Film / Predators

Fear is reborn...

"It wants us to run. That's how it hunts. This is its jungle, its game, its rules."

— Royce

Predators is an action film released in 2010. It is the third installment in the Predator franchise, ignoring the Alien vs. Predator films.

Royce, an American mercenary, wakes to find himself hundreds of feet in the air, free-falling toward a jungle below, with no clue why he's hurtling towards the ground at an alarming rate, or why there's a parachute on him that deploys automatically when he gets close enough to the ground. Soon after landing, he encounters others who have arrived the exact same way. All they have in common is that each is a deadly killer, and they band together for strength in numbers. Soon they realize that not only are they not in Kansas anymore, they're on a gigantic game reserve...

Robert Rodriguez had put together a script for the film way back in 1994 before Fox finally greenlit the project 16 years later. Directed by Nimród Antal, it stars Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Laurence Fishburne, Walton Goggins, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Mahershala Ali, Oleg Taktarov & Danny Trejo. It was co-produced out of 20th Century Fox by Robert Rodriguez, who is frequently misidentified as the director.

---

This film provides examples of:

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: All the edged weapons in this movie seem to dismember and decapitate with one blow. Justified in most instances because they're blades made by Predators, who even make their metal nets mono-molecular. Royce apparently sharpens his machete like crazy too, since he decapitates a hunting dog in one hit.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Edwin asks Hanzo why he doesn't talk more when he finds out he can speak English. Hanzo shows him where the Yakuza had cut off several fingers on one one hand and say it's because he talks too much. It's enough to get a chuckle out of both of them.
• African Terrorists: One member of the assortment of killers and mercenaries trapped on the alien planet is Mombasa, an RUF member and death squad officer from Sierra Leone.
• Alien Abduction: All of the human characters were kidnapped offscreen by the Predators and taken to their game reserve planet to be hunted for sport.
• Alien Sky: A very impressive one. All the planets and moons in it look like they're about to crack open and spill into space as massive clouds of broken rock and dust. Beautiful. Even Royce, who so far has been calm and unfazed despite all the weird stuff going on, has no idea what to do.
  Royce: ...We're gonna need a new plan.
• Aliens Are Bastards: Played with in the case of the Predators, who abduct humans and take them to a "hunting preserve" on a different world. However, they deliberately take humans that no one will miss and will put up a good fight — Special Forces types on highly-dangerous classified missions, serial rapists and murderers with plenty of knowledge about killing, soldiers who've committed war crimes, gangsters, cold-blooded mercenaries, Sociopathic Soldiers and disgraces, terrorists, et cetera... It's also shown that the Predators that are hunting the group are a separate group from the standard Predators we usually see (who are known for their focus on honor and nobility) and have far fewer morals than the others.
• All There in the Manual: The movie relies on concise dialogue and action for the vast majority of its characterization. The Predators' extensive biographies are pulled from other sources, and a great deal of the individuals' backstories come from the comics and special features. Even the majority of the characters' names are found only in the script.
• All There in the Script: Only Royce, Isabelle, Nikolai, and Noland give their names on-screen.
• Always Save the Girl: It must be a spinal reflex for Royce. When he has time to think about it, he'll leave Isabelle without a second glance, but when under fire, he invariably dives back into the fray to save her.
• Amazon Chaser: Isabelle's tough as nails, and the guys explicitly find her attractive for it.
• Anti-Hero: With the exception of Edwin, most of the main group are this to varying degrees. Cuchillo, Mombasa, Hanzo, and Stans are all Nominal Heroes/Villain Protagonists who only work together for mutual survival, whereas Royce is an Unscrupulous Hero and Isabelle and Nikolai are both Pragmatic Heroes.
• Armies Are Evil: Inverted. In a group that includes criminals, terrorists, and psychopathic killers, Isabelle and Nikolai, both of whom are soldiers in their respective countries' armed forces, are the most morally decent and mentally stable out of the lot of them. Royce is a former soldier as well, and while he has his Kick the Dog moments, in the end he regains a bit of his old moral center.
• Armor-Piercing Question: As Royce tries to convince Isabelle to leave a wounded Edwin behind, she asks if survival at any cost is worth it.
• Artistic License – Biology:
  • Edwin identifies a plant as Archaefructus liaoningensis. Not only does it not resemble liaoningensis at all, but the entire Archaefructus genus has been extinct for millions of years. ^note An earlier draft of the script would have had Edwin point that out as yet another weird thing wrong with the preserve, but that got cut. He also identifies it as incredibly poisonous, but no current findings suggest that.
  • The Tracker Predator's Hell Hounds would make for terrible hunting animals in densely vegetated terrain thanks to their spikes. Sure, their spines look cool, but in a closed-in environment with thick undergrowth like a jungle, the Hell Hounds would end up snagging themselves on underbrush or tree trunks and wouldn't be able to move efficiently at all.
• Asshole Victim: Since ALL of the humans are pretty unpleasant people, this comes up a lot. It's an invoked example, since the Predators only hunt people who are dangerous enough to provide a challenge; criminals and crazed soldiers are the perfect choices.
  • Stans is the most obvious. At first you think he's evil, then you think he's not that bad when he calls out Royce on his dog shooting... and then you are reminded that he's a death row con. Ultimately, his behaviour is based on prison etiquette, which boils down to "You don't shit on your friends".
  • If you know anything about the RUF, you'll realize that Mombasa is probably the worst person out of the entire group. However, given the RUF's recruitment strategies, it's still possible that he wasn't given a choice about joining.
  • One of the first things Cuchillo talks about once they figure out what's going on is to casually mention that he kidnaps and burns people alive for crime syndicates in Mexico.
  • However, it's also downplayed at least a little. Bad people though they undeniably are, the captives (with a small exception for Royce and a much larger exception for Noland and Edwin) clearly try to watch out for each other, if for no other reason than pragmatism.
• The Atoner: Several members of the group 'atone' in some way for their crimes. In fact, it turns out the reason Isabelle acts so tenderhearted is survivor's guilt. Of course, when Royce hears the story, he all but shrugs and says "You do what you have to do to survive."
