Predators
So when I wasn't looking, they started making decent Predator movies again.
And by spoilers, I mean my reaction is solely based on Royce/Isabelle. YAY Canon couples!
Prior to that - on the blu ray is a promo for the A-Team. This cracks my shit up - WHERE IS THAT CROSSOVER?! Boscoe could make some insane tank from left over bits of that mine. Face could find a way con the Predators into betting their ship. Hannibal would probably charge them. And then Murdoch could fly them all home in a ship. I want this crack.
Ahem.
The movie.
OK the opener is awesome. BAM! Hi! You're in a Predators movie! Adrien Brody falls from the sky. You don't know what's going on. HE doesn't know what's going on. In fact, once he realizes he's falling, his biggest concern is OMFG PARACHUTE!
The chute - or possible bomb from the noises its making - no wait! CHUTE! - opens, but just barely. He hits the upper canopy of really tall trees hard. But that's ok, because truthfully, they do more to break his fall than the chute did.
He finally hits the ground, hard enough to knock himself out for a beat and the title to crash in.
HEE! OMG. I just love that. Apparently, there's was some original bullshit about how they all get picked and what not. I don't want it. It isn't the original Predator movie. In that movie, the buildup was in part so you could see how well they worked together and how badass they were. It made it more deadly when the Predator split them up and began picking them off.
For this movie, I think it was a far smarter choice to make the audience play catch up with the characters. We're never going to care about them the way we did the originals, because the lead doesn't care about them that way either.
Speaking of our lead - I don't know if Rodriguez and Nimrod set out to create an ultimate Bad Boy fantasy - but that's what they got. I feel about Royce the way I do about Riddick. The character is over the top, cliched and predictable. He is also a Bad Boy and a Rebel. But YOU could redeem him. And by "you" I mean the fangirl insert - Isabelle.
Royce has no patience for anyone. He also doesn't explain himself to the first two people he meets. He does explain himself - albeit sarcastically and at gunpoint - to Isabelle: So I can figure out who threw me out of a fucking airplane.
Isabelle starts rounding them up. And even though he will later deny it, Royce doesn't say he wants to be on his own and makes no early attempts to leave. He even "helps" get the Doc out of the tree. It's played for laughs - but I notice he's explaining himself to Isabelle again: It was taking too long.
When they find the altar - or whatever it is - he does head off on his own and again, it's Isabelle he's explaining himself to - get to high ground and find a way out. The You should follow me is directed at her specifically and as she's herding the others -
Well from this point on - Royce treats the others like they're his girlfriend's cats. He tolerates their existence but he's not shedding tears over them. It's slightly awesome.
Royce has decided that they have no answers and are useless. He ignores them. But he can't ignore Isabelle. He almost convinces himself to leave them, but he cannot seem to walk away cleanly from Isabelle. He has to answer her. Even if he won't tell her his name. I'm not doing this. I'm better on my own.
Then she cheats and offers to show him something fucked up. HEE. Royce has a great "I am SO going to regret this" look.
So water cannot find north and the sun hasn't moved for hours. That's not important. What's important is that Isabelle has invaded his personal bubble to show him the leaf. This is a bit of a plot point because from this point on, he can't seem to keep himself away from her. If she gets within 4 feet, he's going to drift over to her.
Prior to that, she'd been in the middle of the group. Now she's the one at his back. It's in part because she and Nickolai are military - he and they speak the same language. But it's still Classic Bad Boy. He's an outcast but he'll try for the right woman.
And I just realized when they see the cages they think that's what's going on - they're in the middle of the jungle with tigers or some crap.
They still think there's a human explanation for what's happening. Especially when they stumble across the dead special forces guy's area. And when the traps are sprung, Royce immediately answers Isabelle's call for help. woof.
The back to back spin is just pretty - but Royce also trusts the sniper's eyes - not only can't he ignore her - he needs her.
Then they get to the high ground and realize they are on some other planet. Another planet.
Everyone freaks the fuck out. Then, alien dogs come - proving even more that they are not on Earth. Everyone freaks the fuck out more. They scatter. We discover that in a state of panic, Isabelle and the Death Squad Guy are the only ones who will think of others.
