Often Imitated But Never Duplicated, Predator Stands In A League Of Its Own.

Rating: Null/10 (23 September 2014)

One of the most enjoyable, quotable, entertaining, exhilarating & testosterone-filled action extravaganzas of all time, Predator is a strong shot of adrenaline that fuses action, adventure, science-fiction, horror & thriller into one and is delivered with such remarkable finesse that even after two decades & countless imitations, its ass-kicking experience has never been duplicated.
Set in the jungles of Central America, Predator concerns an elite special forces team of six who are ordered in to assist a CIA officer on a rescue mission which ultimately turns out to be a ploy. But the deception soon becomes the least of their concern when, on their way out of the jungle, they find themselves being stalked & hunted by something that's not of this world.
Directed by John McTiernan, the film opens with a brief prologue after which it travels the road of an action-adventure feature for a while but over the course of its runtime slowly, steadily & seamlessly transitions into an impressive sci-fi horror that ends up succeeding on all fronts. The idea is incredibly original, the premise is highly intriguing, the setting is absolutely fitting & the casting is pitch perfect.
The screenplay may not have that immense depth of characterization but the simple basics of it is able to provide each character their distinct personality without causing any distraction when they're working as a team. Cinematography expertly uses the atmosphere of jungle to its advantage and with its controlled panning shots manages to pull the viewers in as, just like its characters, we also try to look harder for something lurking somewhere in those trees.
Explosively paced from start to finish, it never lets the viewers settle down for a moment & gets busy with its main plot as soon as all its characters are introduced. Add to that, editing wonderfully arranges the predator's point of view shots with those of its characters without ever stepping over the line. Visual effects still holds up pretty well, sound is cleverly used & Alan Silvestri's spectacular score effortlessly adds a sense of impending doom to the whole narrative.
Coming to the performances, the cast comprises of Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Bill Duke, Shane Black, Sonny Landham & Richard Chavez, led by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. The lean & muscular bodies of these actors ends up being an impressive entity in itself for it adds more meat to the badass characters they play while also improving their physical presence in the picture. And their overall interaction with each other is simply flawless.
As for the creature itself, it's cleverly imagined by the writers, expertly designed by Stan Winston & wonderfully mimed by Kevin Peter Hall on the screen. On an overall scale, Predator is one of the finest examples of quality filmmaking in which each aspect works in perfect harmony with the other to deliver a cinematic experience that's damn satisfying in every manner & retains its high quality no matter how many times you watch it.
A genuine classic, a genre masterpiece & one of my favourite films of all time, Predator is a must for every action, sci-fi or horror fan out there. One hundred percent recommended.