No Time to Bleed!

Rating: 10/10 (13 July 2010)

The people who produced "Predator" imaginatively superimposed a science fiction saga about an extra-terrestrial warrior onto a commando hostage rescue mission movie. Just when you think that you are locked in the middle of a gritty, realistic, hell-for-leather, military melodrama, the filmmakers whip out a science fiction alien to end all science fiction aliens. Future "Die Hard" director John McTiernan helmed this nimble, profane, exciting, and often suspenseful actioneer penned by siblings Jim and John Thomas who later wrote the Kurt Russell, jet-hijacking thriller "Executive Decision." Unfortunately, they also provided the story for the ill-conceived Will Smith western "Wild Wild West." "Predator" takes place deep in the jungles of Central America and pits an elite military team commanded by Arnold Schwarzenegger against a "Predator" from another galaxy. Our heroes are recruited for a top-secret rescue mission by the C.I.A. to recover a diplomat whose plane crashed in hostile territory. As it turns out, the C.I.A. lied to Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) about the identity of the man they are supposed to rescue. Our heroes wind up blowing a guerrilla camp to smithereens, but they don't arrive in time to save any hostages. As they traipse off to a rendezvous with a helicopter, they encounter something like nobody has encountered. The eponymous monster's appearance remains singular in the annals of sci-fi. Essentially, the predator resembles gigantic Jamaican dude with dreadlocks and a turtle shell for a helmet. The alien's face is ghoulish. Four small horns surround its ugly mouth, and it has huge claws for hands. Indeed, it is the perfect embodiment of a 1950s' space creature. The alien enjoys one major advantage over its victims. The Predator can cloak itself so that it is well-nigh invisible to the naked eye. Further, the Predator sees everything from a heat sensor perspective. He fires beams of energy that create fatal wounds. He can deploy twin razor-sharp knives from his wrist. Most of all, the Predator searches for trophies. He collects skulls spinal columns, has no qualms about stripping the flesh off his human victims, and then hanging them upside down from tree branches. What sets "Predator" apart from the usual creature feature is that the Predator is a hunter, and it refuses to slay and fillet innocents who display no pugnacity. Dutch's commando team takes a woman hostage, but the predator never attacks her. Inevitably, Dutch must go toe-to-toe with this extremely aggressive adversary after it has exterminated his entire team. The Predator literally gets in Arnold's face. Our hero finds himself truly between a rock and a hard place with his alien foe. Dutch is reduced to relying on his wits and fists so he can triumph over the alien. Some might say that "Predator" is "Escape from N.Y." cris-crossed with the original "Star Trek" TV show episode "Arena" where Captain Kirk fought with the murderous Gorn captain. Jesse Ventura co-stars as one of the commando team. He totes around an impressive, fully automatic, Vulcan mini-gun that can spew 200 rounds in the blink of an eye. Of course, there is no way this weapon could function as a portable, hand-held firearm under the conditions depicted in "Predator," but Ventura is such a massive fellow he makes it appear credible that he could handle this weapon. Incidentally, the Hawkins character who spouts the bad jokes to Billy (Sonny Landham of "48 Hrs") is none other than Shane Black. Black achieved greater fame as a scenarist with "Lethal Weapon," "The Last Boy Scout," "Last Action Hero" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang." "Predator" boasts colorful characters, narrative surprises, quotable dialogue, and good computer-generated effects. Bill Duke's character has a habit of shaving his largely clean shaven face with a disposable razor. The elaborate booby-traps that our heroes set to capture the Predator look like Rube Goldberg contraptions. This 107-minute sci-fi actioneer never wears out its welcome. Interestingly, although Dutch wounds the Predator in the final scene, the alien self-destructs rather than lets itself be captured.