Predators has one major thing in its favour; almost everyone who will see it in the next few weeks will be expecting a god-awful sequel to one of the later movies. What Antal has created though is a film that can both stand on its own two feet as a competent action flick, but also borrows enough from the original (and still greatest) Predator film.

Firstly, anyone who has yet to see the original Predator movie should go and find a copy now. It’s still a brilliant example of how to blend a heady amount of testosterone-fueled action with nail-biting tension.

From the opening score, Predators samples it’s original predecessor, thankfully ignoring all of the indignant spinoffs that have followed since. And who would have thought that Adrien Brody, thin bodied Pianist, could pull of the macho-spec-ops role so well?

There are weak points throughout; the directing never quite makes the action come alive, almost as if the director was happy enough to point a camera at a scene and let it run. The CGI is nearly top-notch except for the awful explosions and flames mid-way through. And the characters themselves seem to be stuck in limbo, not quite detailed enough to stand up but not one-dimensional enough to hark back to the original.

This film will surprise most of the fans going to see it, and that’s its greatest strength. Low expectations are easy to beat, and Predators has enough in its runtime to please even a die-hard fan like myself.

My rating: 8/10