (played by Morgan Freeman) to accompany him to Russia to meet their new President, Alexander Nemerov (played by Ciaran Hinds). They are allowed to examine a Russian Nuclear Weapons facility as part of the SMART treaty, where Ryan notices that three nuclear scientists that are supposed to be there are missing. Cabot sends John Clark (played by Liev Schreiber) to Russia to track them down. Clark tracks them to a former Soviet military outpost, where Cabot suspects they are building a secret nuclear weapon that Russia can use without it being tied back to them. However, the bomb was in fact being built for a megalomaniacal Neo-Nazi Richard Dressler (played by Alan Bates), an Austrian billionaire who is plotting to set the United States and Russia against one another in a nuclear war and from the ensuing rubble intends to build his own fascist European superpower. Ryan and his collegues begin tracking a crate they suspect contained the bomb that left the Ukraine and ultimately wound up in Baltimore. Ryan tries to get the warning out, but it's too late as the bomb detonates in the city. This leaves Ryan and his colleagues scrambling to find out who was responsible and get that information to their President, J. Robert Fowler (played by James Cromwell) before World War III starts between the United States and Russia.
The film was directed by Phil Alden Robinson from a script by Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne. Since the political sphere had changed significantly since the publication of Tom Clancy's novel, a change in bad guy was deemed necessary for the film, with a change from East German funded Arab Terrorists to Eastern European Neo-Nazis, taking inspiration from the likes of Jorg Haider and the rise of neo-nationalist movements in the area. Alden Robinson also felt the use of Arab terrorists was problematic and cliche as well. The other big change for the film was aging Jack Ryan down to his Analyst roots. Since the idea was to do more than one film with Affleck as Ryan, that made sense. This book, and really the one the preceded it, Clear and Present Danger, began what I consider Tom Clancy really painting himself into a corner with the Jack Ryan character. In each successive book Ryan kept getting promoted. Realistically, if you save the world that many times chances are you would get promoted, but from a narrative point of view it really limits what you can realistically do with the character. Still, even with those large changes to the book, the film still creates a satisfying political thriller and an especially bold one for a movie that came out a mere nine months after the most devastating terrorist attack on this country. Granted, the film was already complete by the time those attacks occurred, but it still is unflinching in it's depiction of the nightmare scenario and Phil Alden Robinson depicts with with a realism and conviction that makes the film riveting. Although, in retrospect, in the second half of the film, the pieces of the puzzle Ryan assembles come to him just a little bit too easily and just a little to convenient. Maybe I'm wrong and we are able to analyze nuclear samples in the field and discern right there exactly which reactor they came from through the assistance of a handy chart. But, I suppose I can allow a little suspension of disbelief in the interest of keeping the plot moving.
The film has an impressive cast led by Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan. He does a decent job with the character. He's not as great in the role as Harrison Ford was but I didn't hate him in the role either. There's an early scene in the film that I quite liked where he and his colleagues are watching some covert footage of the then current Russian President and arguing over whether or not he was gaining weight. It was a nice moment that felt authentic because these folks would know these people well enough to have discussions like that and whether or not the President is off his diet (and is followed by an amusing scene where said President instructs his secretary that he is to be described as robust and healthy and then promptly keels over). Morgan Freeman makes a reliably solid supporting turn as Bill Cabot, more or less standing in for James Earl Jones for this film with a similar gravitas. James Cromwell does well as President Fowler and really conveys what a president would be feeling when faced with actual nuclear war, backed by some of the best character actors working today as his advisers in Phillip Baker Hall, Ron Rifkin and Bruce McGill. Liev Schreiber is decent as John Clark but doesn't quite make the same impression in the role that Willem Dafoe did in the previous film. Still, his team up with Ryan in the first half of the film is amusing. Bridget Moynahan plays the future Cathy Ryan (here still Ryan's girlfriend) and is similarly thankless as Anne Archer's role in the previous two films, existing so Ryan has a personal stake in the unfolding events of the story, this time working as a doctor in a Baltimore Hospital.
Despite the numerous changes from it's source material, so much so that Tom Clancy quipped on the commentary the Phil Alden Robinson directed the film that ignored his book, it remains a gripping and exciting political thriller very much in step with the three films that preceded it. Unfortunately, the reboot didn't take and another film wouldn't be made with Affleck in the role, instead rebooting again 12 years later. It's a film that still works for me and one that I still enjoy in the series of Jack Ryan films.
