Most of the actors perform satisfyingly, and the brief appearances by Laurence Fishburne and Danny Trejo are a nice touch. Adrien Brody, trying to channel the essence of Schwarzenegger, and who would have been my last pick as an action hero, pulls off the role surprising well. Maybe he didn't hit what he was aiming for, maybe he trod on a sharp rock, or maybe his Predator wife left him and he's not taking too well, but any way I don't care what's happened, so please stop screaming at me! The casting is strange to say the least. It seemed as though every 5 minutes, another Predator was screaming for some unknown reason.
One of the biggest things that got me though, and it may not annoy others, is the amount of Predator screeches and screams. There's also one specific scene, which includes a homage to the original, but is ridiculous, and apart from the reference, it's almost laughable. Then there's also some back-story and deeper meaning to the entire Predator universe and their scenario, which is nice, but at times it really drags on and takes the rest of the movie down with it. Some of the dialogue, especially of one character is just bad, and I'm still not sure whether or not it tried to do it purposely and just failed, or if the writers just scribbled down anything they could think of at the last minute. But don't get too excited, the movie definitely has its problems. And I have to award bonus points for the movie's opening: it was a unique way of introducing us to the situation, and without giving too much away, it sucks you in, even if it is a little far-fetched. The scenery of the planet is beautiful (though it's actually only Hawaii), and the movie generally has a good pace, despite some times where this falters. Most of the action scene's deliver and the fire fights are well done. There are some direct references to please the original fans, but it's not spoiled by filling it with references that only the die-hard fans would understand like many other movies are. Then on top of this, Predators takes much of what made the original great the cheesy dialogue, the big guns, the crude humour, and even some of the same great moments, and adds them in to give Predators its own unique style, while still paying a worthy homage to the classic.
First, it takes the original premise of a band of elite warriors being hunted by an unstoppable alien menace, and gives quite a unique and refreshing twist, delivering another band of elite warriors, but this time being hunted by 3 Predators, and on THEIR planet, rather than Earth. Well, the movie approaches this question in a strange way. Predators, as the name suggests, features more than 1, which alone makes you wonder how true to the original this will be.
Fans of the original and followers of the franchise can be forgiven for being weary of this remake (after all, I was), but believe me, Predators is the best in the series since the original. It's a re-imagining of the classic 80's action movie which had Arnie take the reigns as the leader of a super band of commando's being hunted by an extra terrestrial in the middle of the (jungle), and ended up spawning quite a franchise, consisting of a sequel, and 2 movie mash ups, the Alien vs. In a season of remakes, re-imagining's and sequels, Predators certainly lives up to what's expected of it.