Another franchise is getting the reboot treatment this summer, but unlike A Nightmare On Elm Street (which looks to be just another in a long line of horror remakes), this classic movie monster film is going the opposite route. Forget remaking the classic 1987 Arnold Schwarzenneger vehicle (or even it’s not too shabby Danny Glover staring sequel) – the Robert Rodriguez produced Predators is a brand new story, brand new characters, and a brand new setting. And judging by the clips from the footage I’m linking to, fans of the franchise left cold by the absolutely ridiculous Aliens Vs Predator movies actually have something to look forward to.
I vividly remember my mom taking me and my old friend Tommy to see Predator one Saturday afternoon back when the film was first released. My ten year old self wasn’t a Arnie fan, mind you – I don’t even think I’d seen Terminator yet. Instead, in was the incessant cross promotion for the film I saw when watching WWF programming that got me into the theatre. As fans of the film vividly remember, the WWF’s Jesse “The Body” Ventura played the role of Blaine in Predators, one of the special Army forces team that systematically gets pegged off throughout the course of the film. Jesse had the privilege of carrying the biggest gun in the film, and also scored one of its most memorable lines.
Predator also gave us one of the big screen’s best bad guys from the past few decades, an ugly alien race of hunters that can cloak themselves and carry with themselves an arsenal of very cool welcomes. While the first film was a success at the box office, the franchise cooled after the Schwarzenneger-less second movie, which was inspired by the (arguably more succesful) Dark Horse comic book sequel to the original film, penned by future Battlestar Galactica writer Mark Verheiden.
I won’t waste our time talking about the Alien Vs Predator films except to say that both creatures deserve better than what they were given in either of those films. B-movie acting and illogical scriptwriting sunk what should have been a great team-up. Thankfully, it seems like that particular franchise is in the past, with both franchises back in safer hands, Ridley Scott back with a forthcoming Alien film and Robert Rodriguez handling production duties on Predators.
Judging from the preview which is housed at www.predators-movie.com, fans have a lot to look forward to. Rodriguez is bringing with him a reverence for the first film, an interesting storyline, and actors with real pedigree in Lawrence Fishburne and Academy Award winner Adrian Brody.
Sure, they’re not Arnie and “The Body”, but I’m optimistic that they’ll bring their own special something to the Predator franchise when the movie hits theaters on July 9th.
