They first struck way back in 1987: the invisible, X-ray visioned, X-file creatures with an Xtra big yen for human flesh. But then, they had the X-factor to contend with: Hollywood's favourite hunk and hit man, Arnold Schwarzenneger, who could fight them all, aliens, robots, rogues and terrorists with iron fists and an unsmiling `Hasta la vista, baby'.
Today, in its fifth instalment, the Predator series is no longer sexed up and has lost some of its charm. It might have worked, if the makers had tried to infuse an element of novelty in the script or the delineation of the blood thirsty creatures. True, Adrien Brody is an eminent actor and has an intensity that manages to transcend the mediocrity of script and scene. But, in a predictable cat and mouse game, there isn't much that the brooding Brody can do, other than play the hunted-turned-hunter who is hell-bent on surviving, any which way. Even if it means, making some rash decisions and earning the scorn of the rest of the threatened brood. Army sniper, Alice Braga does try to rein him in and plays the voice-of-conscience team mate. Indeed, a difficult task when hungry predators are hounding you with salivating jaws and the terrain around you is absolutely unfamiliar. And Laurence Fishburne makes an iffy appearance as a survivor who's managed to elude the killers for six seasons or more. But is that enough to carry the carnage forward?
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