Predators: in theaters; starring adrian brody as not arnold schwarzenegger
what a whimsical soundtrack. seriously. for the most part the background music was pretty standard fare, that is, but every once in a while there'd be, like, a flutey/bassoony kind of moment and i'd think, "leonard bernstein? how did they get leonard bernstein? isn't he dead?" and this music didn't take place at lighter moments, either. it took place right in the middle of all the angsty "music for them being among us" (you know, lurking orchestra plus drums). it was very confusing, this interspersal of west side story. but kind of awesome.
overall impression: i thought this movie was good. but that requires some explanation. see below.
re: the fact that i can't think of one actually good thing about it. the ideas were derivative--which makes sense, because it was a sequel, but, you know, within the sequel, the plot was pretty standard. the topher grace twist at the end was downright poorly done, characterization-wise; the characterizations were pretty much anything but special. the special effects were kind of cool, or well-integrated is maybe what i mean, but i'm not a special effects person really--i appreciate them when they're well done but it doesn't bother me when they aren't (dead alive, for example: still good!). the idea that both the predators and the prey were predators is...done. it has been done. in many other films. with much stronger metaphorical platforms. from the others to mannequin*. and, oh my god, two of the five non-caucasian characters? out, within the first, say, 20 minutes. and one of the remaining three is out within 20 minutes of his introduction. i guess being a woman, or a man wielding the blade of your ancestors**, gives you a certain amount of immunity. but thus far in an extensive mainstream movie-watching career, the man of color has survived ONCE that i remember. house on haunted hill, the 1999 version. of course maybe i'm not watching the right movies.
but. i liked it. i'm not sure why. maybe it was seeing adrian brody character try to out-hunt the hunters (that phrase sounds like it should be the name of some sort of quasi-alternative '80's album)...but that doesn't account for the whole of its appeal, though it was really fun.
it wasn't suspense that carried my involvement, for once, but enjoyment. i didn't want the movie to end--i didn't get impatient. the story was really well told, and maybe that's why it appealed to me. it was interesting in itself, not for reasons that can be added on or adduced within, such as metaphory, wild-nights identification with characters, or overly flavored cinematography (oh you know what i mean. like magnolia. magnolia was the pepper vodka of overly flavored cinematography***). you wanted to see how what was going to happen would happen, and that's pretty cool. maybe robert rodriguez is known as a good storyteller. i don't read other people's reviews, so if this discovery on my part is well understood by everyone else everywhere, i apologize, but...yeah.
yeah! if i were caught in a supervillain's lair, bound to a chair, with my eyes glued open (eew, sra), i would totally rather be forced to watch predators than manos: hands of fate. which isn't saying much. but i'd also rather be forced to watch predators than the ring two, 28 days, scent of a woman, becket, the 1966 casino royale even for kitsch value, pan's labyrinth, or runaway bride. which is, i'd say, saying something: i liked it.
and again, you're welcome america.
*mannequin does not actually have a stronger metaphorical platform than predators. gotta stop bringing up mannequin, sra.
**who apparently has the power not only to swordfight the alien to death, but to invoke oliver stone's heaven and earth, just for the length of his final scene. impressive, really.
***not sure this is true, but i really wanted to say it.
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