Predators

First published on 6 Jul 2010. Updated on 6 Jul 2010.

Like flies to wanton schoolboys are humans to Predators – they hunt us for their sport. But at least when they drop us onto verdant alien worlds to be picked off one by one, we're given a fighting chance and allowed a full armoury of guns'n'ammo. And it's not just any old unsuspecting humans dumped onto the game reserve: it's hardened mercenaries like Royce (experienced cinematic fugitive Adrien Brody) along with murderers, kidnappers, Yakuza, and, er, doctors who are pitted against the crab-faced giants and their horned, toothsome hounds. Robert Rodriguez produces this fifth instalment in the franchise (Hungarian Nimrod Antal directs) and it's a return to the suspenseful, high-velocity form of the original Predator (1987), which gave Arnie one of his proudest pre-gubernatorial moments. It's no masterpiece, but after the cartoonish nadir of Alien vs Predator: Requiem we should be thankful that it's at least as much fun as an episode of Survivor (call it Survivor: Planet Predator). At its heart, it's a Dantean morality tale in which warlike folk of many nations are cast into a purgatory where demons can punish them for their belligerence. Certainly by the time a crazed Laurence Fishburne turns up channelling his Apocalypse Now castmate Marlon Brando, Predators starts looking like the oddest anti-war actioner of the holiday season. Nick Dent