Predators (2010)

I'll say something that still genuinely baffles me: somehow, Predators managed to be worse than both Alien vs. Predator films. Worse. I include AVP: Requiem in that, a film that was practically shot in a cave with the lights off. And yet here we are.

The pitch is so simple it should've been bulletproof. Take a group of the most dangerous killers on Earth, drop them onto an alien hunting ground, and let the Predators pick them off one by one. That's it. That's the film. You don't need to reinvent anything. You just need tension, grit, and a cast worth caring about. Somehow, none of those things showed up.

Let's start with Adrien Brody. Look, I have enormous respect for the man. I've seen what he can do when the material's right, and if you need reminding, just look at his work in The Pianist (2002). But an action lead? Growling through a voice dropped about three octaves to signal "tough guy"? It never convinces. Not for a single scene. Every time he squares up and delivers a hard-boiled line, there's a nagging disconnect between the actor and the role that you just can't shake. It's not entirely his fault. The script isn't giving him much to work with. But the casting decision alone sets the whole thing on shaky ground before a single Predator's even shown up.

The rest of the ensemble is assembled like someone ticked boxes off a list. You've got your silent warrior type, your cartel enforcer, your death row inmate, your Special Forces soldier. They feel less like characters and more like character classes in a video game you'd get bored of within an hour. There's barely any texture to them, which means when they inevitably start getting picked off, you feel nothing. And feeling nothing is the cardinal sin for a film built entirely around the threat of being hunted.

Which brings me to the Predators themselves. The creatures that genuinely unsettled me as a kid, the ones that made the original such a relentless, sweaty piece of action horror, are reduced here to lumbering window dressing. They go through the motions. They show up, they posture, they occasionally kill someone. But there's no menace to them anymore. No sense that our lot are genuinely outmatched and scrambling to survive. The dread that made the 1987 film work so brilliantly has completely evaporated.

The setting, an alien planet functioning as a massive game reserve, is actually one of the film's better ideas on paper. And to be fair, there are a handful of action beats that briefly suggest the film the makers wanted this to be. But the visuals are muddy and flat, the atmosphere never builds into anything, and the editing doesn't help matters. It's loud where it should be tense, frantic where it should be deliberate.

There are ideas buried in here that, in sharper hands, could've been genuinely interesting. The reversal of the hunting dynamic, humans as prey on someone else's turf, has real potential. It's just never developed beyond a logline. It's the kind of film that does just enough to remind you of what it could've been, which is almost more frustrating than if it had simply been terrible front to back.

It's not unwatchable. I won't pretend I turned it off. But it's a thoroughgoing disappointment, a franchise sequel that had every ingredient laid out in front of it and still managed to produce something flat and forgettable. A proper Predator sequel should feel dangerous. This one just feels tired.

One and a half stars.

Rating: ★½  | Year: 2010  | Watched: 2025-04-09

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: YouTube TV
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

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Related on Movies With Macca

More with Adrien Brody: King Kong (2005) · The Pianist (2002)
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More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)