Review of Predator (1987) by Allen G — 21 Oct 2013

"GET TO DA CHOPPAAAAAHHH".

It fully lives up to its reputation, that is- a mindless macho-fest of an action film with sci-fi elements so dated that they're funny.

For the most part, there's nothing special about it- it ticks the typical boxes and is made well-enough so as to be watchable. The actors are never really required for much so it almost makes sense to rate them more by their muscle content than their acting ability here. It's certainly a dated film but it's aged well as a result and seems to have a nice sense of nostalgia around it.

The plot is typical horror-movie blandness and the script... well, it probably wasn't difficult to write... None of this really effects the film at all though because the pacing is right and we aren't going in expecting something particularly deep or meaningful. The action scenes do the trick and it is a very easy film to engage with. It's certainly not a successful horror film but it is a good action film and shows what the genre can do with just bare-bones elements.

There is one very well=done area though and that is the visuals. Aside from the 80s attempts at conveying advanced technology (which is just funny rather than anything else), the film actually looks very good. It captures the jungle setting and it's well-shot. These things aren't what you probably look for at first from an action film but I think they are vital to the success of one- the scenes have to effective and the setting has to create tone and atmosphere that the very basic storyline never gets around to. For me, that's what makes this film work- the boxes are all ticked satisfactory and the film has dated in a such a way that it becomes a benefit but the look of the film (again, I can't stress enough how this doesn't apply to the 'Predator-y' elements) really makes it feel like it's more than your typical bog-standard action film.

I recommend it if you want some mindless testosterone-fuelled movie action.