Predadores

Adrien Brody OK, mas Liam Neeson teria sido melhor :) Sniper Alice Braga, a melhor da equipa. A identificação com o clássico da banda sonora de Silvestri ocorre logo nos primeiros segundos, e os motivos musicais que caracterizam o mundo do original são retidos e sabiamente utilizados. Os argumentistas também se mantêm fiéis aos elementos e princípios-chave do enredo sobre os quais o original foi construído. Não se trata de um roubo, é uma citação, guiada pelo seu próprio senso comum, com respeito pelo original e, o mais importante, um amor não oculto e entusiasta por ele. Dentro de um orçamento baixo, o grupo de Rodriguez conseguiu um pequeno milagre. Pelo menos a primeira metade do filme, para mim, é de cinco estrelas, o que realmente me levou de volta àqueles dias em que eu costumava deixar-se levar para a imagem cinematográfica. A segunda metade, começando com a chegada do personagem de Fishburne, já aposta em reviravoltas (desnecessárias) inesperadas numa tentativa de ser «cool & in» e brinca mais com os elementos originais, com os quais talvez eu tenha mais problemas do que a nova geração (Morpheus), não ligada ao original e criada também neste género com argumentos mais sofisticados, terá. A pureza do original será assim perdida, mas o que podemos fazer, upgrade teve de ser feito, e o dano não é grande, pois ainda estamos muito longe da estragação ou frivolidade causada pelo crossover parasita do Alien vs. Predador, cuja má reputação certamente terá também um efeito negativo nos ganhos desta obra. O que Predadores não merecem, porque embora não terminem de forma tão espetacular como começam, e embora misturem as cartas noutro lugar do que deveriam (um resumo mais existencial também em homenagem ao Planeta dos Macacos? :-), permanecerá por muito tempo a única sequela honesta e merecida do fenómeno dos anos oitenta. Obrigado, Roberto! (02/07/2010)

If I wanted to use a strong word, I’d probably use "disappointment" first, but "wasted potential" seems more appropriate with hindsight. Antal is talented, there’s no denying it because for two hours I felt like I was watching unadulterated 1980s carnage. It’s aided by good cinematography, and Debney’s brilliant soundtrack (those native drums just work even twenty-three years later). The present bunch is worse. True, I can't expect psychological miniatures, but... damn, couldn't it have been stretched for a few more minutes so we could learn a little more about them? There are all sorts of excuses for this, such as the fact that action movies were made this way when the first film was made. But what do you do with one random survivor and a nutcase with a scalpel? It’s also hard to love a film where I have to hit my head a lot to shake the memory of any significant action out of it. In that regard, I'll be eagerly awaiting the Director's Cut on DVD. Until then, it gets a hesitant 3 ½ stars. PS: The first half earns five stars. (09/07/2010)

The weakest predators in the history of film were playing cat and mouse with the worst soldiers on the face of the Earth. Adrien Brody put on about 15 kilograms of muscle for this role, yet he still looks like a stick. Goggins, on the other hand, generally plays fags in most movies and here he is supposed to put in an absolute performance worthy of the SAS. Neither of them managed to clear that hurdle. It looks embarrassing, and what’s even worse is the Chinese guy, who swordfights one of the predators. I don’t know if the predators were just sick of what a bunch of amateurs those morons were, of they were the weakest predators ever. However, both those things made sure that even otherwise good ideas were buried with everything else in this film. (03/10/2016)

After “Arnie’s” first one, this is hands down the best film in the Predator universe, though the original holds that first place mainly for the cult status it has gained over the years. By this I mean that both are basically the same, but whereas Predators is intentionally silly in a cute 1980s way, in Predator  that’s unintentional and therefore better (or worse, depending on how you see it), thanks to is earnestness. Nimrod Antal proves that the fears about his choice as director were unwarranted. I wasn’t expecting any interesting directorial tricks, but Predators is a film where the craftsmanship and the sense for execution and atmosphere are more than enough. I had a little problem with Adrien Brody, who’s maybe a bit too good a character actor for the role. In short, Predators is almost excellent, I got exactly what I wanted. PS: “Die, you space faggot” is almost as great as “You’re one ugly motherfucker”… (08/07/2010)

Antal has an incredible sensitivity for getting that eighties feeling right, in the end Brody surprisingly doesn’t seem like Arnie’s androgynous embryo (in the ending sequence his muscle-bound body was particularly impressive... or else CGI technology is much more advanced that I thought) and so only the more expensive half away from the jungle is the only thing that spoils it; not that it’s outright bad, but it lags far behind the first half in terms of quality. In the better half, it’s so good that it is better than the original. (09/07/2010)