I’ve been trying to think of a way that I can return some link love for all those critics/blogs that I love to read. Since I love reading reviews of films that I’ve seen what I’ll do is each week whatever new release that I review here I will post what I think the General Consensus of the movie is by posting short snippets of many reviews here. Check it out below:
So here’s how this is going to work. Since I want to create an average score for the film (like my own blogosphere only version of RT or IMDB) I will only count reviews that have a rating. If your rating is letter graded then I will convert it using High School style grades (i.e. A = 9/10, B = 8/10, C = 7/10, D = 5/10, F = 3/10). I’ll definitely mention other, non-scaled reviews, but they won’t be calculated into the overall General Consensus.
Directed by: Nimrod Antal
Written by: Alex Litvak & Michael Finch
Starring: Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo, Topher Grace & Laurence Fishburne
Release Date: July 9 (US), July 14 (JA)
Reviews
Not Rated Reviews
Although it shares the fundamental premise of the 1987 original (itself indebted to Richard Connell’s classic short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”), Alex Litvak and Michael Finch’s screenplay dismisses any ensuing Earth-bound carnage in favor of a series of “what if?” sequences likely spawned from Rodriguez’ original treatment. – William Goss from Cinematical.
When the action does arrive, the film is electric. The new Predators slot perfectly into the canon, and the production mixes things up by suggesting a clan war between the different Predator species on display, with a new and less honour-bound set proving to be the real monsters. – Joe Utichi from Cinematical.
The film really plays to it’s strengths. We have an awesome and diverse cast which slightly modifies the the band of skilled fit folks, but still fits and works that mould well. Adrien Brody is particularly awesome here, I never would have pegged him as ‘action guy!’ but this just proves that he can get into and deliver in every genre. – Shannon the Movie Moxie.
Rated Reviews
It doesn’t really matter that we don’t know much about any of these characters, since the action hits quickly and hard and offers some of the best B-movie thrills seen in a while. – Jeremy Kirk from FirstShowing.net. Grade: 6/10
If there’s one glaring issue that stands out, it’s that Predators is a bit of a mess. Tonally, it shifts a bit here and there. It knows what type of film it is for sure, but it’s arguable that it goes too far at times such asLaurence Fishburne’s lovably bizarre performance. – Jack Giroux from TheFilmStage. Grade: 8/10
Man, this movie was fun! If you are a fan of these handsome creatures, then you are sure to enjoy this flick. – Melissa Howland from WAMG. Grade: 8/10
It’s reasonably tense and creepy, if never outright “scary.” It’s intense without taking itself too seriously; at the same time, it has a sense of humor but doesn’t get too campy. – Eric D. Snider. Grade: B- (7.5/10)
Brody is solid and you’d hardly expect some ex-black ops mercenary to be some muscle bound thug, a la Schwarzenegger, but as with all films of this sort the actor is only as good as the material. – Brad Brevet from Rope of Silicon. Grade: C- (6/10)
Director Nimrod Antal does a fantastic job of working with what he has and using sparse sets, limited CGI, smart cinematography and skillful editing to create thrilling set pieces. – Matt Goldberg from Collider. Grade: B (8/10)
PREDATORS does more than any of the other PREDATOR films to help create a more firm concept of what the Predators really are, how they work, and how they live, little bits of information that might not be so exciting if there wasn’t already buzz about a sequel. – from Gordon and the Whale. Grade:6/10
These characters are fun in both life and death. The action is often very impressive, with big gnarly Predators and new creatures that fit perfectly into this universe. And while the film’s final act downshifts significantly, it’s not as if it doesn’t have some impressive action scenes — it certainly does — it’s that the tension and threat levels stop building. – Neil Miller from FilmSchoolRejects. Grade: C+ (7.5/10)
There are always a few characters who get killed in attack movies like this. What confuses me is why they don’t all get killed? – Roger Ebert. Grade: 5/10
The fundamental problem with the movie is that Antal doesn’t build much tension and the Predators never seem scary at all which saps the movie from most of its potential thrills. – Castor from Anomalous Materials. Grade: C (7/10)
To me, the film’s major problem comes in how it is paced. Personally, the film’s biggest sin is best seen in it’s final moments. The film’s finale is completely serviceable, however, it also seems to be completely lazy, as does much of the film. – Josh Brunsting from DVDSnapshot. Grade: 6/10
I don’t deny how good an adaptation of the Predator property this film is, but believe for someone who’s a fan of the original film that anything to come after that memory can only be viewed as the precious afterbirth of that movie. I am almost jealous of anyone who went into this film without having seen any of the previous films and enjoyed the heck out of it. – Andrew from gmanReviews. Grade: 5.5/10
Avg. Score: 6.7/10