Predators (2010)

Adrien Brody as a hardened mercenary sounds like a casting dare, and somehow it half works. He plays Royce with a gravelly whisper and a lot of new muscle. The trouble is that Predators keeps quoting the original like a superfan at a convention: the jungle, the shimmering camouflage, the clicking sounds. A group of tough strangers drop out of the sky, realize they’re on a game preserve on another planet, and start sizing each other up. Then the movie forgets to give most of them personalities. Laurence Fishburne drops in as a survivor who’s been out there way too long, and his strange, rambling scene is the most memorable stretch. Walton Goggins gets the laughs. A quiet sword duel in tall grass is legit cool. It made $127.2 million worldwide on a reported $40M. A 4.8 because it respects the first movie so much it barely does anything new. $8,752 says you hear a clicking noise outside tonight and decide it’s a cricket.

What works: The alien-planet setup is a fun twist, Laurence Fishburne’s oddball cameo is memorable, and the sword duel looks great.

What doesn’t: It copies the original beat for beat and leaves most of its hardened killers without a single real trait.

Who it’s for: Grown-up Predator fans who want one more jungle hunt and don’t need any surprises.