• Audible Sharpness:
  • The katana Hanzo finds makes a noise as it is unsheathed, and then another when he moves it slowly through the air.
  • Even Edwin's scalpel produces a slight noise as he pulls it from its case.
• Bald of Evil: Noland, a typically bald Laurence Fishburne character who betrays the protagonists and attempts to kill them to scavenge their gear.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: The Final Battle. Justified, since fire messes with the Predators' infrared sensors.
• Battle Strip: Hanzo and Royce both remove their shirts for their respective final battles.
• Bear Trap: Cuchillo the cartel member is surrounded by a high-tech Yautja version of these in order to catch the others should they try to help him. Royce sees it coming, and he stops Isabelle before she can fall for it. Much later, one catches Edwin, forcing Isabella to help him walk.
• Being Watched: Mombasa is visibly more alert than the other group members. When investigating the corpse of a previous victim, he is the only one to notice that something is very wrong, and watches the nearby trees where an invisible Predator is sitting. He does this later again in the Predator camp; when Royce seems to have disappeared and left them, he quickly realises that Royce is still there, watching them. His ability to detect when he's being watched seems reminiscent of Billy's in the first movie.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Royce and Isabelle start out hating each other, but it quickly turns into a complicated and slightly sociopathic mating dance.
• The Berserker: Stans goes knife-crazy on the Predator dog that pins him down. He gets respect from the guys with guns after this. If you note the line in which they travel, Stans ends up third in line, right behind Isabelle. Later on, he stabs at the big black Predator with just a knife.
  "Die, you space faggot!" [STAB STAB STAB STAB STAB STAB]
• Bested by the Inexperienced: Non-Action Guy Edwin blindsides Isabelle, a trained soldier and sharpshooter, while she is distracted and stabs her with a knife laced with a paralyzing neurotoxin.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: Isabelle demonstrates this belief. Twice.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • The doctor turns out to be a Serial Killer.
  • Apart from being blatantly racist, Stans doesn't seem too bad, but then you work out he's probably a serial rapist and murderer, and he admits he was on death row. In California. Deleted scenes establish that he killed 38 people because he wanted to.
  • Noland also seems rather cooperative at first, filling in the group on how the game preserve works. He later tries to kill them by smoke inhalation in order to get their supplies. His imaginary friend implies he's done it before.
• BFG: Nikolai's minigun. It's even referred to as such by Stans:
  "Come on, Russian, you got a big fucking gun!"
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Nikolai saves Edwin from a Predator, just when it seems he's done for.
  • Despite Royce swearing up and down that he's a bad, bad man who doesn't care about anyone — and proving it when he trots off without a second look at dead or dying teammates — he doubles back under fire at least twice to rescue a comrade.
• Bilingual Bonus: Nikolai's final line, spoken in Russian as he blows himself and the Predator to bits, means "Some face you've got there!", a Mythology Gag reference to Schwarzenegger's famous "ugly motherfucker" line from the original movie.
• Bittersweet Ending: Isabelle and Royce are the lone survivors, both wounded and out of ammo and with no way home, only for more monsters and humans to get airdropped in, about to repeat the events of the film. This means Predators, which means there's another ship to hijack, and more allies to help them out... Of course, this is an obvious Sequel Hook.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: The knobby gray creature that was air-dropped into the hunting zone. Its legs have sunken pockets which cockroach-like creatures skuttle in and out of; it's a complete mystery whether these are a parasitic infection, external symbiotes, larval offspring or even sexually-dimorphic mates.
• Black Dude Dies First: Subverted, as he dies second. The Mexican dude dies first.
  • Not to mention the white Special Forces guy they find already dead and the white guy whose chute didn't open.
  • Zigzagged with Noland. He's been the Sole Survivor, lasting ten hunting seasons, but then is the next one to die after joining the main group.
• Blood Knight: The Predators themselves are obvious examples. In addition, Royce repeatedly states that the main reason he worked as a mercenary is because he likes the thrill of combat. The subtext suggests that all of the characters are this too, and furthermore, it's why they were chosen.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Although Isabelle and Royce win, more humans and monsters are air-dropped onto the planet for another hunt, and the odds of winning and escaping the planet are uncertain. There are new potential allies to help improve the odds, but there are also more Predators out there who want to go hunting.
• Bond One-Liner: "You really are a good man." "No, I'm not... but I'm fast."
• Bond Villain Stupidity:
  • When Noland turns on the group, he tries to choke them with smoke in an enclosed space. It makes sense... except he could just have turned invisible and killed them all with his futuristic weapons.
  • All three Predators qualify, except when they don't feel like it.
• Booby Trap: After he tries to kill Royce, serial killer Edwin is left as one — he's laid down with a bunch of grenades rigged beneath him that go off when a Predator pulls him up.
• Boom, Headshot!: Isabelle on one of the alien dogs to save Edwin.
• Bottomless Magazines: Subverted. Whilst the main characters' blasting in the first few scenes might lead one to believe this trope is being played straight, there's the "shell count" scene establishing their limited resources almost halfway through. Immediately before that scene, during the battle with the dogs Hanzo's Beretta runs dry and he is shown reloading, and Cuchillo's dual MP5Ks also run dry as he's firing at one of the hounds, forcing him to draw and fire his pistol.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Stans has two great moments of this. First he talks about doing a whole bunch of cocaine, which Edwin finds funny. Then Stans starts talking about committing casual rapings, which Edwin finds somewhat less funny. The second is when he shows off his tattoo, which is of a pretty, naked girl... who Edwin then learns is Stans' sister.
• Butt-Monkey: Downplayed, but still there. While the other characters get smooth intros that showcase their badassery, Edwin is first seen hanging upside down in a tree hollering for help before being unceremoniously dumped in the pond below. From then on, he's just an Action Survivor, and his one big contribution to the team involves playing bait. Twice. The second time against his will.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The neurotoxin-filled plant that the doctor saves Nikolai from, which doesn't fire until practically the very end.
