--- title: "Predators" year: 2010 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/predators" fi1m_score: 60 critics_score: 62 critics_reviews: 19 published: "2026-09-19T16:59:37.624343+00:00" updated: "2026-09-19T16:59:47.046430+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Predators (2010) Directed by Nimród Antal · 1h 47m · MPA R · Science Fiction, Action, Thriller **Fi1m score: 60** · Critics 62 from 19 reviews *In a sentence:* Eight killers fall out of the sky and only Walton Goggins seems pleased about it > Nimród Antal’s back-to-basics sequel starts with real menace: strangers dropped into a jungle that turns out not to be ours. The first hour is lean and tense; the second loses the map, and Adrien Brody’s hard man never quite convinces. ## Synopsis A man wakes in freefall. Royce (Adrien Brody), a mercenary, lands in a jungle he does not recognise and finds others coming down after him: Isabelle (Alice Braga), a sniper; Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), a soldier still carrying his minigun; Stans (Walton Goggins), a death-row inmate; Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), a cartel enforcer; Mombasa (Mahershala Ali), a soldier from another war; Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien), a silent man in a suit; and Edwin (Topher Grace), a doctor who insists he is nobody. None of them remembers how they got there. They find empty cages, a corpse hung in a tree and something in the undergrowth that hunts in packs. Royce wants a way out; the others want a leader, which he refuses to be. From a ridge they finally see the sky, and it is not the sky over any part of Earth. ## Review Robert Rodriguez, producing, and Nimród Antal, directing, have taken John McTiernan’s [*Predator*](https://film.one/film/predator) (1987) and turned it inside out. In the original a squad went into a jungle and something hunted them. Here the soldiers are dropped by parachute into a jungle on a planet that is not ours, and the hunting is what the place is for. Michael Finch and Alex Litvak’s script is open about the borrowing, down to a river crossing, and for an hour it works. Then the film loses its nerve. The opening is the best of it. Adrien Brody’s Royce wakes up falling, and his parachute opens late enough that we flinched. Gyula Pados shoots the canopy from below, heavy green under a hard white sky, and Dan Zimmerman cuts the first half hour as one arrival after another, each stranger tumbling out of the trees with a weapon and a lie. When the group climbs to a ridge and sees a horizon with too many moons in it, nobody speaks, and neither did we. It is the one properly frightening image in the film. Walton Goggins is the only actor who has noticed what kind of film he is in. His Stans, a death-row convict with a filthy mouth and no gun, treats the whole thing as a bad day out and gets every laugh going. Alice Braga’s Isabelle, a sniper, is the group’s conscience and the one who has heard of a hunt like this before. Oleg Taktarov’s Nikolai, hauling a minigun through the undergrowth, gets one quiet scene about his children that lands harder than any of the shooting. Mahershala Ali says little as Mombasa and we watched him anyway. Brody divides people, and we see why. He has bulked up, dropped his voice to a growl and decided that Royce will not be liked, and he plays a hard man the way a clever man imagines one. Yet Royce is a mercenary whose plan is to let the hunters find somebody else first, and Brody’s watchfulness fits that. It is the right choice for the character and it leaves the film with nobody to hold on to when the shooting starts. The predators are a let-down, though not the fault of the men inside them. Brian Steele’s Berserker and Carey Jones’s Tracker are practical creatures, big and heavy in the frame, and when Derek Mears appears in the 1987 design, tied to a post, the film gets a small charge from the recognition. But Antal shows them in daylight, at length, standing still. McTiernan hid his monster for most of the film; this one has three and cannot stop looking at them. Steve Joyner and Caylah Eddleblute’s design is strongest in the hunters’ camp, bones and trophies and a totem, and weakest in the ship, which is a corridor. Laurence Fishburne arrives around the hour as Noland, a survivor who has lasted here longer than anyone should, and for ten minutes he is a pleasure: singing to himself, talking to someone who is not there, delighted to have company and not to be trusted with it. Then the film does something with him we will not describe, and it never gets its footing back. The last half hour is a run through dark undergrowth, cut fast and lit low, with John Debney’s score left to tell us where the tension is because the pictures no longer can. Somewhere in the final fight we realised we had lost track of who was standing where, and had stopped minding. It is easy to place in the series: better than the two *Alien vs. Predator* films, which forgot to be about anything, and less than the original, whose quiet it copies for an hour and then abandons. Antal made *Kontroll* (2003), set in the Budapest metro, and that eye shows in the early stretches. Nina Proctor’s costumes tell you each fighter’s past before they open their mouths, which is more than the dialogue manages. It runs 107 minutes, carries a 15 certificate, and is worth a Saturday night with the volume up, provided you accept that you may drift in the last twenty minutes and miss nothing that matters. *Fi1m score 60, published 19 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (19) - **Time Out**, Nigel Floyd (4 out of 5 stars): The critic calls it the sequel the 1987 original deserved, praising its hard-core sci-fi, explosive action and monster mayhem. They highlight the strong ensemble cast and a striking Laurence Fishburne cameo while noting the group must pool their killer instincts to survive. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/predators-1) - **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): The review describes an enjoyably stripped-down sci-fi action outing that returns to the spirit of the 1987 original. It praises the breakneck action and rousing spirit but notes hackneyed dialogue and effects that are not always state-of-the-art. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/-predators/5015904.article) - **The Times**, Wendy Ide (70/100, inferred): The film delivers red-blooded silliness true to the spirit of the original, with taut storytelling until a flabby final act and decent special effects. It lacks real ambition but works well as Saturday-night pulp. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/predators-t9rgnt8zv6z) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, THR Staff (65/100, inferred): The reboot is an unabashed B-movie that plays like a jacked-up Twilight Zone in its best moments, with colorful dialogue and edge in the first half from director Nimrod Antal. Later sequences feel recklessly assembled and incoherent, though it still packs enough guilty pleasure to keep the franchise alive. