Written by: Jim Thomas & John Thomas
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Richard Chaves
Rating: [3.5/5]
Humans have placed themselves at the top of the food chain by the use of our minds and utilization of technology to gain supremacy over all animals. Physical strength and speed do not matter as much when compared to other animals, however within the human race we still have that hierarchy. The biggest and the strongest get viewed as the best we have to offer, which makes them the perfect training ground for an alien species looking to test their abilities against, which sets up Predator.
Tasked with a mission of saving a cabinet minister in Central America behind enemy lines, Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his rescue crew make their way to the necessary position where they learn the situation on the ground varies greatly from their original proposition. Now trying to return to safety, some strange creature begins hunting them down.
An alien taking on a whole squadron of elite military members puts together two dangerous forces meeting in a nondescript place. A place where these two factions get the opportunity to prove who is the most dangerous living thing, but only one of them knows it’s a game. It’s what makes the existence of the Predator so fascinating in practice. These aliens do not arrive where they need to for the purpose of taking over but rather as some sporting fun and you almost have to appreciate that. Well, at least we can as audience members, seeing as Dutch and his boys do not have a great time on this latest mission of theirs.
Each of the members of this rescue crew has their own elements that make them distinct amongst the rest. We have one who specializes in tracking, while another operates exclusively with the technology they operate to succeed in their particular roles. A well-balanced team led by Dutch, which solidifies why Al Dillon (Carl Weathers) sought them out for this mission, and the Predator would certainly agree as it now gets the opportunity to test itself against a rogues’ gallery of men who know how to kill. Seeing the way the Predator manages to rip through them displays the difficulty ahead for anyone else dreaming of taking it on. These bouts bring all of the fun this feature has to offer.
While this feature serves as a creature feature of sorts, it undoubtedly also operates as a bona fide Arnold Schwarzenegger action film. Generally, this comes with its issues of Arnold’s shoddy line delivery that some have more proclivity to enjoy than I do but it usually indicates that plenty of muscles will get flexed and a spraying of bullets will also transpire. Well, this feature carries probably one of the more famous Arnold muscle flexes where she shares a hardy handshake with Al Dillon where both of them display how much they have been hitting those bicep curls in the gymnasium. It all plays into the mass bravado of this feature where these men are all muscled up and sweaty going on this mission together until their very last breath. It combines well with their particular environment but also it ratchets up the manliness of this feature overall, which only makes it that much funnier when they systematically get picked off and get rendered useless by this Predator.
Going deep into this Central American jungle, this feature displays some really fun shots that have added to this film’s legacy. Everything transpiring with Dutch taking on this Predator where minimal dialogue gets utilized really drives home the animalistic nature of this battle between man and alien that drives home the central theme of this feature. A battle of minimal wits and pure strength and will as the winner whether knowingly or not makes a mark of supremacy.
Very much an entertaining ride and simplistic battle between man and alien, Predator has the makings of a basic Arnold Schwarzenegger action film that I typically tire of but adds an alien that has entered the game to have some fun. It creates a foe like no other for these trained military personnel, who sit atop the human food chain, but struggle to take on an alien hunting them for sport. Arnold is Arnold as we can expect but he receives the material to make it all come together.
Films with Josh 