@Annonymous Well first of all, my apologies, it was actually director Nimrod Antal who said Predators was a "stand alone film". The excerpt (below) is from an earlier interview with him in L.A. Times back in march:
"They are all predators in their own right and they are at each others throats. We're expanding the mythology but we're also making a stand-alone film. And, I hope this doesn't sound arrogant, but when it comes to imagery that not one of the previous can come close to. I'm very proud of the way the film looks."
Meanwhile, another earlier another interview around the same time, on video this time with Robert Rodriguez, confirms his ideas for the film, in which he CLEARLY says:
"The idea with the film was to not make it feel like the 5th or 6th in a series, but the first. It's really just a reboot or a reimagining or however you wanna call it, it just feels like you're watching the series for the first time"
That interview can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjVO3vqZ7XsNow, I dont care what country your from or what language you speak, but reboot, reimagining or the first in a series, whatever... they ALL mean the same thing. Rodriguez even says it's not part of the series, how much proof do people want for Christ's sake!!!.
On a personal note, though I've been critical of how this film came about, I actually enjoyed Predators. It is a bit of a rip-off of the original Predator movie, ok sure, but obviously part of the intention was to go back and do it all again as a kind of homage. Yet there was a suprising amount of originality about Predators, the new creature designs and their hunting breed were excellent, there was just enough action to keep it satisfying and, unlike Predator which often felt like a war film with an alien in it, Predators never deviates from it's roots, maintaining the tension through-out. Unfortunately, the one thing that made Predators come unstuck was the one thing Rodriguez should have got right even at a cost but didn't... the sets. I mean the characters just don't look like they're in an alien enviroment at any point, some scenes are even laughable because you just know so can't imagine. And so, despite some very good acting, particularly from Brodie, impressive predator effects that beat AvP hands down and some exceptionally fast-paced directing from Nimrod Antal, what should have been fundamental ended up holding the film back. A fatal flaw that plagued the movie from begining to end, even in the dark, which is such a shame because this movie could have been a big winner.
Even so I gave it 4/5. It still took me by suprise.
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