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/predators-film-review-29802/) - **Slant Magazine** (60/100, inferred): Antal's atmospheric, moody compositions and camerawork make the dopey premise compelling in the first two-thirds, with strong ensemble turns except from Brody and Fishburne. The finale feels dumb and unnecessary, with Antal deserving better material than Rodriguez's fan-service flourishes provide. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/predators/) - **The AV Club**, Scott Tobias (C): The film devises a pulpy hook by exporting vicious human warriors to the Predators' planet but fails to recognize its own absurdity, treating the fanfic-like premise with undue gravity. Only Walton Goggins seems to have fun among the cast; the result is another workmanlike entry needing more vitality. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/predators-1798165398) - **Los Angeles Times**, Michael Phillips (55/100, inferred): The critic says the film starts well but deflates after the midpoint due to shrinking scope and insufficient tension. It singles out the strong early chase sequences and cast for praise. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jul-09-la-et-predators-20100709-39-story.html) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (50/100, inferred): The critic finds it a solidly okay Saturday night effort that delivers familiar ingredients from the Predator series but remains unambitious given the talent involved. The supporting cast mostly consists of walking clichés, and the monsters are conceived only in terms of action-figure appeal. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/predators-review/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (2/4): The critic finds the film lacks the quiet suspense of the original Predator and descends into chaotic special-effects muddles. He singles out the implausible alien creature designs for particular complaint. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/predators-2010) - **Variety**, Dennis Harvey (45/100, inferred): The review finds the film competently made but monotonous with no memorable thrills and a disappointing fadeout. It singles out the predators' overly visible design and clunky dialogue for complaint. [Read](https://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/predators-1117943128/) - **The Guardian**, Andrew Pulver (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a stolid, uninspired imitation of the original Predator that fails to capture its snap. He singles out Adrien Brody's unsuitable casting as the lead for complaint. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jul/08/predators-film-review) - **The New York Times**, Stephen Holden (40/100, inferred): The review calls the film noisy and overstuffed, turning into a frantic clichéd chase that loses judgment and suspense. It singles out pretentious visual quotations from Apocalypse Now for complaint. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/movies/09predators.html) - **The Playlist**, Drew (B+): The critic called it a vividly entertaining midnight movie that is fun, joyful, and a genuinely good time with energetic action set pieces. They highlighted the lean, relentless pacing and Antal's skillful direction of the action and geography as standout elements. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-predators-is-energetic-20100708/) - **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (80/100, inferred): The critic found it unpretentious and refreshingly good at delivering scares and thrills as a strong action film, likely the best in the series so far. They singled out the complex dynamics and paranoia within the human group, along with Brody's fine acting, for particular praise while noting some weak dialogue. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/predators-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (B): The critic praises it as a solid B-action movie that delivers fun, thrills, and violence on a lean budget, highlighting director Nimrod Antal's skillful use of sparse sets and editing for thrilling set pieces. They note it could use more humor and imagination in kills but overall finds it enjoyable. [Read](https://collider.com/predators-review/) - **Digital Spy**, Ben Rawson-Jones (75/100, inferred): Predators delivers sturdy, satisfying entertainment with strong pacing, robust acting and effective homages, though it falls short of the original due to incoherent shaky-cam action and botched reveals. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a239815/predators/) - **HeyUGuys**, David Sztypuljak (75/100, inferred): The critic really enjoyed the film as a return to basics with practical effects and pyrotechnics rather than heavy CGI. They praised the tense, claustrophobic jungle setting acting as a character, effective death sequences, and solid action that makes it a good watch for fans of the franchise. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/predators-review/) - **Den of Geek**, Ryan Lambie (3/5): The film is a highly entertaining, well-made sequel that pays homage to the original but feels like a competent tribute act rather than something original. It excels in some surprising moments and strong performances from supporting cast like Fishburne. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/predators-review/) - **The Skinny**, Keir Roper-Caldbeck (3/5): The film strips the franchise back to basics with real locations and stunts, creating a lean predicament-driven story where the cast's survival is the focus. Brody stands out effectively as the lead mercenary. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews/predators) ## Details - **Director:** Nimród Antal - **Director:** Nimród Antal - **Writer:** Alex Litvak, Michael Finch - **Cinematography:** Gyula Pados - **Editor:** Dan Zimmerman - **Music:** John Debney - **Production design:** Caylah Eddleblute, Steve Joyner - **Costume design:** Nina Proctor - **Producer:** Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellan, John Davis - **Cast:** Adrien Brody as Royce; Topher Grace as Edwin; Alice Braga as Isabelle; Walton Goggins as Stans; Oleg Taktarov as Nikolai; Laurence Fishburne as Noland; Danny Trejo as Cuchillo; Louis Ozawa Changchien as Hanzo - **Runtime:** 1h 47m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 9 July 2010 - **Genres:** Science Fiction, Action, Thriller - **Budget:** $40 million - **Box office:** $127 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2jJOy8rzog ## Where to watch in the US - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Apple TV: buy $19.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-19.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Predator* (1987), Fi1m 84: The original: one monster, one squad, and a jungle McTiernan keeps quiet. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/predator.md) - *The Most Dangerous Game* (1932): The template for every hunted-humans story, and it still moves faster than most. - *Pitch Black* (2000): Killers and civilians stranded on a planet with a worse sky than this one. - *Battle Royale* (2000), Fi1m 83: Schoolchildren dropped on an island to kill each other; funnier and crueller than it sounds. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/battle-royale.md) - *Kontroll* (2003): Antal’s first film, set entirely in the Budapest metro, with more menace per platform. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/predators