(USA) After the preposterous last two Predator films (2004’s Alien vs. Predator and 2008’s Aliens vs. Predator Requiem), we should only expect the worst. But with Oscar winner Adrien Brody in the leading role and big name support from Topher Grace and Laurence Fishburne, we reckon­ed it wouldn’t be all that bad. Plus, the film is produced by Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror), so we expected it to at least be fun; and it was.

Playing like TV’s Lost and Survivor meet the original Predator from the 80s, eight individuals are dropped in no man’s land to outwit and outlast a band of alien predators armed with advanced instruments of death. There is Brody’s Royce, the reluctant leader; kick-ass female sidekick Isabelle (Alice Braga, daughter of the legendary Sonia Braga); Chechnyan soldier Nicolai (Oleg Taktarov); Japanese samurai expert Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien); and the good doctor Edwin (Grace), among others. Along the way, director NimrÓd Antal (Kontroll) keeps us on the edge with fast-paced action sequences, and a hilarious 15-minute cameo by Laurence Fishburne as a loopy old survivor who has a few tricks up his sleeves, and provides just enough comic relief to break the tension.

Sure, the film’s hardly original as it draws numerous references from the original film, including many of the escape sequences and individual standoff scenes between the survivors and their hunters, but Predators is definitely a few steps up from its laughable predecessors. Having heavyweight such as Brody (looking more buff than ever), Grace and Fishburne definitely buoys the predictable material along and—if you check your brains and expectations at the door—the film is actually amusing and watchable. Solid, seamless and pretty well-done, Predators is a simple, good ol’ action flick that delivers what it’s supposed to.