  • The somewhat offhanded mention of Dutch's defeat of the first Predator by covering himself in mud.
• Canon Discontinuity: This film ignores the two Alien vs. Predator movies, although Word of God is unclear if it disregards Predator 2 as well (Isabelle doesn't mention the events of the second movie, for what it's worth, but there are some minor nods to it, and Noland was at one point intended to be Mike Harrigan from Predator 2). The NECA action figure description for the Berserker Predator, however, states that it was the youngest ever Predator to kill a Xenomorph, and that the Tracker Predator and Falconer Predator are its young blood protégés.
• The Cast Show Off: Lewis Ozawa Changchien has practiced kendo since he was five years old, and insisted on using that style in Hanzo's fight.
• Closer to Earth: Lone woman Isabelle is the most compassionate character (though several of the men have their moments). Yes, the sniper is the most compassionate, and is thoroughly disgusted at Royce's attempts to leave the group or use them for his own gain.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Swear words are used as if they were punctuation. Stans is possibly the standout.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Predators. Noland describes the two types as "dogs and wolves", with the more honorable "classic" Predators being smaller and with lighter equipment, while the new and more villainous Predators are taller with dark helmets.
• Combat Pragmatist: The Berserker demonstrates this during its duel with the Classic Predator. As soon as Classic starts landing a few good hits in the fight, Berserker introduces its plasma caster to it.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Isabelle is the only human who knows about the Predators, because she's read the reports detailing events of the original movie.
  • The fact the game reserve has other species being hunted besides humans calls back to the second movie, where the trophy room was filled with the bones of other extraterrestrials.
  • Despite the supposed Canon Discontinuity, the Berserker Predator's jawbone decoration is actually from a Xenomorph, and the Tracker Predator bears acid blood burns on its mask. Furthermore, the camp is decorated with ceremonial torches made of Xenomorph skulls.
• Cool Versus Awesome: A Yakuza enforcer with a katana dueling with a Predator.
• Covers Always Lie: The cover art for the single-disc DVD seen above would lead you to believe that Laurence Fishburne and Danny Trejo play much larger roles in the film than they actually do.
• Crazy Survivalist: Former U.S. Air Cavalryman Noland, with real emphasis on both crazy (he talks to an imaginary friend), and given the planet, survivalist — having survived ten "seasons". He attempts to kill the team to get their gear and because they're dead weight for him, on the suggestion of his imaginary friend, and it's heavily implied he's done it before.
• Cultured Badass: Royce quotes Hemingway when describing his mercenary work — he likes the feeling of killing other men.
• Dark Is Evil: The "modern" Predators have black gear and a red tint to their skin, in contrast to the steely-gray armor and yellowish-brown skintone of the somewhat more honorable "Classic" Predator.
• Death by Pragmatism: Noland. He does what he can to ensure the highest chance of survival for himself (and only himself), but runs into a Predator shortly after because he put our protagonists at risk with his survivalism, and thus cannot live.
• Death Trap: The first action sequence is a result of a huge number of traps set up by a long-dead Special Forces member, in a callback to the first film. One of the characters notes that the Predator bypassed all those traps and ripped him apart.
• Death World: The setting of the film is designed to be incredibly hostile to survival.
• Debut Queue: The five main characters appear one by one, seconds or a few minutes after each other.
• Developing Doomed Characters: The Predators don't make an appearance proper until after the group gets acquainted with each other and where they are. However, by that time the group has already been through two action sequences (the traps and the dogs) and had one of their members killed and used as bait.
• Double-Meaning Title: The title not only refers to the iconic monsters, but also to their prey, who were dangerous killers back on Earth.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • The characters spend the first half of the movie just trying to figure out where they are and how they got there, while the audience already knows all that, the identity of the hunters, and a good portion of the Predator's history with humanity to boot.
  • Royce runs for the ship, unaware that his Predator ally has been defeated by the Black Predator, who then commands the ship to self-destruct. It's doubly ironic, because BP doesn't know Royce isn't on the ship.
  • As Royce tends to a paralyzed Isabelle, the audience cringes to see the traitor behind him, talking casually, and the desperation in Isabelle's eyes — as she can see and hear, but not speak or move — only adds to the tension.
• Dressing as the Enemy: Laurence Fishburne's character uses a helmet from one of the Predators he’s presumably killed to detect other humans' presence.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Noland gets blown up seconds after he runs into a Predator, after having been established as a highly-skilled (if demented) survivor.
• Duel to the Death: Between Hanzo and the Falconer Predator. The result is a draw.
• Due to the Dead: After discovering the body of the Special Forces member, Cuchillo and Hanzo pay their respect to the man before leaving.
• Dwindling Party: In effect throughout the entire film, as is traditional for a Predator film.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: Nikolai, Stans, and Hanzo.
• Earth All Along: Subverted. Initially, it seems as though the jungle the protagonists have landed in is Earth, and they assume so until they realize that the sun hasn't moved in the several hours they've been there. And then they emerge from the forest onto a ridge to see the Alien Sky...
• Enemy Civil War: Noland reveals there's a blood feud between two Predator clans. Unsurprisingly, this becomes a plot point.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Someone eventually gets the idea of exploiting the Enemy Civil War to their advantage.
  • Lampshaded in a moment from a trailer and a deleted scene when Isabelle says that everyone needs to work together, and Cuchillo responds, "Does this look like a team-orientated group of individuals to you?"
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Stans — the convicted, psychotic mass murderer and rapist — yells at Royce for leading them into a trap and getting Mombasa killed.
    Royce: I needed to know what we were up against. Now I do.
    Stans: A man is dead because of that.
    Royce: This morning you were ready to kill him.
    Stans: Well, it ain't this goddamn morning!
  • A deleted scene has this for Cuchillo, who expresses his disgust at Stans for being a murderer of 38 random people For the Evulz, whereas he kills people for money and therefore has some kind of reason.
  • According to the film crew, the Berserker and its clan are criminals by Predator standards.
