Predators (2010)

Film of 2012 #5

Some Spoilers

The next film in the Predator Franchise after the Alien vs Predator films which I quite like were not met with as much enthusiasm as anticipated, they have gone a different ruote. You basically join Adrien Brody as he is in free fall and you learn as he does that he is not alone and that there are others and as they go on they are all human killers of some level or another. I think that this is done as some sort of reboot to the Arnold Schwarzenegger original and Isabelle played by Alice Braga seems to reference the original Predator story as she is from those jungles.

The first time I saw this film at teh cinema I have to say that I really enjoyed it but on this second viewing the gaping plot holes are so obvious that they annoy me slightly. Happy enough to go with the no explanation of how the Predators know these are the best killers at what they do, happy for no explanation as to how they were picked up. But how Laurence Fishbourne knows so much would be nice to know, why there are 2 castes of the Predators now and what they are actually doing on the planet. They do not seem to be in training it is like a hunt but there are always three and there are refrences to some being killed, so to give us some lore they need to expand on it or cut it back a bit. No real explanation would have been better, we know that the Predators like to hunt this is their whole purpose in the previous films they have been involved in.

Overall I still enjoye dthe film, switch your brain off and enjoy the action and the small call-backs to teh origianl film including the mud scene, I will watch this again and give it 3 stars but do not watch it if you expect a master piece.

King Kong (2005)

The latest version of the 1933 classic film from Peter Jackson who is now in position for making the epic films after his exploits with the Lord of the Ring trilogy. This is a more direct remake of the original story with the characters using the same names with some slight changes to their roles in the film but ultimately they fulfil the same roles as the original.

The biggest difference between this film and the original are the size of the set pieces, from my experience this is the biggest issue that most people have is the fact that a couple of scenes go to far in stretching the believability of even the extreme situation they are in. The dinosaurs stampeding is one of them, the fact that fewer incidents with the people, the vines and the T-Rex fight and the bug attack are all points that stick out where you watch and go that is very clever but really? It takes you out of the film some what.

The best part of the film though is Kong portrayed by Andy Serkis using motion capture technology and while they do put some human emotions on an animal still you can see an intelligence in the eyes of the beast. This is 4 stars, simply for the effects and the tie in to the original film. Worth seeing so you can see what they can do with special effects these days.