I See You ...

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2010)

A crack platoon of commandos is choppered in for a daring rescue mission in the jungle. However, following a firefight with a guerrilla base, it becomes clear that some unseen and very nasty presence is stalking them. Can they survive this mysterious threat ?
If there was an award for most ripped-off short story, Richard Connell's 1924 classic The Most Dangerous Game / The Hounds Of Zaroff would be near the top of my list. To give you an idea, not only was this not the only 1987 movie of it, it wasn't even the only 1987 sci-fi variation of it (the other being the cheekily good fun Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity). The idea of human prey lends itself so well to so many different genres that it's constantly reused either as the whole story (Run For The Sun, Surviving The Game) or major subplots within it (High Noon, First Blood, just about any serial killer / slasher film you can name). This big-budget version, by brothers Jim and John Thomas, turns the big game hunter into an alien who collects human skulls and wants Big Arnie's for his trophy room. Talented director McTiernan serves up a solid action-packed thriller as the grunts struggle through the three stages of the story - dawning realisation of their predicament, increasing panic as the scary monster starts taking them down, and retaliatory resolve to outsmart and outmanoeuvre it. There's also a nice little allegory going on here; the better-equipped marines cheerfully blow the hell out of the rebel hideout with mortars, grenades and a minigun and then congratulate each other, only to subsequently come a cropper against the Predator's invisibility suit, thermal imaging sensors and space-age laser rifle. McTiernan carefully keeps the tension racked and makes expert use of the dense Mexican jungle locations, turning the movie into a violent game of hide-and-seek - the whole story can be summed up by Duke's throwaway line, "I see you ... ". Alan Silvestri's larger-than-life score pumps away at you all the time and the monster is terrific; the Greenberg Brothers' chameleon visual effects, Stan Winston's lizard suit and some rather nifty sound effects all combining to create a supercool creature. The movie has a big weak point for me though, and that's the performances / characters, all of whom are paid-up members of the Macho Man Society; you know a film hasn't quite worked when you're rooting for a psychotic reptile from outer space. Arnie is okay, Carrillo has one interesting speech and Duke gets some good moments but that's about it - the best performance is the physical one by the late Hall as the monster. Still, a lot of fun though - just don't think about it too much. Followed by a direct sequel in 1990, then a couple of franchise films later on (the AVP series). For a better Schwarzenegger / McTiernan collaboration, check out their much-maligned amazing / funny 1993 flick Last Action Hero (scripted by Shane Black, who here plays the doomed grunt with the bad jokes).