Predators (2010)

There a are a number of silly reviews in here about how this is the worst movie of all time and what an embarrassment to the Predator franchise and all kinds of other ridiculous rants that have very little to do with the mostly solid little scifi actioner that was Predators. That does not mean the movie was a classic or anything close, but it was clearly a solid genre piece, and frankly the first Alien or Predator movie in 20 years to not flat out embarrass itself and the underlying franchises.

So what held it back from being more than just solid? Lack of ambition really. The creators made a smart move in transporting the action off Earth where they could bring some innovation to the table...but then you could see the lack of ambition and desire to play it close to the vest when they only added in one or two moments taking advantage of the setting. Then throughout the movie they manipulate scenes and dialogue to purposefully bring to mind classic scenes from the original, including the means of several characters deaths. And finally they just seemed reluctant to bring any true originality to the battles, the use of the Predaors' gadgets, to the death scenes, anything. It all played out in fairly standard fashion. Entertaining enough, but almost no "that was neat" moments. You didn't regret watching it, but I sincerely doubt there are going to be any moments or lines remembered from this one in 20+ years the way there was for the original.