• Everyone Has Standards: Benevolent doctor Edwin is thoroughly disgusted by Stans's "rapin' bitches" comment. He's later revealed to be a serial killer himself, so either he's faking his outrage or rape is beyond even his standards.
• Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: Invoked and discussed in-universe right in the first scene, when Cuchillo assumes they are all in Hell, and Nikolai speculates it's a military psychological experiment. But it's immediately pointed out that you don't need a parachute to get to Hell, and why would any military go to great lengths to construct a piecemeal jungle and slam together criminals, mercenaries, and soldiers? What would that even reveal about the human mind?
• Everything Trying to Kill You: Including a Hungry Jungle, the Predators, their dogs, the other "prey" animals, and your fellow man.
• Face, Nod, Action: Hanzo, the Yakuza assassin, simply stops walking in a field while the Predators chase the protagonists down. Royce, Edwin, and Isabelle stop as well and look at Hanzo, who simply looks at Royce and nods at him. Royce nods back and starts walking away again.
• "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner:
  • Noland — "Finally found me, huh, big dawg? Well, what took you so long?"
  • Nikolai — "You're one UGLY motherfucker."...with a side order of Bilingual Bonus.
• Failed a Spot Check: The group somehow fails to see the huge planets/moons in the sky for the first twenty-five minutes of the movie, despite having been in treeless areas beforehand.
• Falling into the Plot: The film begins with multiple metal pods falling from the sky attached to parachutes. Some don't survive the landing, but those who do wake up on a strange alien planet without any memory of being abducted. They group together to work out why they're there, while also escaping threats such as the titular Predators.
• Fantastic Racism: There's an ongoing blood feud between the "Classic" Predators and the bigger, nastier "Black" Predators. Though according to Word of God, it's less that they're different clans and more that the Black Predators are criminals by their own kind's standards.
• Fatal Family Photo: Nikolai. In the scene in Noland's hideout, he shows off a picture of his kids, and shortly thereafter, after Noland betrays them and the Predators arrive, he dies sacrificing himself to get Edwin to safety.
• Fingore: Hanzo had two of his fingers chopped off by his bosses because he talked too much.
• Fooled by the Sound: The Predators capture and maim Cuchillo in an ambush, then set him up at the edge of a field with an audio recording of him calling for help. Isabella wants to approach, only for Royce, the de facto leader, to stop her when he senses a trap; Isabella then delivers a Mercy Kill to Cuchillo via Sniper Rifle only for him to continue calling, where it turns out he's dead the whole time and his corpse is being propped up as bait.
• Foreshadowing: There are a lot of hints at Edwin's true nature leading up to the reveal:
  • He denies having something to cut himself free, yet in the very next scene produces a razor-sharp, scalpel-like pen knife.
  • There's a close-up shot of Edwin's poison-covered knife, and then he stares fixedly at Isabelle.
  • Even for a doctor, Edwin's ability to identify exotic poisons and assess corpse decomposition is remarkably proficient. These aren't things most types of doctors would encounter very often.
  • Edwin is the first to walk away when Royce suggests that they leave a fallen team member behind, in spite of being in the profession of saving lives.
  • Edwin pulls out a photo of Nikolai's kids when begging for his life.
  • Royce describes to Isabelle that every one of them are seasoned killers, he notes that the meek Edwin's presence doesn't even make sense.
• Friendly Sniper: Isabelle, who is noticeably the most compassionate member of the group.
• Go Mad from the Isolation: Noland went this route a long time ago.
• Good Guns, Bad Guns: The main group is comprised of "warrior" humans kidnapped from Earth and dumped on a "game preserve" planet to be hunted by the titular aliens. While none are truly "good", the most "heroic" of the bunch, American mercenary Royce and IDF sniper Isabelle, use a shotgun and sniper rifle respectively. In contrast, the rest of the group consists of outright criminals, and those who use guns have obvious "bad" guns. Mexican cartel enforcer Cuchillo dual-wields customized MP5Ks, a smaller version of the MP5 that looks and functions closer to a gangster gun-like Uzi. Sierra Leonean "death squad" leader Mumbasa naturally uses an AKM, an AK variant, with a folding stock. Russian Spetsnaz heavy gunner Nikolai carries a minigun. Yakuza assassin Hanzo uses a stainless steel Beretta with ivory grips and a compensator. Noland, a survivor of a previous hunt, first shows up carrying an alien weapon, obscuring his morality. He later double-crosses the group.
• Gotta Kill Them All: Royce after the waterfall.
  Royce: Whatever it is, wherever they're from, we're going to kill them all.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: Everyone chosen to be "hunted," with the exception of the doctor, are war criminals, terrorists, gangsters, and all-around hardass killers, which means that all of them are unsavory one way or another. And even Edwin turns out to be a serial killer.
• Gun Porn: Many of the guns get their own close-ups, long and lovingly enough that firearm aficionados can read "Surefire" on the grip of Royce's AA-12 automatic shotgun and "elcan" on Isabelle's scope, enjoy the sheen of Hanzo's pearl-gripped Beretta and Royce's ivory-gripped 1911...
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • After being freed by Royce, a Predator from an opposing clan sides with him (a good deed for a good deed, after all).
  • For a certain value of face, Stans shows remorse at Mombasa's death, even though he was fighting with him and had tried to kill him earlier.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Nikolai blows himself up in order to both take out the Predator he's facing down and save his group.
  • Also, Stans playing dead to jump on a Predator's back and stab the hell out of it, giving his teammates time to escape, and Hanzo pulling a You Shall Not Pass! moment and taking another one down.
• Homage:
  • A guy called Hanzo gets a katana and fights in a field of tall grass. Quentin Tarantino must have loved that part.
  • There's also a Mexican Blade Enthusiast played by Danny Trejo, and his name is Cuchillo...
