Whyte, Jones, Steele and Mears or Hall for Shane's Movie?

Started by RakaiThwei, Jan 02, 2015, 07:18:13 AM

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Whyte, Jones, Steele and Mears or Hall for Shane's Movie? (Read 4,572 times)

RakaiThwei

I think we can all agree that the definitive Predator is the great Kevin Peter Hall. He is the guy who had set the standard for what it takes to play a Predator. Kevin had a very swift and very panther like quality when it came to playing the Predator. In our minds, Kevin is in a whole other league when it comes to portraying our favorite alien headhunter. But sadly, Kevin is no longer around and in the last eleven years, we have had to find suitable substitutes for our favorite alien hunter.

So.. Who do fans think will be a good portray of a Predator in the upcoming Shane Black sequel?

Ian Whyte has portrayed the Predators in both the AvP films, and the Engineer in Prometheus. For this focus, we will look at his performance in both the AvP films. Say what you want about the films, but we can't deny that Ian had some pretty big shoes to fill in considering he was the first replacement for Kevin Peter Hall fourteen years after Predator 2. While Ian had some difficulty portraying the Predators in the first AvP, he seemed to channel Hall well enough in AvP-R to mimic the swift but strong movements while retaining his own performance. I've personally spoken with Whyte back in Monstermania 2007, and he had said that he watched Kevin's performance in the first two films and took the necessary steps to emulate him.

Derek Mears, Brian Steele and Carey Jones were the Super Predators and the Classic in the Rodriguez film, PREDATORS. Looking back at this movie, I didn't really get a lot of that Predator vibe from many of these actors. There wasn't that panther like movement which conveyed an inhuman strength. From what I remembered, their movements seemed almost stiff and they weren't as tall as far as either Ian or Kevin. While camera tricks were employed by the camera crew to make them look taller, their performance left something to be desired in my opinion. Their Predators seemed to come off more as hulking brutes rather than the swift and strong approach which Kevin and Ian had.

Now I've mentioned a Hall in the title for this topic.. For those who don't know who I am talking about, I am talking about Jamie Hall. Jamie is Kevin Peter Hall's nephew. Jamie Hall has portrayed a Predator in Aaron Shoenke's Super Power Beat Down in the Wolverine vs Predator episode. Jamie stands at a height of 6'7, only two inches taller than Mears. It's sort of hard to judge Jamie's performance (I believe it's his first) but he seemed to channel Kevin well enough in the movements and mannerisms of the Predator in my opinion.

So.. who in your opinion should be a Predator in Shane's upcoming movie?

The Shuriken

I pick Ian Whyte, I really liked his movement and body language while playing Wolf. Swift and graceful, yet powerful. He kinda picks up where KPH left off I think. So if they choose to channel the presence of the Predator from the first two films, Ian is the guy to call.

RakaiThwei

Ian is definitely a good substitute for Kevin Peter Hall, and despite fan reactions to Requiem being quite negative, I thought his performance in capturing the swift, graceful and powerful movements were similar to Hall's. Also add to the fact that Whyte does have a background in martial arts, he is very good with dynamic posing and doing the necessary movements.

However, I also sort of want to give Jamie a try here.. looking at his IMDB credits as an actor, he not only played a Predator in Super Power Beat Down, but he also played one in Hollywood is Hard-- although it was more of a spoof role which featured a character who was dressed as a Predator (although Jamie did wear the suit and did 90% of the performance). However it's not likely Jamie would get the role as the Predator in Shane's movie but I like to wish and think about it though.  I mean it would be something to see Kevin's nephew inherit the legacy which his uncle left behind.

But Ian is a good candidate and he has the right height to boot!

Liberator

Kevin Peter Hall WAS the predator, and if his son wants to get into the role that's cool, but to my mind, no one would make a better Predator for the new movie than Kareem Abdul Jabar.  He is known for his basketball playing, but he was a student of Bruce Lee's.  The Predators we have all seen have been run of the mill action figures, with the exception of the original one in the jungle, who really knew what he was doing, but imagine a predator that used martial arts.

RakaiThwei

Quote from: Liberator on Jan 02, 2015, 09:34:36 AM
Kevin Peter Hall WAS the predator, and if his son wants to get into the role that's cool, but to my mind, no one would make a better Predator for the new movie than Kareem Abdul Jabar.

Jamie is Kevin's nephew, not his son.

Also, as cool as Kareem Abdul Jabbar is, I don't think he would be suited to play the Predator as of this day and age. Sure, he has the height and back in his prime he would've perhaps made a great Predator but considering that he is pushing his seventies, I don't think he would be able to handle the stunt work.. let alone maneuvering in the suit.

Quote from: Liberator on Jan 02, 2015, 09:34:36 AM
The Predators we have all seen have been run of the mill action figures, with the exception of the original one in the jungle, who really knew what he was doing, but imagine a predator that used martial arts.

