MovieChat Forums > The Predator (2018) Discussion > The Expendables Vs. The Predator

The Expendables Vs. The Predator

posted 5 years ago by Neckk (342)
9 replies | jump to latest

When Stallone first mentioned the concept of his team going up against an extra-terrestrial after The Expendables 2 was released, I was excited for the concept. Having an alien kill off all the heroes for the finale would have been epic. After eventually scrapping the idea, the concept still stuck with me.

It didn't dawn on me until after the end credits started to roll, but that's exactly what this film was. Cheesy one-liners? Check. Over-the-top humor with cheesy characters and insane amounts of blood? Check, check, check.

Casting for Group 2 was spot on, as were their chemistry and dialog. Not the greatest movie, but not as bad as what people are making it out to be. I remember after Predator 2 came out, it was almost universally hated. I didn't like it myself the first time I watched it in theatres. Now, I consider it a classic. While I don't think this will ever be Predator 2 status, I do think it will gain a cult following, eventually.

[–] cyguration (3831) 5 years ago

Eh, at least Predator 2 maintained continuity and suspense.

The Predator made no sense.

All during the forest battle, no one's bullets did any damage to the behemoth Predator, yet at the end the Sniper's pistol was able to kill the Predator.

Also, the main bad black guy died in a blink-and-you-missed it moment that also made no sense. No one even referenced it or batted an eye at his death.

Also, somehow small arms fire damaged the space-age tech of the Predator's ship?! WTF? That made no sense. Also the black guy jumping into the exhaust wouldn't have damaged it, if it were generating enough heat for propulsion he would have been vaporized before his body did any damage to the engines.

This movie had so many continuity and logical failings that it's frustrating to even think about.

Also, why was Olivia Munn's character shooting guns and chasing it down if she was just a micro-biologist? It reeked of the feminist agenda.

[–] DracTarashV2 (4474) 5 years ago

It reeked of the feminist agenda

It did? Shucks. How could they get away with that?! Totally not fair! Make Meminist Agenda dumb and great again!

Even if they have given her a decent background and she kicked ass, it’d still reeked of girl cootie agenda. Poo!

[–] cyguration (3831) 5 years ago

Even if they have given her a decent background and she kicked ass, it’d still reeked of girl cootie agenda. Poo!

Except they didn't. They wanted to force the pathetic agenda that women need to be in STEM, but then decided that they also wanted to force the agenda that women are just as tough as men, so you have this completely unbelievable character who can fire military grade weapons like a sharpshooter but is also proficient in molecular biology.

The only people who stand up and cheer for that sort of nonsense unironically share the same level of I.Q., as the people who think that drone striking innocent civilians in foreign countries makes America safe.

[–] Filmtenk2 (3338) 5 years ago

What's wrong with a feminist agenda? Anyone who's educated knows that feminism benefits both sexes. Look beyond the right wing radio, blogs, fox news to form your opinions regarding different philosophies.

[–] cyguration (3831) 5 years ago

What's wrong with a feminist agenda? Anyone who's educated knows that feminism benefits both sexes.

The current feminist agenda is more anti-male than pro-equality. Pro-equality is about equal opportunities, not equal outcome.

This film was not about equal opportunities but about equal outcome, which took an already stupid movie to even greater heights of stupidity.

An intelligent person would have responded to my post saying "Yes, Olivian Munn's character was completely nonsensical, but they could have remedied that by having a female on the loony team to compensate for a female character with military expertise." But obviously common sense and progressive thinking are overrated and underutilized facets of the human condition this generation.

[–] Neckk (342) 5 years ago

A female looney would have been AWESOME. Should have done it, Shane!

But yeah. Olivia's character offered nothing after the motel scene. Should have killed her off on accident or something.

[–] Neckk (342) 5 years ago

No doubt there were continuity issues. The last act seemed rushed and choppy. Still, I emjoyed it :)

Nebraska's sacrifice at the end was foreshadowed by his story of shooting himself in the head. Throughout the movie there were subtle hints that he wanted to die. I thought it was fitting that he got what he wanted. But I agree 100% that the editing on the ship was a blink-and-you-miss-it moment.

A lot of things didnt make sense, but I think it was the cast and humor that made it enjoyable for me. Ive rewatched this a few times already just cause I enjoyed it. I do think that Predators was technically a better movie, but theres really nothing in there that makes me want to go back to rewatch it. Took itself too seriously, IMO. Anyways, thanks for sharing!

[–] cyguration (3831) 5 years ago

Ive rewatched this a few times already just cause I enjoyed it. I do think that Predators was technically a better movie, but theres really nothing in there that makes me want to go back to rewatch it. Took itself too seriously, IMO. Anyways, thanks for sharing!

Yeah I know what you mean. I've almost been inclined to rewatch it again myself. I think it's because it moves at a rapid clip, has a lot of action sequences (even though they don't always make sense) and interesting but underutilized characters.

Predators was definitely a better made film with more consistent pacing and much better continuity. The thing I didn't like about Predators was that Adrian Brody was horribly miscast as the lead (it should have been Vin Diesel or The Rock), and there wasn't one memorable action sequence in that entire film. It definitely looked good, and I liked that at least the weapons worked against the Predators in that film, but I hated a lot of the casting choices and some of the plot choices.

I think I would have been slightly more forgiving to The Predator if they at least didn't kill off the Savior Predator halfway through the film. He was actually the most interesting character in the whole flick and he had some really funny mannerisms.

[–] Neckk (342) 5 years ago

Ah! Couldnt agree with you more! The first predator (in The Predator) was just hitting his stride when suddenly... merced. Definitely more interesting than the bigger one. Loved the updated body armor as well.