Streamlined. Trimmed of all the fat. Hardened. Sharp. Am I describing Adrian Brody's body, or Predators here? You decide. But in all seriousness, the choice of Adrian Brody as the lead actor in Predators does shed a lot of light on the goals of this film. As a follow up to Predator, the 1980s action/sci-fi hit starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Predators needed to establish itself somehow. And what better way to immediately distinguish your movie than to move away from a muscle-bound lead to an everyman?

Predators is meant as a continuation of a franchise, but it also ignores all other Predator films beyond the original hit. This was an important decision for the filmmakers, and in some ways it pays off, while in other ways it might keep this movie from being great.

Brody's character is nameless until the final moments of the film. (Once again, streamlined). But when we meet him he is plummeting through the air while unconscious. He awakes with enough time to realize what is happening, and then a parachute opens up. Within moments, he is squaring off against others who have met a similar fate. Before ten minutes have passed, we've already met almost all the main characters of the film and seen them begin their journey to figure out where they are and how they all got there. As they test one another, they learn that each is a warrior, killer, or soldier. They also learn that the aliens known to us as Predators are hunting them.

This new film is a solid one. The ensemble cast does a good job of playing tough and making you believe that they could at least pose a challenge to the great hunting race. The plot is bare bones, which allows for a laser focus on this small group of prey squaring off against a team of three advanced alien hunters. We follow a story that takes us through a very similar trajectory as the original Predator. And while this helps to reestablish a franchise that had been severely diluted, it also does little to add to the overall mythology of these Predator creatures.

Probably the best addition that Predators makes to the themes and ideas behind this mythology is in making its cast a group of Predators in their own right. In the first film, a tested and beefy Special Forces team is picked off one at a time by just one of these crafty creatures. In this film, the group doesn't know one another, and also cannot trust one another. They are all monsters themselves. Can they move beyond their past sins to band together and make it out of this situation alive? Or will they obey their natures and destroy one another?

I like that the title of this film evokes the simple genius of Aliens before it. I also like that the title can refer to the iconic creatures, or to our cast of characters, or to any one of us at our worst. Overall, I really like Predators, and found that my second viewing significantly improved my opinion about the film. If you like the original, you should feel at home with Predators.

The Package

Predators looks pretty great on Blu-ray. I tend to think that jungles and outdoor vistas look the best on the Blu-ray format, and this movie has that jungle thing going for it. I felt engaged by the behind the scenes featurettes as well. They aren't much more than standard behind the scenes fare, but I enjoyed hearing the filmmakers' ideas and contributions to this story. Perhaps my second viewing, combined with these features, are what really helped elevate my opinion of the movie overall.