Predators

While he will never be mistaken for Ah-nuld in his role as Dutch in the 1987 classic, Predator, Adrien Brody, along with an excellent supporting cast, has just opened in another wannabe summer blockbuster, Predators.

I can call it a wannabe because it just opened across America yesterday morning. We will have to wait until Monday to see the box-office reports reflecting the number of tickets sold.

While the original Predator appeared 23 years ago, and the sequel (Predator 2) came out in 1990, the story concept of humans being hunted is as old as the hills and is a tried and true genre favorite. As far back as 1932, in The Most Dangerous Game, in films, humans have been hunted under circumstances other than warfare and survival. What does that leave? Hunting for sport is the remaining category.

There’s a quote from the movie which sums it all up.

This planet is a game preserve. And we’re the game.

So that tells you what the picture will be about. What’s interesting to contemplate is whether or not the movie makers (Producer Robert Rodriguez and Dirctor Nimrod Antal) have succeeded with this film which is neither a true remake nor a true sequel.

The answer is straightforward. They’ve made an exciting and somewhat suspenseful action thriller. But there is one drawback, and it’s big. If you are aware of this film’s origin, then the major element of suspense is removed. If you have seen any of the previous Predator franchise films, then you know what the humans are up against.

Okay, since I did see the original Predator and Predator 2 then I had the foreknowledge which removed the suspense. In that regard, the original will remain unsurpassed. Instead, a viable question is did they entertain us during the time while we were waiting for the inevitable appearance of the Predators? The story-line had them heading for the high ground, that’s how. Along the way, they run into a pack of ‘dogs’ (more on them later) as they, as well as we the audience, find out where they actually are. They may have filmed those exteriors in Hawaii, but in the film, they’re not in Hawaii.

Repo Men

Repo Men, which opened today, gives new meaning to the term “dead-beat client”. Back in the day, say 1984,when Emilio Estevez was making a name for himself as an up-and-coming actor, he starred with Harry Dean Stanton in the classic film, Repo Man. When Estevez and Stanton did their jobs as auto repossessors, the dead-beat client likely woke up the next morning and said something along the lines of, “Geezus, my car’s gone!“

The main difference between then and now is that once the new Repo Men have done their thing, the dead-beat clients simply don’t wake up.

Many of you who will want to see this movie are quite likely familiar with the CSI TV show, both the original, set in Las Vegas, and the spin-offs located in New York and Miami. Imagine then this exchange between CSI Lt. Horatio Caine and his Medical Examiner, Dr. Alexx Woods,

“So Alexx, you’re saying our friend here bled out?”
“That’s right Horatio – but exsanguination is only a part of it…”
‘Why is that Alexx, I was told there was a huge wound to his chest. What did the vic’s heart tell you?”
“That’s just it H, there was no heart – there’s just an open, empty space where it should have been.”