As a fan of Predator's original 1st movie (the supreme food chain leader, not Humans anymore) I was always fascinated by the extreme depth and richness of Predator's creation and complexity, ultimately, the reflection of ourselves our brutality and our fears.
Although shown in minimalistic but very elegant traces, the 1st movie was excellent in scripting that complexity into a consisted sci-fi cinema villain who still remains in pop culture, waiting yet for a new movie capable of keeping its quality.
Predator's essence was neither good nor bad; he was the symbol of life in its brutal form: a metaphor and a reflex of human's "dark side" nature, a critic of our own cynical behavior because we do the same kind of sports and we do behave with the same brutality with animals, with other humans too, for purposes that aren't in any way honorable.
At the bottom of Schopenhauer's philosophy and by the discernment of our reality, we live in a brutal world, therefore we share that same brutality. So we create a god of something we cannot understand although we're part of, to better deal with it: Predator or Mars the god of war.
And "how about we change sides so you people would mirror yourselves as preys?" is what Predator makes you wonder while rising the bridge for a potential non hypocrite "good side" and making a severe critic of human behavior.
Fact is "predators" although brutal didn't kill unarmed victims, nor pregnant women even being extremely far away from their homeland without any ethical bonds to connect or attach... but we Humans do kill innocent people, and not that far from our homes, and with many eyes upon us! Just pick a war.
After all Predator hunted on an already rolling war scenario (guerrilla wars) choosing only the strongest as adversaries. A fearsome warrior with a code of honor and respect so strong that endured in an Alien planet. How can this guy be worst than us?
The first two Predator movies (mostly the 1st) had very existentialistic and poetic scenes that might not be seen at first glance contributing to Predator's character; the predator's hand view next to the lifeless scorpion, the "echogram" showing an human embryo, the acknowledge of human verbalization, the eventual "communication" at the last predator's moments as many more scenes present in the movie.
Every aspect of the script has some subtleness and depth making this 1sr movie special and not just an action sci-fi story. That's why McTiernan's movie is the keystone and the catapult to the franchise.
Dutch was a soldier rose in a violent society as also as Predator's culture and nature shaped his behaving, but both had actions that somehow contradicted their primal warrior code making them so unique and bonded to the audience. Both had individual codes of honor shown on many sequences of the movie, despite the scenario they were in.
Like titans, they fought with some kind of mutual interest and respect originating a kind of relation (I remember how I laughed when Dutch tries to convince the Predator to fall in a trap while him like a cat evading his strategy is grabbing a leaf knowing he is being fooled) becoming true archetypes for the audience.
Their nature wasn't quite equal to their environment as for as one of them was tragically neutralized: you feel attachment and sorrow for the predator's death. "Your true enemy is the one that understands you most". You could wonder that while the wounded and introspected Dutch is being transported home after the predator's dramatic self destruction.
You just cannot put the feeling away of wondering of a better world while the sad musical score is passing, seeing Dutch not anymore as an action winner hero, but as a disappointed wounded soldier covered with ashes and mud - The opposite of the beginning of the movie. Victory is not just what only matters.
This kind of insight was what I (ingeniously) expected on Predators. To learn about their culture and complex social structure, to see the architecture of their world and nature, to see a possible bridge of communication, to see poetry and metaphors of ourselves: none of this happened. Except for the brief moments Laurence Fishburne's character is introduced entering you on his domains. You feel the story might change for a good sci-fi comic style, the next moment you feel deceived when he turns mad next to be blown by a very bad special effect...
Everything gets worse from this point, You just feel the director used the same Hollywood brainless formulas over and over without any kind of insight, specially when the last expectation (major Predator unmasked) is revealed to be a conclusion of what you initially spotted: A Rubbish in its completeness fed by Predator's original creation with some moments that almost fooled you with hope. Scripting is the skeleton that makes the difference between a good and a bad movie. This one is an imitation with just superficial scratches of your initial expectations.
It's imperative to see the 1st Predator to understand what I am saying.
Although shown in minimalistic but very elegant traces, the 1st movie was excellent in scripting that complexity into a consisted sci-fi cinema villain who still remains in pop culture, waiting yet for a new movie capable of keeping its quality.
Predator's essence was neither good nor bad; he was the symbol of life in its brutal form: a metaphor and a reflex of human's "dark side" nature, a critic of our own cynical behavior because we do the same kind of sports and we do behave with the same brutality with animals, with other humans too, for purposes that aren't in any way honorable.
At the bottom of Schopenhauer's philosophy and by the discernment of our reality, we live in a brutal world, therefore we share that same brutality. So we create a god of something we cannot understand although we're part of, to better deal with it: Predator or Mars the god of war.
And "how about we change sides so you people would mirror yourselves as preys?" is what Predator makes you wonder while rising the bridge for a potential non hypocrite "good side" and making a severe critic of human behavior.
Fact is "predators" although brutal didn't kill unarmed victims, nor pregnant women even being extremely far away from their homeland without any ethical bonds to connect or attach... but we Humans do kill innocent people, and not that far from our homes, and with many eyes upon us! Just pick a war.
After all Predator hunted on an already rolling war scenario (guerrilla wars) choosing only the strongest as adversaries. A fearsome warrior with a code of honor and respect so strong that endured in an Alien planet. How can this guy be worst than us?
The first two Predator movies (mostly the 1st) had very existentialistic and poetic scenes that might not be seen at first glance contributing to Predator's character; the predator's hand view next to the lifeless scorpion, the "echogram" showing an human embryo, the acknowledge of human verbalization, the eventual "communication" at the last predator's moments as many more scenes present in the movie.
Every aspect of the script has some subtleness and depth making this 1sr movie special and not just an action sci-fi story. That's why McTiernan's movie is the keystone and the catapult to the franchise.
Dutch was a soldier rose in a violent society as also as Predator's culture and nature shaped his behaving, but both had actions that somehow contradicted their primal warrior code making them so unique and bonded to the audience. Both had individual codes of honor shown on many sequences of the movie, despite the scenario they were in.
Like titans, they fought with some kind of mutual interest and respect originating a kind of relation (I remember how I laughed when Dutch tries to convince the Predator to fall in a trap while him like a cat evading his strategy is grabbing a leaf knowing he is being fooled) becoming true archetypes for the audience.
Their nature wasn't quite equal to their environment as for as one of them was tragically neutralized: you feel attachment and sorrow for the predator's death. "Your true enemy is the one that understands you most". You could wonder that while the wounded and introspected Dutch is being transported home after the predator's dramatic self destruction.
You just cannot put the feeling away of wondering of a better world while the sad musical score is passing, seeing Dutch not anymore as an action winner hero, but as a disappointed wounded soldier covered with ashes and mud - The opposite of the beginning of the movie. Victory is not just what only matters.
This kind of insight was what I (ingeniously) expected on Predators. To learn about their culture and complex social structure, to see the architecture of their world and nature, to see a possible bridge of communication, to see poetry and metaphors of ourselves: none of this happened. Except for the brief moments Laurence Fishburne's character is introduced entering you on his domains. You feel the story might change for a good sci-fi comic style, the next moment you feel deceived when he turns mad next to be blown by a very bad special effect...
Everything gets worse from this point, You just feel the director used the same Hollywood brainless formulas over and over without any kind of insight, specially when the last expectation (major Predator unmasked) is revealed to be a conclusion of what you initially spotted: A Rubbish in its completeness fed by Predator's original creation with some moments that almost fooled you with hope. Scripting is the skeleton that makes the difference between a good and a bad movie. This one is an imitation with just superficial scratches of your initial expectations.
It's imperative to see the 1st Predator to understand what I am saying.
