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Topic: "Predator" Remake by Robert Rodriguez?
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David Stambaugh
Film God
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Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002
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posted 10-12-2009 10:07 PM
Editorial Comment:
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Predator Remake starring Adrian Brody and Topher Grace
Hero Complex For your inner fanboy
'Predators' and Adrien Brody hunt for action-film credibility
Patrick Goldstein at our sister blog, The Big Picture, was deeply puzzled by the news that Oscar winner Adrien Brody is taking on the lead role in "Predators," producer Robert Rodriguez's revisiting of the alien-hunter franchise. Here's an excerpt:
The same Adrien Brody who won an Oscar as a frail musician in "The Pianist," the same boho hustler who was in Wes Anderson's "Darjeeling Limited" and Rian Johnson's "The Brothers Bloom," the same guy who played the village idiot in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" and an oddball screenwriter in "King Kong" is now set to play much the same character that Arnold Schwarzenegger played in the 1987 "Predator" original.
Does this sound like a miscasting of epic proportions or what? This is no knock on Brody, who is shaping up to be the Jeff Goldblum of his generation, a quirky guy who's good in oddball parts. But can you imagine him fighting aliens, much less shooting the gun and kissing the girl?
I don't remember a whole lot of romance in "Predator" but Goldstein has some fun lines and I get his point. You should check out the whole piece (I especially like the comparison to casting Jack Black in "The Manny Ramirez Story") and he's got a snarky poll question posted so you can vote whether the actor's selection is full of promise of merely full of, um, empty hopes.
The casting choice strikes me as a little bit odd, but it doesn't leave me as aghast as my colleague. For one thing, Brody was fine, I thought, in "King Kong," as he battled all sorts of beasties. And more importantly this isn't a remake of "Predator"; this edition, to be directed by Nimród Antal, takes place off-world, so this perception that Brody is following directly in Schwarzenegger's jungle footprints is a bit off. We're told that Brody plays a mercenary, but that leaves a lot of room for different sorts of characters -- remember Alan Rickman in "Die Hard"? He wasn't exactly muscle-bound but there was there was plenty of menace in his performance.
There are a good number of art-house veterans who successfully sought a change-up in action and genre movies, such as James McAvoy in "Wanted," Tobey Maguire in "Spider-Man" James Spader in "Stargate" and Daniel Day-Lewis in "The Last of the Mohicans." Also, consider that Jeff Goldblum got buff for duty in special-effects films, as did Robert Downey Jr., so perhaps the 34-year-old Brody is simply ready to flex some muscle.
That or maybe we'll end up filing this DVD next to -- gulp -- "Godzilla" with fish-out-of-water star Matthew Broderick.
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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today
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Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99
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posted 10-12-2009 10:27 PM
I haven't seen anything decent from Robert Rodriguez since, what, Desparado Till Dawn or whatever it was called, so I will remain unexcited for now. I don't particularly care for Adrien Brody's face, so he can bite me. Also, this will likely be PG-13 and not R, so it will be more aimed at pussies compared to the original Predator. Robert Rodriguez has four R's in his name, so hopefully he will be a man and make this rated R. Oh, and guess how they will do the predator himself? Optical effects? Ha ha, no way. CGI. I wonder why we even bother having actors any more. Maybe they will CGI over Adrien Brody's face.
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Mike Schindler
Phenomenal Film Handler
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Posts: 1039
From: Oak Park, IL, USA
Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 10-15-2009 05:06 PM
I don't think this movie is going to be quite the disaster that everyone else seems to think it will be.
First off, as stated in the article, it's not a remake. It's based on a story that Rodriguez pitched to the studio back in the 90's, and from what I understand, doesn't even take place on earth.
Secondly, I'm pretty sure I've read that they will be using practical effects wherever possible, and that they're using the first movie as the basis for the predator's look, etc.
And finally, I'm also pretty sure I've read that this movie will be R-rated. Honestly, I can't imagine Rodriguez agreeing to produce it if it weren't, and I think the studio learned their lesson with the first AVP movie.
Also, let's be honest with ourselves. The Predator movies aren't good. They're not some sort of sacred milestones in the history of cinema which should be left untouched. I'm all for giving this franchise to someone as talented as Rodriguez to see if he can do something cool with it.
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