Review of Predator (1987) by Max B — 26 Aug 2012

Out of all the predictable, cheesy action movies from the 80s, most have been long forgotten. Interestingly, 1987's Predator has only gotten more popular with age, spawning a huge franchise of sequels, graphic novels, and crossovers. It continues to receive sequels to this day! How did this happen? Well, on the surface, the film appears to be your average, explosion-happy B-movie shoot-em-up, Arnold Schwarzenegger and all. But it's more of a science fiction horror picture, something along the lines of Ridley Scott's Alien eight years earlier. It manages to pull off both genre elements pretty well, and in great style. It isn't perfect, but John McTiernan's Predator is still a smart, solid, and highly entertaining sci-fi flick.

There were many factors that led to this film becoming the classic that it is today, but chief among them is most certainly the alien (excuse me, the "Predator"). From its ability to turn invisible to its famous spaceman dreadlocks, the creature has gained considerable repute among fans of the genre. And it completely deserves its status. The suspense for the Predator's introduction is built up in an ingeniously effective way; we get to look at its inevitable victims through its heat-vision eyes. This lets us know that our characters are being relentlessly stalked, and that there is nowhere they can hide from the Predator's wrath. It's fantastic, scary fun.

Once everyone but Arnold was killed, the Predator took on a new, less subtle role. It ceased to be a mysterious, invisible killer, and became a straight-up, 80s action villain. But it's a versatile creature, and the new position suits it just as well. Surprisingly large, heavy and muscular, it's even a physical superior (by a great degree) to Arnold himself! This, of course, leads to some great fight scenes, made all the better by the removal of the Predator's mask. Its actual face... Well, as a wise man once said, it's "one ugly motherfucker.".

Now the Predator is great and all, but it's not necessarily enough to make up for the shortcomings of the rest of the cast. Arnold's character Dutch is even more clichéd and undeveloped than most B-movie action stars, filled to the brim with terrible one-liners and hackneyed badassery. The same goes for Carl Weathers as Dillon. There is actually a scene in the beginning where the two of them randomly begin arm wrestling, for the sole purpose of focusing the camera on their massive arms. You'll learn quickly that subtlety is not in their nature. Also in the film is fellow future governor Jesse Ventura, playing a very boring, stereotypical tough guy. We find out later that he and Bill Duke's character were close friends, but this relationship was never developed or even hinted at while they were both alive. It's pretty hard to care about the deaths of a bunch of cardboard cutouts.

Awful character development aside, the movie is still a great time. Fleshed out people aren't necessarily required when you know from the start that almost everyone is going to die. But before they do get murdered, they give some great catchphrases that many people today still remember with fondness. Chief among them are gems like "I ain't got time to bleed," or "Get to da choppa!" Just for that, it deserves extra praise.

Despite being cheesy, Predator still manages to be an engaging, enjoyable movie experience. The Predator itself is a brilliant antagonist worthy of all its praise. The cast is clichéd and expendable, but they are classic 80s archetypes with some immortally quotable lines. The resulting mixture is definitely worth your time, and I give it 8 out of 10 stars.