As much as I am a martial arts enthusiast and a former practitioner of a Korean art called Tang Soo Do, I can safely say that seeing a Predator doing martial arts is something a lot of fans don't want to see on screen. It would look like something out of a Tokusatsu. A Predator doing flips, kicks... Eeeeeeh. I don't see it.

And while you did mention Kareem being a student of Bruce Lee and a martial artist.. I believe Kevin had some martial arts background as well as ballet. Ian Whyte also has a martial arts background too, I believe he studied Tai Chi Chuan and perhaps Wing Chun as well, maybe Wushu if I remember the conversation he and I had back in Monstermania 2007. So Whyte isn't a bad candidate but he does have the martial arts background credentials..

But a Predator using martial arts? Well.. that's left best to the EU, and the imagination.

Liberator

Cinematically you might be right in the end, but the original idea for the predator was a martial artist.  They originally contracted Jean-Claude Van Damme to play the role.  The whole creature concept was different then, though.  The plan went south because he said the suit was too constricting to work in, but I think it would have been something to see the predator do that.  I've never seen a Tokusatsu.

RakaiThwei

Quote from: Liberator on Jan 02, 2015, 10:06:22 AM
Cinematically you might be right in the end, but the original idea for the predator was a martial artist.  They originally contracted Jean-Claude Van Damme to play the role.  The whole creature concept was different then, though.

This is indeed true, but the original idea has since changed into the creature that we know and love!

Quote from: Liberator on Jan 02, 2015, 10:06:22 AM
I've never seen a Tokusatsu.

Sure you have, depending on if you were a 90s kid or not! You might know of an Americanized Tokusatsu series called Power Rangers!

SiL

The Predator was never a martial artist, even when portrayed by Van Damme. He was always a hunter.

OmegaZilla

OmegaZilla

#8
Whyte. Got the bodily motion vocabulary exquisitely.

RakaiThwei

Quote from: SiL on Jan 02, 2015, 12:26:37 PM
The Predator was never a martial artist, even when portrayed by Van Damme. He was always a hunter.

Wasn't the "Red Lobster" outfit which Van Damme wore difficult to move around in? I mean aside from the thing looking very silly, I can't imagine Van Damme doing high level kicks and splits in that outfit. Good God.

Quote from: Omegazilla on Jan 02, 2015, 03:01:40 PM
Whyte. Got the bodily motion vocabulary exquisitely.

Agreed.

happypred

I liked Whyte as Wolf

He wasn't that great as Scar...but that was because of Anderson's "vision" of the heroic predator

Liberator

Liberator

#11
Quote from: RakaiThwei on Jan 02, 2015, 07:44:05 PM
Quote from: SiL on Jan 02, 2015, 12:26:37 PM
The Predator was never a martial artist, even when portrayed by Van Damme. He was always a hunter.

Wasn't the "Red Lobster" outfit which Van Damme wore difficult to move around in? I mean aside from the thing looking very silly, I can't imagine Van Damme doing high level kicks and splits in that outfit. Good God.

Quote from: Omegazilla on Jan 02, 2015, 03:01:40 PM
Whyte. Got the bodily motion vocabulary exquisitely.

Agreed.

If Van Damme's predator wasn't supposed to do martial arts, I doubt either he would have been tapped for the role or that he would have quit because it was too hard to move in.  If all he had to do was wobble around, and look scary, I don't think it would have been a big problem.  I am very surprised he left the movie.  I would like to see him recast as the team leader in the next movie, with Dutch playing the commanding officer.

Nightmare Asylum

Yeah, I'd go with Whyte.

I love me some Steele, but he doesn't really have the build for a Predator. He's fantastic in bulkier suits, though.

RakaiThwei

Seems like Whyte is a good successor for Kevin Peter Hall!  ;D

LAWNMOWERMAN

i say go with an unknown
do a casing call/search and see what other candidates are out there
the selection listed were all relatively unknowns at one time or another
hell BADEJO was a total unknown and got cast in one of the most iconic sci-fi films to date

grant it, its easier said than done but it wouldn't hurt

if nothing pans out you can always fall back on the other choices(WHYTE, JONES, STEELE, J.HALL)

my only request(nick pick) would be
height(6'10 and up) the actor should tower over the cast
(i think a high level athleticism is given, if one is going to wear a suit for long stints of time while running and jumping around)

as it stands

WHYTE
is the "safest choice" for most fans i guess
he has the height to fit the bill
but his first stint was forgettable, his second stint as WOLF was ok at best

JONES
lacks the height to WHYTE
but felt his performance as TRACKER was the best out of the 3

STEELE
lacks the height to WHYTE and his performance as BERSERKER/FALCONER, i agree was off and stiff at times
but a second go around we "might" see an improvement

J. HALL
he's a relative unknown
but the fact that he's KPH nephew might play to the fan base

MEARS
lacks height and his performance as CLASSIC was stiff and a bit off as well
but hell i guess being chained up half the time can have that effect on somebody

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