Fun but pointless

Rating: 6/10 (16 August 2010)

I realize that "Predator" is not supposed to have a point, few good action movies do, but something about its presentation just seems a bit empty. We have Arnold Schwarzenegger in the jungle with his elite force of operatives, and they quickly learn they were duped into going on an assassination mission by Carl Weather's CIA operative character. They are nevertheless incredibly successful, taking out a massive camp of rebels in a fashion that is, by Arnie standards, very believable (let's just say we aren't asked to believe he succeeds because 50 guys can shoot at him point blank with automatic weapons and not give him so much as a scratch, as in the ridiculous Arnie flick "Commando").
The spot the elite team is in, with a valuable captive in tow, is apparently too hot for an airlift so they have to go through a nasty stretch of jungle, where they quickly learn they are being stalked by something evil. They have to fight it off, and that's pretty much the movie.
I have always been underwhelmed. It's true that the actors do everything you could expect, and the script isn't weighed down by silly moral and political posturing, love interest subplots, convoluted sci-fi back-stories and the other clichés Hollywood feels need to be tacked on to action flicks. Still, the finished product is little more than Arnie and flunkies in the jungle fighting a monster. It almost reminds me of Arnold's infamous first movie where he fights a bear in one of the most poorly shot action sequences ever. This treads dangerously close to being that bear fight with a massive budget. That's not to say anything in the movie is badly done, this is a very solid production, but there's really nothing in the movie other than the well-directed action scenes.
All that really saves it are the fine performances by the actors (including Jesse Ventura of later political fame), its streamlined presentation, and the fantastic score, which seems to have been very influential on action film music up to this very day.
If you want something fun, utterly void of anything to think about at all, this movie is alright, but I'd be just as happy with one of Arnie's sillier movies where you can enjoy yourself just poking fun at the absurdities.