• Honor Before Reason: The Predators always try to fight fair when possible, and play with their prey before killing it, much to their detriment. The only reason the Black Predators seem to fight fair is because they enjoy the hunt so much, they want to drag it out as long as possible. They don't follow very honorable standards the rest of the time, unlike their jungle cousins. Some of their tactics include multiple Predators hunting at once instead of only one, taking prey to their own turf, using hunting dog-like creatures to flush out their prey, and using aerial recon droids to track prey who have escaped them. It's also demonstrated in the fight with the Berserker Predator against the Classic Predator. In what starts out as a one-on-one hand-to-hand fight, the instant the Classic manages to gain an advantage, the Berserker does away with fighting on equal terms and starts blasting away with its plasma weapon. Simply put, the Black Predators are much more willing to fight dirty than their cousins.
• Humans Are Bastards: Our heroes are not nice people, and the Predators are bastards to each other, too. The Preds picked Royce and the others because no one would miss them (being soldiers guilty of genocide or terrorism, heartless mercenaries, criminals, et cetera). Though technically neither Isabelle nor Nikolai are shown as doing anything "evil", other than just being soldiers.
• Humans Are Warriors: Well, these guys are. Edwin is a noted exception, being an Action Survivor.
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: The entire plot, only unlike the other Predator movies, this time the game is sent to a reserve dedicated to the hobby.
• Husky Russkie: Nikolai has the stockiest build of the group.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Frequently brought up throughout the movie. The Predators will use any means available to weaken or kill the main characters, which means the humans will have to make some "hard choices" if they want to survive.
• I Owe You My Life: It's never said, but is rather obviously how Nikolai and Edwin become friends and how Stans and Mombasa stop trying to off the other.
• I Have a Family: Edwin tries this, even though he doesn't.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: As can be expected from a movie where the title characters brandish huge, extensible spears. Mombasa is the standout case.
• Infernal Retaliation: In conjunction with hiding from infrared using mud, Royce hides from the Predator by surrounding himself with fire.
• Innocent Bystander: While the other abducted humans are military, Yakuza, criminals, or the like, Edwin is just some poor schmuck doctor snatched on his way to work. In fact, there is no reason at all for him to be on the planet, and he isn't a serial killer or anything like that.
• Internal Homage:
  • Numerous to the earlier Predator films, from the entire plot itself being an inversion of the first film, the Marine who set traps and the discovery of a dead US Special Forces soldier surrounded by ammo casings, the references to the first film's plot, Laurence Fishburne's character being intended to be Harrigan from Predator 2 at one point in production, the lighting used in the Predator ship and the flares (it mirrors shots and lighting in Aliens), among numerous others.
  • The enemy of my enemy... is NOT my friend.
    • Also, Predators hunt in threes.
    • This isn't the first time a human and a Predator have made a deal to team up and take out a much larger threat.
  • "You're one... ugly... motherfucker." (In unsubtitled Russian, though.)
  • The lead Predator has an Alien's jaw attached to its helmet as a trophy.
  • There is a burning Xenomorph's head strung up in the Predators' camp.
  • Noland tells the others that every season, a new batch of prey is dropped in, "shit you wouldn't believe." He turns and giggles conspiratorially with his Imaginary Friend, but does seem to glance meaningfully at what looks like an acid burn on the wall behind him.
  • When Noland first approaches the group, his whispers of "Over here, over here," and "Turn around, turn around," are much like Mac's whispers in the first film.
  • Royce also does a word-for-word repetition of Arnold's "Come on, do it, kill me!" line from the original film during his final battle with the Predator.
  • When Royce frees the Classic Predator from the totem and it does its neck grab on him, it turns his head to one side much the same way the Jungle Hunter did with Dutch Schaeffer.
  • Just like in the original Predator:
    • A character stares intensely into the trees, having somehow sensed the presence of a cloaked Predator, and doesn't respond when a teammate asks what's up.
    • A blade-wielding character suddenly stops fleeing in order to face the pursuing Predator, mano-a-mano.
    • Characters fall uncontrollably down a hill and right into a river.
    • A subtle one: a giant bug is impaled on a knife.
    • A character unloads with a giant minigun into the forest. Later, every gun-toting character unloads into the trees.
    • A character's weapon is blown in two by the Predator's weapon.
    • Moments before death, a character's arm is severed — Dillon's in the first film, and the last Predator's in this film.
  • Nikolai and Cuchillo are likely nods to the Starter Villains of the first and second films.
    • Nikolai is a member of the Russian military, who served while under Soviet rule as advisors to the guerrillas before falling victim to Dutch's team in the first film.
    • Cuchillo is a member of a Latino cartel, which is similar to the Colombian cartel battling the police in the second film's Action Prologue, Cuchillo even resembles the Colombian cartel's enforcer El Scorpio, down to relying on submachine Guns Akimbo, while interestingly and retroactively, El Scorpio coincidentally resembles Machete from the film of the same name which was directed by Robert Rodriguez, the producer of this film, and features Danny Trejo, who plays Cuchillo, in the title role.
  • "Long Tall Sally" plays over the closing credits, the very same song that Dutch Schaeffer and his team had blasting in their choppa.
• Incest Subtext: Implied with Stans toward his sister. Sure, having a picture of your sister is one thing, but having a tattoo of her, nude, on your body is another.
• Ironic Echo:
  • When Edwin is injured, Royce wants to leave him behind, but Isabelle protests that "He's one of us." Later, Edwin argues, "Please, I'm one of you," in very different circumstances.
  • Stans mocks Mombasa after the latter dives into the detritus to avoid a deadfall with "Looking good, boss." Later, when Stans is lying on the ground covered in dirt and alien dog blood, Mombasa parrots the line back at him.
  • A subtle one. When the group first meets Noland, Royce asks him, "What the fuck are you?" and Noland answers, "I'm alive." Noland later shows them part of the reason why: he's not above murder when it's for his own benefit. He gets the group to trust him so he can (attempt) to kill them for their weapons, and it's implied he's done it before. Later, when Royce is showing a similar inhuman disregard for the life of Edwin (whose death would benefit him), Isabelle asks him, "What are you?" and Royce replies, "I'm alive."
