Pun Salad

I was in the mood for a big dumb violent movie, and this fit the bill. Even though the script is just a semi-redo of Predator. I liked the star, Alan Ritchson, for his portrayal of Reacher over on Amazon Prime; this one's on Netflix. And I stayed awake, something I haven't managed to do while trying to watch Season One of The Expanse.

Ritchson plays "81", his number at the Army's "Ranger Assessment and Selection Program", a brutal winnowing-out process to ensure that only the toughest make it into the Rangers. He's there thanks to a promise made to his (doomed) brother in an opening scene set in Afghanistan, just before a devastating Taliban attack that leaves everyone else dead or dying.

So 81's got some psychological problems, he's looking to prove something, and so he makes it to the very final test, and… that's when the War Machine shows up, a malicious killer robot dropped in from outer space, by coincidence landing only a hop skip and jump from the Ranger exercise.

Now, if you haven't seen Predator, go and watch it, it's a much better movie. But if you have seen Predator, you can probably guess at what happens: being hopelessly out-teched by the alien device, 81's team gets slaughtered in variously painful and gory ways. But (not really a spoiler) 81 survives for a final desperate showdown. And if you recall some otherwise superfluous dialog from the opening scene, you'll know how that develops.

And, oh yeah, just like Predator, there's a sequel setup.

And finally: is that Dennis Quaid? Yes it is, and he looks even older than his actual 72 years. And he doesn't smile once.