So much to do... So little time!

Rating: Null/10 (25 August 2004)

OK. I've read the reviews after seeing the film. And, here's my take. Beware... There may be spoilers ahead.
1) Why didn't the Predator kill the girl? OK. That's an easy one, if you've read any of the history of the race, in the comics, books and games. They have a code of honor. Part of that is in NOT hunting sentient beings. That's not an honorable thing. Nevertheless, there are ones called "Bad Bloods" that do hunt humans. They might have been in the first two Predator movies. The first one was definitely a "Bad Blood". These hunters were being "Blooded", so they were to fight honorably. But, that doesn't mean that if you picked up a gun or weapon you're not going to become a target. Look at Weyland. The Predator saw he was diseased, and was going to leave him to die on his own. But, here's the "Don't turn your back to me" bit of bravado, and then he looks surprised when he got the wrist blades where his innards should have been. Get a weapon, become a target.
2) Why were there so many Aliens? If you counted all the people that went down the shaft, you know there couldn't be more than 15, but at one point there seems to be many more than that. I think it was mostly a trick of the eye. At the end, when the Predator took out all those Aliens with his gun, the remaining ones went to the queen. There were only 4 or 5. The Predator had already taken out a large majority with his Plasma gun. (9, I think) However, we're shown that there are still a lot of them when the Predator and girl are trying to make it back to the surface. There must be more than 15 in that scene, alone. The numbers really don't add up right. It seemed to me that the Director said to the CG guys, "Make me a LOT of aliens".
3) Why were the two Predators killed so quickly? Well, we have to understand something. This was a hunt for three Predators who weren't "Blooded". That means that they had undergone the training, maybe hunted some lower life forms, but nothing big. This was their real test. Think of this like people going through military boot camp. They have the training. They've shot up hundreds of paper targets. However, for all purposes, no real tests. Therefore, they're dropped into a battle and whoever gets out alive, with trophies is now tested in battle. There's, normally, one of the Predators that's the leader of this three Predator group. He has more training, and you might think of him as a squad leader. (Some on here have nicknamed him "Scar".) His job is to get the others to the battle and back "safely". I put that in quotes as if they really don't have the "right stuff", then they can become so much alien food. It's the "rite of passage". He shouldn't have left his mask off for so long, though.
4) What about the Plasma guns? They were supposed to be found by the Predators BEFORE the humans became hosts of the Alien spawn. The Predators were supposed to ALREADY have the upper hand. But, those pesky humans had to pick them up and start the whole cycle before they had them. Dang, annoying humans. Stepping on the floor plate was no big deal. It just meant that the eggs would be ready, sooner. They already had an idea on how the pyramid would re-configure itself. They really were the prison guards.
5) What's with the masks being different? Well, there's only one Predator race, but thousands of "clans". Think of them like humans, without the infighting and wars. They adorn themselves differently, and even have different "codes of honor". So, different masks aren't really a surprise. Hair braided differently, etc. Look at it like Japanese schoolgirls in their uniforms. They might look the same, but there's differences that if you're attuned to it you can tell what school someone attends just from seeing the uniform. Same with the different militaries of the world. And, why were the mouths different? Well, humans all, unless there's some birth defect or accident, have 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, etc. But we have white, brown, yellow, red or black skin. Our teeth might not be picture perfect. We might be bald, balding or have 90% of our bodies covered with hair. We might have a Jay Leno like chin, or no chin. Therefore, what happens if you're in a clan of 5 thousand Predators. No reproducing outside of the clan and it's been that way for thousands of years? The gene pool becomes stagnant. Things happen. It might even be made that way so you can tell one Predator clan from another. It's not that far from the truth.
6) What about the Predator bomb? Well, that, without examining a real Predator bomb, could be a bit harder to figure out. Nevertheless, let's look at it like this. If a Predator knows he's going to be iced, then he just sets it to blow. However, if he wants to get out of there, he could set it to remote detonator or timer detonator. So, why was the one in Predator 2 stopped by cutting his arm off? I think I remember that it was actually damaged when the arm was cut off. The real question is why didn't it still explode, as a safety measure so the technology didn't fall into the wrong hands. That's the question. It should have. A real question is what is that bomb made of. Something that can't weigh more than a few pounds, but can still do that much damage. Sure, it's supposed to be inside a huge ice cavern so the blast is contained. Nevertheless, you saw the entire top 3/4 of the pyramid just vaporize when it went off. In addition, the explosion started with this weird blue light and then turned into flame. If it worked on the hydrogen molecules in the air, then it should keep going for as long as we had air, until the entire world was destroyed. And, it didn't seem atomic, or nuclear, in nature. If so, then all the ice in the area would have been vaporized in a couple of seconds. This would also include the 2,000 feet of ice above it. (Heat travels upward, remember?)
So, in conclusion, I'll just say that I thought it was an interesting movie. It could have been loads better. The factual errors, Plot holes, Continuity errors and just stupid mistakes do drop this from a Class 'A' movie to a "C". Not really borrowing from the original movies and all the other material out there was a bad mistake. It was nice to watch, and I may even buy the DVD for my collection, but it's not on my "often" replay list like some other movies.