Sci-fi suspenser, simplistic but quite effective.

Rating: 6/10 (8 March 2006)

The premise of this gory sci-fi actioner is very simple and quite effective. It's basically the story of a hunt. Initially the principal characters believe THEY are the hunters, as they stealthily creep through the jungle towards a guerilla stronghold. We in the audience know that these principal characters are actually the huntED, thanks to an opening sequence which shows an alien spaceship swooping from outer space into the Amazon jungle. What we have here, in effect, is another variation of The Most Dangerous Game, dressed up with state-of-the-art special effects, tons of hardware and weaponry, insanely pumped-up heroes, and an alien baddie as opposed to a mad-man.
American soldier Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is called upon to lead his crack team into the hostile South American jungle. A helicopter has crash-landed carrying some very important people, and Dutch and his boys are supposed to find them and rescue them. The mission seems straightforward enough, until Dutch's men start hiking through the jungle and come across the flayed carcasses of another American military team. Tag along team-member Dillon (Carl Weathers) claims he knew nothing of another American unit operating in the area, but Dutch is already beginning to suspect that there's more to the mission than meets the eye. Eventually, Dutch and his boys find the enemy encampment which they promptly wipe out in a lightning attack. But they learn that they have been misled about the true objective of their mission (it wasn't a rescue mission at all, but an annihilation one). As the team head off into the jungle to their helicopter rendezvous point, they suddenly fall foul of a mysterious adversary which picks them off stealthily from the tree-tops. Gradually, they realise that they up against an alien being which is hunting them for sport.... and which can camouflage itself so that it all but blends in with the surrounding environment!
Predator is a solid suspense flick, which has simple intentions but achieves them effectively. It never pretends to have any deeper meaning beyond the immediate excitement, and is all the better for this lack of pretension. The testosterone-fuelled cast play their roles with the macho conviction required; there's nothing challenging or subtle about their performances, but they do what's needed to suit the mood of the film. The special effects are good for the era, and actually hold up quite well when viewing the movie nowadays. The film moves along to an exciting finale, though I must say I found it hard to swallow the fact that when Arnold was setting all his traps and crafting his weapons in the film's closing moments, the predator was unable to sense him (yes, OK, he was caked in mud.... but he was making a lot of noise, moving around plenty, and working by firelight!?!) All things considered, Predator is an enjoyable, slick, simple-minded and effective suspenser.