I'm developing another backlog of films to review so it's time for another set of shorter comments. First off, a rather wide-ranging selection of films...
Predators
Wisely ignoring the very average Predator 2 and the awful Alien vs Predator movies, this sequel is a faithful follow-up to the 1987 original - perhaps too faithful. This time round, a collection of criminals, soldiers and assassins wake up to find themselves abducted and dumped on an alien planet - albeit one that looks like any Earth-bound jungle - and being used as game for a group of bigger, nastier Predators. To be honest, there isn't much to be said about Predators - it's moderately entertaining, doesn't last any longer than it should and is well put-together. Besides that, it's extremely predictable, rarely exciting and the numerous references to the original film almost verge into rip-off territory at times. Adrien Brody does a better job at being an action star than I'd have imagined, but he's no Schwarzenegger.
VERDICT: Average sci-fi action that passes the time well.
I like the first two Toy Story movies a lot, but I don't love them - Pixar have made several better films. I wasn't particularly anticipating the third instalment, especially after a set of frankly poor trailers, but after the torrent of overwhelming praise I did find myself looking forward to it. And in the end? I liked it, but I didn't love it. It is great fun and genuinely moving at times (although not as much as I'd heard), and the animation is of course spectacular, but ultimately I would still rank The Incredibles and Wall-E ahead of it. And the 3D is probably an even greater waste of time and money than it was for Up.
VERDICT: The best Toy Story film, but not Pixar's best.
Oh look, it's Adrien Brody again.
As a huge fan of Cube and especially Cypher, I was very much looking forward to Vincenzo Natali's next sci-fi movie. The plot is certainly intriguing; two geneticists experimenting in merging the genes of different species to produce new lifeforms rashly decide to splice in some human DNA, resulting in the birth of Dren, a fast-growing armless rodent that quickly develops into a highly intelligent feminine humanoid. The scientists (Brody and Sarah Polley) develop a bizarre parental bond with the creature, but struggle to cope when Dren becomes restless and curious about the outside world. Unfortunately what begins as a thought-provoking, Cronenberg-inspired drama eventually descends into an oddly controversial creature-feature horror. Some of the later plot developments are highly likely to divide audiences, with one scene in particular eliciting a mixture of shocked gasps and laughter from the audience I saw it with. While I didn't particularly object to those aspects of the plot, I do still think that Splice's final act is a bit of a predictable mess and squanders a lot of potential.
VERDICT: An interesting but ultimately disappointing effort.
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