Cleared: Predators

I'm actually crossing something off the list! Woohoo! *ahem* Anyway, I watched Predators the other night (got the disc from Netflix) and breathed a huge sigh or relief. Why relief? Because frankly everything involving the Alien and/or Predator IP for years (at least in movie form) has stunk, and this film decidedly did not. Interestingly, the title refers to the humans as much as the alien predators in this film, and that's the point. There are some names in here, and they do a good job, but Adrian Brody is the star of this and he does not disappoint. He pulls off a very convincing portrayal of a ruthless black ops merc that is just barely sympathetic enough to root for. His voice in particular lends itself well to the role. The movie is fast-paced, makes sense within its own conceits, and is generally a solid action sci-fi film. This is to Predator what Aliens is to Alien, and that is a very good thing, as well as being very high praise. If you liked anything previous with the Predator name on it, be sure to see this.

RPG notes: Once again, this is where I'm liable to spoil things, so you've been warned, danger, etc. The central concept of the film is a bunch of lethal, hard-as-nails killers being scooped up off of their planet and dropped in a "game preserve" to be hunted by Predators. This idea alone has plenty of game fodder bound up in it, and there's nothing that says all the champions must be from the same place, or even time. In a fantasy setting with multiple planes, for example, whatever force is pulling the deadliest warriors from wherever may grab angelic and demonic beings, powerful genies, etc. Also: there's nothing to say that they have to be assembled to be hunted or to fight each other, which is the next most common trope. Pulling a bunch of lethal warriors from out of various times/places/planes/planets seems like an excellent way to build a team that can defeat The Great Evil, and if you want to do a high-powered game, a fun change of pace for introducing a PC group to each other.