Predators - it's not crap!

I went to see Predators last night. It has been savaged by both critics and fanboys alike, so my expectations were low. But you know what, it wasn't that bad. It was clearly an homage to the original, although the characters were somewhat less heroic than Dutch and his crew. [minor spoiler alert] A cutthroat band of mercs and murderers is paradropped on an alien planet, still carrying the weapons they had on them when they were beamed off Earth by the Predators (sucks to be the deathrow inmate, armed only with a small knife). Let the bloodshed begin. The major innovation to the Predator canon in this movie is the addition of a second type of Predator, bigger and stronger than the original. They hunt both humans and the smaller Predators.

There were a couple of minor plot holes. For example, the token female in the cast, an Israeli sniper who serves as the conscience for the group, turns out to know a lot about the original mission which encountered the first Predator. Considering this was highly-classified information about a US military/CIA operation, it's not clear how an IDF soldier would have that intel. Also, the dreaded alien sky trope was displayed in all its glory as a sky full of planets, so close together they would tear each other apart if the laws of gravity were being enforced, suddenly appeared to inform the cast of the enormity of their plight.

Minor aggravations aside, the action was tight, the acting was satisfactory and there were a few easter eggs for fans of the original (as well as the Alien franchise, the convict starts channelling Private Hudson at one point). Worth the price of admission, especially if you are already a fan of the series.

-Rognar-

Update: I should add, some firearm aficionados may be underwhelmed by the obligatory minigun scenes in this movie. While just as incapable of killing anything in Predators as it was in Predator, it also seems to have lost its ability to defoliate huge swaths of forest as well.