• Irony: Stans, the serial killer and all-but-explicitly-stated rapist who does everything for the hell of it in a group of trained soldiers, is the one who most advocates for teamwork.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Royce for sure. Like your typical mercenary, he doesn't seem to care for the group in any real way in the beginning, but of course, he has a change of heart by the end.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Stans looks kind of weedy and all he's got is a knife. He's kind of funny, too. You start feeling like maybe he's not such a bad guy; after all, they're all killers here. You're starting to feel kind of sympathetic for him, even. Then he makes his "raping bitches" comment, then makes a creepy comment about his sister and reveals he has a tattoo of her naked, and you realise that he's no better than any of the others.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Isabelle punches Royce for using the group as bait at the Predator camp, which would be a valid complaint save for one detail — he only falls back to reevaluate the situation when he realizes Isabelle knows more about what's happening than she's let on. At that point, for all he knew, she might have been in on it.
• Karmic Death:
  • Stans, a convicted mass murderer and rapist, dies sacrificing himself for the team to get away, impaled and having his spine and skull torn out. Ironically, he was supposed to be executed in two days before the Predators selected him.
  • Edwin, after revealing he's a serial killer and admirer of the Predators, is impaled, dragged through the mud while he pathetically begs for his life, and used as a grenade Death Trap to injure a Predator.
  • Mombasa is impaled multiple times from below by a Death Trap, and is left writhing in his dying agony for most of the resulting skirmish, shortly after admitting he'd tortured captives and set them out bleeding as bait for their companions.
• Katanas Are Just Better: The Yakuza faces a Predator in single combat with only a katana and manages a Mutual Kill, while the other humans spend most of the film unable to kill any Predators with automatic weapons.
• Large Ham: Noland. Laurence Fishburne went well above and beyond the call of duty for this one.
  Noland: YOU'RE IN MY HOUSE, MUTHA-FUCKAAAAAAAS!!!
• Laughably Evil: Stans may be a sociopath, but most of his lines are pure gold. Take, for example, his rant against the rest of the group after being left with only his shiv while everyone else has a gun:
  Stans: You know what? This is bullshit! I want a fucking gun! [to Cuchillo] Come on man, give me a gun! You got two fucking guns! [looks at Royce and Isabelle, seems to think better of it, turns to Nikolai] Come on Russian, you got a big fucking gun!
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Hanzo makes his last stand and draws out a katana, inviting the pursuing Predator to a sword duel. The Predator accepts, pulls out its wristblade, and awesomeness ensues.
• Ludicrous Gibs:
  • Noland goes out like this.
  • One of the dogs dodges the entire team's concentrated fire until it gets within about ten yards of them, and then it dies in a literal explosion of gore.
• Made of Iron: The last of the Predators. In a short span of time, it's stabbed repeatedly by Stans, stabbed and wounded further by the Classic Predator, blasted by a multitude of grenades point-blank, suffers multiple blows to the head from a wrench, is shot by Isabelle's sniper rifle, and gets its arm chopped off when Royce uses an axe on it. In spite of all that, it has enough life left in it to necessitate Royce systematically hacking it apart with that axe.
• Male Gaze: The camera follows Stans' line of sight for about fifteen seconds. When Isabelle turns around, he just says it out loud: "Your ass is awesome." Isabelle knows better than to humour him, or even pay attention to him, and avoids him.
• Maybe Ever After: Movie conventions would force Royce and Isabelle to be together, but their circumstances and his personality leave the exact nature of their relationship in question.
• Mercy Kill: Isabelle tries to do this for Cuchillo, only to have him call out for help again after being shot through the heart, implying his cries were actually a recording being played by the Predators.
• Mexican Standoff: Subverted. Stans presses his shiv to Mombasa's throat and demands a gun. Mombasa calmly but firmly jams a handgun under Stans' chin. Cue Oh, Crap! expression on Stans' face.
• Mood Whiplash: Halfway through the film, Stans says that he's going to do so much cocaine when they escape — and then says he's going to rape some bitches. It then swerves back into funny when Edwin unenthusiastically agrees.
• Mother Russia Makes You Strong: Nikolai is the heavy weapons expert of the group.
• Mr. Exposition: Noland's role is essentially to show up and clue the other characters (and audience) in on what's happening on the planet.
• Multicultural Alien Planet: The Predators have different tribes, the two of whom we see having been at war with one another for some time. They also apparently come from two different subspecies, given their similar but distinct appearances.
• Multinational Team: American (including the poor Army sod at the beginning), Mexican, Sierra Leonean, Russian, Japanese, and Israeli.
• Mutual Kill: Hanzo and the Falconer Predator, and Nikolai and the first Predator.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The creature that chases Edwin in the jungle resembles the original design for the Predator.◊
  • This is not the first time a human and a Predator have teamed up to take on a bigger threat.
  • Noland appears in the same scene, despite being killed soon after being introduced in the actual film.
• Neutral Female: Ultimately subverted, although it's a close call. Also justified, at least for the final scene: it's hard to leap into the fray when you've been paralyzed by a potent neurotoxin, after all...
• Night-Vision Goggles: Of the false-contrast heat-sensing type that the original movie popularized. The typical method of countering it is inverted: instead of smearing himself with mud, Royce fights off the Berserker by starting a raging fire, which his body heat does not register against.
• No Name Given: For ninety-nine percent of the movie, the only one with a name is Nikolai, and Stans' name is on his jumpsuit. Isabelle and Royce introduce themselves in the penultimate scene, while the rest are named only in the script.
• No One Gets Left Behind: Royce does not subscribe to this, always prompting others to move on with "He's done." The first time, Isabelle listens, but she refuses the second time, citing the risk of He Who Fights Monsters, and that if they give up their humanity to survive they’ve already lost.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Royce says this almost verbatim to Isabelle, then taunts her:
    "You do it for your country so you don't have to admit you like it."
  • Also, the humans are Not So Different from the Predators, being murderers motivated by the sport of it all. Edwin actually seems to embrace this, identifying himself as an outcast and a "freak", which Word of God claims the Black Predators are as well.
