Rated: R

Release Date: 07/09/2010

Production Company: 20th Century Fox

Adrien Brody, Danny Trejo, Laurence Fishburne, Walton Goggins, Alice Braga
Oleg Taktarov, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Louiz Ozawa and Topher Grace.

Director: Nimrod Antal. Producers: Robert Rodriguez, John Davis, Elizabeth Avellan and Bill Scott. Executive Producer: Alex Young. Screenwriters: Alex Litvak (Story), Michael Finch (Story) and Jim and John Thomas (Characters).

By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs

Since winning an Oscar for "Best Actor" in the 2002 film, "The Pianist," Adrien Brody's range of talent has been on display in movies such as "The Jacket," "King Kong" (2005) and "Cadillac Records" where he played Chess Records founder and producer Leonard Chess.

In the new movie "Predators," Brody tackles his biggest role yet as a tough, action hero. And while it may seem like a stretch for the scrawny looking actor, he convincingly pulls it off with a buffed body and all.

"Predators" starts out with a bang and never lets up. Brody plays Royce a mercenary who finds himself in a freefall and landing in a remote jungle. He's joined by several others who have arrived pretty much the same way. They include: a Russian solder (Oleg Taktarov); a Mexican drug lord (Danny Trejo); a Yakuza killer (Louis Ozawa Changchien); ) an African soldier (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), a deranged death row rapist and murderer (Walton Goggins), an Israeli sniper (Alice Braga) and a doctor (Topher Grace) who seems out of place and we later learn has ulterior motives.

They've mysteriously been chosen and arrived on this far away alien planet and aren't sure why. However, it doesn't take them very long to realize that something isn't quite right especially when they run across a former soldier named Nolan (Laurence Fishburne) whose wild imagination is also rather frightening. It turns out this group of assassins have been placed in a game preserve and are about to be hunted by vicious predators. It becomes the ultimate test of survival for each of these killers as they must battle the predators. It's kill or be killed.

Directed by Nimrod Antal ("Armored" and "Vacancy"), and produced by Robert Rodriguez, "Predators" pays homage to the 1987 original "Predator" movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Jesse Ventura.

"Predators" manages to maintain its own B-movie vibe and nuances and not rely entirely on the "Predator" franchise to get by. Consequently, the movie doesn't feel like a remake or retread and comes off as refreshingly new.

"Predators" is actually an absolute blast to watch. Thought went into the story, the characters are well developed, you care about every single one of them. The special effects are dazzling and the small wild boar looking predators along with the granddaddy Predator of them all, are downright scary and menacing.

"Predators" doesn't disappoint. It delivers all the thrills of a top action summer movie and then some.