Movie Review - Predators

"And i would have gotten away with it, if it hadn't of been for those pesky kids!!"

Having not been a fan of the original 1987 Predator film set in the deep depths of the jungle, I was reluctant to spend 8 of my unemployed British pounds going to see this updated remake/sequel. I don’t know what it is, but I find the predators very one dimensional and boring. When you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. It’s not like a slasher film where the killer can mix things up slightly and vary his kills. The Predator = hiding in the jungle and striping up some unlucky sucker! However, with this being a quiet period before the release of some bigger summer blockbusters, I decided to take a punt and indulge in a double bill of Predators and Street Dance. Yes my friends, times are hard.

The plot is very, very simple. 8 people awake in the jungle with no memory of how they got there and no knowledge of each other. All they know is each person is a killer in their own right (Black ops, Mexican mafia, Death Row inmate etc.) It slowly unravels that these killers have not been put in the jungle to hunt and kill, but rather something is hunting them. Yup, those pesky “ugly mutha fuckas!”. What follows is a predictable game of cat and mouse as both sets of killers, human or otherwise, try to figure out how best to destroy the other and survive.

After going into to the film with very low expectations, I have to say that I actually enjoyed it a great deal. From the opening 15 minutes, you get the impression that you are watching a Saw movie set in the jungle…but with Aliens…which instantly adds another dimension to the film. For me, the main reason it worked was down to Adrian Brody. When I first heard he was cast as some kind of action hero, I couldn’t really see it, but it turns out he was great in the part. He was cool, calm and in lesser actor’s shoes, his dialogue certainly would have come across as cheesy and unbelievable, but it worked. The supporting cast also had a big part to play in the success of the film. In particular, Walton Goggins from The Shield provided the comic relief but was never over the top. The Predators looked good as always and provided us with some really gory moments. And I’m sure learning how the Predators hone their skills and getting more of an understanding into their psyche will be a nice touch for hardcore fans of the Predator series. But for me, I much preferred the sequences with the human killers rather than any Predator action.

The film does have some pacing issues towards the end, with a scene designed to explain what is taking place seemingly lasting forever and slows things down a great deal. And even though Predators does at least try to be a little different from its predecessors with it’s premise, it’s also realizes that you can’t veer too much from a winning formula. Because of this some parts of the film, and in particular the finale, feel a little contrived. Some might call it paying homage. But wasn’t Bryan Singers Superman Returns supposed be some kind of homage, and look how that turned out?

However, the few grievances I had are far outweighed by the rest of the film and on the whole, I really enjoyed Predators and it was a hour and a half well spent.

Movie Review - StreetDance

Believe it or not, I had actually been itching to see Street Dance 3D for a while now. Yes, it’s true. Dean Crawford is a fan of generic Dance flicks. West Side Story aside, I used to abhor these types of movies, but I happened to stumble across the first Step Up movie some years back due to the lack of English Language films in South Korea, and came out a converted man. I mean, it wasn’t a particularly great film, but it was a lot of fun with some hilarious scenes to boot (wholly unintentional I’m sure). I also liked You Got Served which had an amazing dance off in the finale, and not to mention Roll Bounce which had a skate off in the end. Basically, anything with an “off” in the end I’m all for. So when I saw there was an English effort being made, I was up for supporting the film and seeing if our British compatriots could ‘Step Up’ to the plate and produce something to rival the Americans.

Before StreetDance actually started, the final preview was for Step Up 3D, which I thought was a little unfair, yet totally apt. I felt it unfair to show what would essentially be a glitzier, bigger budget version of the film we were about to see. Yet apt seeing that StreetDance clearly owes a great debt to the first Step Up. Both films follow a dancer with raw talent, struggling to make ends meet but with aspirations of a bigger and better future. And through a chance meeting, both end up taking part in a prestigious dance school/music college. Of course, at first the two contrasting styles fail to connect, with one side being either too posh or too common for the other. But after time, and several montages later, they both realize that their styles can compliment one another and they finally learn to blend street and ballet for the final performance. But no dance movie would be complete without an outside factor hindering one’s ability to make it to the final showdown. Whether it be the big game in High School Musical or an untimely scheduled audition for the best school in the country (Street Dance/Step Up – delete as appropriate). But never fear, Cinderella shall make it to the ball and the final performance shall be had!

If you take the film for what it is, which is a kids Dance movie, it is a lot of fun and some of the dance routines are pretty impressive. It’s not serious in any way and generally everybody is always happy and smiling, the people wear bright colours and I’m sure they will be BFF’s forever. It’s a feel good film that I’m sure young children who have seen an episode of Britains Got Talent in the last few years will revel in. I refer to BGT of course, due to the inclusion of Dance Acts such as Flawless and Diversity, which were a nice touch, and hopefully give these skillful groups more exposure if the film makes it overseas. Flawless, in particular, have a role as the main “villain” of the piece and their routines do switch flawlessly (no pun intended) from TV to Film. Some of their moves are outstanding and I could easily watch the film again and again. That, as I have mentioned, is if you take the film for what it is.

If you don’t take the film for what it is, however, and decide to judge it on it’s own merits as a piece of cinema, then you would have to say it was once of the most poorly acted and lazily written films you have seen in a long time. I had flashes of Alice In Wonderland all over again, with an incredibly annoying leading lady that if I wasn’t so stubborn…or cheap…I would have left the cinema. To be fair, Nichola Burley doesn’t have much to work with in terms of a script, but there’s just no emotion in her face and her lines are so poorly delivered it’s untrue. The same goes for all the supporting cast. The script reduces them to caricatures of either posh snobs, feisty London rude girls, horny leaches or dancing buffoons. And there is no hint of originality to the story in the slightest. It’s as if it’s straight out of a Step Up “how-to” guide book but the setting has been changed to London and the script has been made less sexy and ballsy to give it a PG rating.

BUT, and I repeat but, that’s if you don’t want to take the film for what it is. I on the other hand do! I am willing to ignore all of the films faults and can safely say that StreetDance is a thoroughly enjoyable film for anyone under the age of 12 (or in my case, 29!) and I am glad that I went to see it and did my part to help support the UK film industry. Now, excuse me while I go and limber up for the nearest Dance Battle I can find.

WHAT, WHAT!!!