• Not Where They Thought: The stranded humans initially assume they've been dumped off in a jungle on Earth until they emerge into a clear area and get a look at the Alien Sky.
• Obvious Trap: The Predators set one with Cuchillo. The team doesn’t fall for it.
• Obvious Villain, Secret Villain: The main group of soldiers are whittled down by a Predator team led by the Berserker, who serves as the Final Boss for Royce, Isabel, and Edwin. As Royce teams with an older Predator to outmaneuver the Berserker, Isabel is ambushed by Edwin, who reveals that his cover as a meek doctor is a ruse: he's actually a Serial Killer, and overjoyed to be on a planet filled with monsters like him.
• Off with His Head!: Two Predators and Stans get their heads sliced off... or ripped off, in Stans' case.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • "Nice shot!" "...I missed." And they realize that they are so incredibly boned.
  • Edwin's face before that (he was used as bait to lure whatever was stalking them out).
  • EVERYONE, once they finally get a good look at the sky.
• Only Sane Man: Edwin comes off as this, especially compared to Cuchillo and Stans. This makes sense, since most of the others are a Blood Knight at best, and a Psycho for Hire at worse. Subverted, as in actuality, he's by far the craziest.
• Ontological Mystery: Our main characters awaken mid-air drop into a strange jungle, fully armed, and with no memory of how they got into this situation. Lampshaded when the characters discuss their situation and point out every single most used solution to the mystery: from a military training scenario to gauge stress reactions, to Hell. It's later solved when they find out they're on a completely different planet.
• Outrun the Fireball: The protagonists barely escape the derelict ship before the explosion from Nikolai's claymores catches up to them.
• Precision F-Strike:
  • "FUCK! All of you!"
  • "So I can find out who threw me out of a fuckin' airplane."
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Nikolai gets one, in Russian, naturally: "You're one ugly motherfucker." The actual translation is “What an ugly face you have.”
• Psycho for Hire: Royce and Cuchillo, and maybe Mombasa. The other members are either too honorable to be psycho or are too psycho to be for hire.
• The Quiet One: Hanzo, the Yakuza assassin. He lost two fingers on his left hand (and needs to use prosthetics) in the past because he "talked too much." Despite having a mere handful of lines, he has more presence than most of the rest of the cast combined, and gets one of the best scenes in the film.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Everyone knows Stans is a murderer who was liberated from death row by the Predators, but Edwin doesn't get discomfited until he starts talking about all the "fine bitches" he's going to rape when he gets home.
• Rated M for Manly: An entire cast of badasses. And Topher Grace.
• Reality Is Unrealistic: Royce quickly deduces they are on an alien planet. Anyone going through the survival checklist a highly trained soldier would be familiar with would do the same.
• The Reveal:
  • The humans are trying to figure out where they've been dropped. Cue the Alien Sky, with a gas giant and multiple moons visible!
  • There is another one later when it turns out Edwin is actually a dangerous Serial Killer, and he turns on Royce and Isabelle.
• Rousseau Was Right: Despite being remorseless killers and insisting on being bad men, Royce, Stans, Nikolai, and Hanzo all act for the benefit of others at different points throughout the film, and chew each other out for not helping the group from time to time.
• Russian Guy Suffers Most: Subverted. Nikolai's actual on-screen suffering isn't nearly as bad as any of the others, but since he has a family back home, he certainly has the most to lose.
• Sequel Hook: The ending has Royce and Isabelle still stuck on planet as a number of newbies are parachute-dropped in...
• Serial Killer:
  • Stans is revealed to have killed 38 people in a Deleted Scene.
  • Edwin, the doctor, is revealed to have actually been a serial murderer back on Earth, and finds himself quite at home on a world dominated by alien predators.
• Serial Rapist: Stans is implied to be one, bragging about how when he gets home he's going to "snort so much cocaine, and rape some fine bitches." It's Played for Laughs in this case, and we never find out if he'd actually follow through.
• Shout-Out: See also Internal Homage, above.
  • The music that plays during the end credits is "Long Tall Sally", the same music Dutch and his team are listening to as they're about to go into the jungle. Also a bit of Soundtrack Dissonance, given the Bittersweet Ending just before it.
  • The title of the film is a reference to the title of the second film in the Alien franchise, Aliens.
  • Royce to Noland: "Say goodbye to your little friend!". It references his imaginary friend.
  • Noland mentions having been in Air Cavalry during the Sixties, and hums Ride of the Valkyries at one point.
  • Aside from being a reversal of the original Predator's mud-cloaking ploy, the final Battle Amongst the Flames is a Shout-Out to Westworld: the first scifi flick to portray a menace's heat-vision perspective or to show it being confused by hot torches.
  • Nikolai is a large Eastern European man carrying a handheld rotary cannon.
• Single-Stroke Battle: The fight between Hanzo and the Predator is conducted in a series of these.
• Sinister Shiv: Stans was left only with his prison shiv, but it's likely that he's better with that than a gun. When he presses his knife to Mombasa's throat, he moves like a cobra, so fast that you wonder why he's even asking for one.
• The Smart Guy: Edwin, the otherwise hapless medical doctor, is able to identify plants and their various effects. Clever as they all are, the others quickly assume he's there in the capacity of The Medic.
• Sociopathic Hero: Stans and...well, everyone. Some just hide it better than others.
• Sociopathic Soldier: Half the cast are soldiers. Mombasa is part of a militant group known to have openly participated in atrocities and war crimes, and he admits as much. Royce also hints that he likes killing, and may well be primarily employed by the CIA. IDF sniper Isabelle expresses sadness only over her spotting partner and none over any of her (presumably) many targets over her career. Nikolai, despite being a fairly stand-up guy with two children, is nonetheless participating in the "pacification" of Chechnya with the KGB Spetznaz Alpha Group.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: An upbeat Little Richard song plays over the end credits. See Shout-Out above.
• Spikes of Villainy: The alien hunting dogs have more impractical tusks, horns, and antlers than anything ought to, but it sure makes them look wicked awesome.
