When I was younger, and even now, for that matter, I loved the original Predator movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. It had a great cat and mouse game, some good suspense and two larger-than-life foes. Sadly, the franchise hit a downturn with every installment since, but director Robert Rodriguez looks to revitalize it with a return to basics in Predators. More interestingly, he chose Adrien Brody (and his nose) for the lead role. So, as a fan of the original, I have some serious standards. In a summer of disappointments, Predators surely can’t live up to the hype, can it? It can, and I’ll stop calling you Shirley.

Predators gets off to a great start with our hero (Brody) free falling. As he wakes up and realizes the ground is coming up quick, he works to free his parachute. It’s a quick smack in the face to wake you up for what's to come, as Brody’s badass character meets up with seven others who make up some of Earth’s greatest predators. They are dropped on this alien planet to duel with all kinds of predators, and some of their new toys. Not long into the movie, a Predator is beaten and tied up, showing us that Brody's group is bigger and more terrifying than any previous visitors. Now, these loners have to work together to get off this game preserve before the predators hunt and kill them all.

The biggest change from the franchise's flops is that this movie is more than just a return to form: it takes everything that was great from the first Predator movie and amplifies it.

This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2010.