• Spiteful Spit: Nikolai spits at a Predator's face shortly before he dies with a Predator.
• Stupid Evil: While on the run from the titular alien hunters, Edwin steps on a Bear Trap, so Isabelle helps him walk. Out of nowhere, he stabs her in the back and reveals he's a Serial Killer who has decided to make her his next victim. Fortunately, Royce shows up before he can finish her off, and he is killed when he tries to stab him in the back.
• Steel Eardrums: Averted in one case where Stans (the only one who doesn’t have a gun) covers his ears when the other characters start shooting at some alien animals.
• Stupid Sacrifice: After Stans jumps on the Predator's back, he shouts at the others to run... even though some of them still have functioning weapons that would have been enough to kill the distracted, unarmored Predator.
• Summon Bigger Fish: Royce attracts the Predators to the abandoned drill with an explosion.
• Surveillance Drone: One of the Predators has a mobile scout that flies around and attaches to its shoulder. It's even called the Falconer.
• Survivor Guilt: This is Isabelle's main motivation; it's also notably lacking in Royce and the others.
• Taking You with Me: How Nikolai takes care of one Predator, producing a grenade with a smile.
• That's What I Would Do:
  • Royce says this word for word when describing how the attack by the alien dogs is evidence that they're being hunted as prey.
  • Mombasa takes it one step further, giving a detailed description of a sadistic trap for human prey, then saying, "I know because I have done this."
  • While they are all mulling over their Ontological Mystery, Tijuana gangster Cuchillo suggests they may have been taken for ransom, and goes on to describe the awful things his gang does to their victims.
• Title Drop: Isabelle says to Royce that they were chosen for the hunt because "We are predators. Just like them. We're the monsters of our own world."
• Token Good Teammate:
  • In a band of mercenaries, gangsters, and killers, many of whom lack a clear conscience, Isabelle is clearly the only one who believes in doing the right thing. It's atonement for deliberately leaving her spotter to die.
  • Nikolai is also a pretty decent guy. He was a Spetsnaz soldier, and involved in the "pacification" of Chechnya in that capacity, but otherwise his slate seems fairly clean, and is more than willing to put his own life on the line to save the others.
  • Subverted in the case of Edwin. As Royce describes to Isabelle that every one of them are seasoned killers, he notes that the meek Edwin's presence doesn't even make sense. The doctor eventually reveals himself as the most psychotic member of the entire group, since he's a Serial Killer whose only motive to kill innocent people is because he likes it, and he feels at home on the Predator death world.
• Too Shortsighted To Live: Edwin is dangerous in a way, but not to heavily-armed soldiers or the even more physically-imposing aliens. Even if Royce has left them, Edwin stands a much better chance of survival with Isabelle than wearing her scalp as a hat, or whatever he had in mind. However, it's justified by his nature as a serial killer, as such individuals rarely operate on a rational basis. As proof of his skewed perception, he expresses the belief that the Predators will accept him when they see he is a hunter like them; in truth, the Black Predators aren't any more likely to see him as less of an ant than the others, and as for the Classic Predators, his method of hunting resembles theirs not at all.
• The Unfettered: Royce is seemingly this trope personified. He's called on it by Isabelle and Stans.
• Villain Protagonist: Most of the group are NOT nice people, including a Yakuza hitman, a death row serial killer and rapist, an African death squad commando, a cartel enforcer, and an unfettered mercenary who won't hesitate to backstab his comrades if his own survival is on the line.
• The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Noland. Interestingly, while the Predators have a "sporting" attitude about the killing for most of the movie, the one that finds Noland kills him immediately with his shoulder cannon at maximum power, so maybe they were simply that pissed off at him.
• Unflinching Walk: A Predator walks away casually without even looking at its own ship that it's just detonated.
• We Have Reserves: Royce uses the rest of the team to set off a trap, disappearing to observe how the Predators operate. Needless to say, Isabelle's pissed at him in the aftermath.
• Wham Line: After Isabelle shows Royce that compasses don't work properly, Royce points out an even bigger indication that there's something very wrong with their situation.
  Royce: Between that and the sun, I'd say we have a real problem.
  Isabelle: What about the sun?
  Royce: It hasn't moved since we got here.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Isabelle calls out Royce constantly, mostly because he's a large fan of doing what he 'has to' to survive. Isabelle asks him if survival at any cost is worth it.
  • Stans does it too, calling Royce out on getting Mombasa (who had saved Stans' life) killed.
• What You Are in the Dark: Where the whole planet is "the dark". Mostly, they pass the test, though a couple characters prove they're too selfish or crazy.
• With This Herring: Everyone starts out with whatever they were carrying before they were taken, so two of the characters only have knives. Lampshaded by Stans, who demands to be given a gun and nearly kills Mombasa for his, since all he has is a prison shiv.
• Worf Had the Flu:
  • When the Classic Predator faces the Black Predator, it has been tied up for a while and has poorly maintained equipment, which are the main reasons why it loses. Despite this, it puts up a good fight.
  • When the Black Predator faces Royce, it has been stabbed, had a fistfight with another Predator, and had a ring of grenades explode in its face. When Royce stops to catch his breath, the fight goes as well as it normally would.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Notably defied, as the Black Predators are exiled criminals who don't play by the rules. Noland has managed to kill at least two Predators, but unlike past media, he's still being hunted rather than being allowed to go home, and the Tracker doesn't even try to be sporting with him. Also, despite managing to kill the Berserker, the cast are treated the same as Noland was and left for the next hunt.
  • Played straight with the Falconer and Hanzo, as the Falconer has enough respect for the latter to give him a fair fight.
• World of Badass: The deadliest hunters in the galaxy created a game preserve on a Death World by stocking it with the most lethal predators of Earth... and other planets. Word of God implies that the game preserve is also where Predators criminals are banished to.
• Yakuza: Hanzo's an enforcer for them.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: The vessel going back to Earth is self-destructed after the Black Predator kills the Classic Predator.
• Yubitsume: Hanzo turns out to have had two fingers sliced off because he "talked too much", in his words.

---