To be fair, Royce stands his ground and Isabelle runs from his point - so he isn't shown knowing she's in trouble. He's recognized the Hunt for what it is and he's still explaining himself to her, but he's no longer invading her space.
So they find a trap and Isabelle says she can't leave a man behind. Royce walks off and isn't surprised to hear the shot; which makes me think he didn't walk off to leave her, as to force her hand to follow. Again - Classic Bad Boy - "He doesn't really mean it. He's just pretending not to care."
Royce seems genuinely scared: We run; we die. And his reaction is to hide behind Isabelle - HA. I mean trust Isabelle's eyes again. AND invade her personal space. Again.
The love fest is broken up when he realizes Isabelle knows what the crucified Predator is. He immediately abandons her and leaves her as bait with the others.
And even though she's been abducted by aliens, dropped out of spaceship with a faulty parachute, almost mauled by rhino-dogs and had to shoot a man rather than save him - Royce leaving is what Isabelle chooses to be mad about.
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA. *draws sparkly hearts around them*
Royce is a bad ass and manages to save them. Kinda. Ok, mostly, he almost gets them killed, in several different ways - including a 80 foot cliff. But he also seems upset that Isabelle takes a swing at him. He hilariously stands up, so he's too tall for her to do it again. snerk
He puts up with it and gives them intel. Interestingly, he doesn't rat out Isabelle until she threatens to leave him on his own - especially considering she has necessary intel. Royce is in bad ass survival mode but she's useful. Totally the only reason he cares. No. Really. *pets* Poor, doomed Bad Boy.
And when things calm down, he's even compelled to try and fix it. You still pissed?
It irks him to have the hot chick not speaking to him. LOL. Oh baby, you are such a Classic Bad Boy. You care what The Girl thinks about you. Now you have to relate to her and shit. Show her how cultured you are - quote Hemingway and sum up the premise of the franchise while you're at it.
When their trap is sprung, they forget about the argument and get into each other's personal bubble again. Royce practically crawls on top of her. (She even manages a quick "why is he kissing my arm" glance at one point. Ha!)
Then it happens - in every Bad Boy Meets Good Girl movie. The Bad Boy meets a Bad Girl. This one is named Noland and from the first time Royce sees him and realizes someone survived this craphole - well, he's got a new crush.
They follow him to the abdandoned mine and the others grow more and more leery. Because Noland is batshit crazy. Royce thinks it's awesome.
Plus, he's getting more intel. I'm kinda with Royce. I mean, if you're going to stop the movie for an exposition dump? Let me watch Laurence Fishburne being a Batshit Crazy BAMF while doing it.
Isabelle decides to take offense that Noland didn't help them at the camp either. Royce is all "whatever, now about that ship."
Noland leaves and they all stare at Royce, who gives a look to say, "Come on, that was kinda cool. Plus, you get co-starred with Laurence Fishburne on your resume. How fucking cool is that?"
But now, he has to make up with Isabelle. She's huddled in a corner, so he brings her water and guards her while eating. Awwwwwww. You're still his favorite, Isabelle.
Noland betrays them, and Royce sells his ass out to the Predators. YAY - he picks the Good Girl. (Yeah, I totally didn't see the same film you did. I know. But it makes me happy.)
Then, everyone starts dying and they start running. Mostly, they die on their own terms, without impacting Isabelle in any way other than to make her run faster.
Then, the Doc gets hurt, and the fundamental difference between the Good Girl and the Bad Boy comes to light.
Royce: They want you to feel something for this man. To be human.
Isabelle: And what are you?
Royce: (mirroring Noland) Alive.
Isabelle: What's that worth?
Again it's the classic Bad Boy: he claims he won't change, but he fundamentally has. He's using his Bad Boy ways to help the Good Girl, even though he won't admit it. He's outta here, dammit.
He's in the camp when Mr Black comes with Isabelle and the Doc, so he knows, they're alive in that pit. But he is still outta here and takes off running to the ship.
And then can't get on it.
Because he knows, they are still alive in that pit and about to be killed, in one of the various, horrendous ways this planet has to offer. Damn those Good Girls.
Somewhere in there, a Predator gets his head cut off. It's not important, because this movie is about humans.
Doc: If you had to do it over again, would you make the same choice?
Isabelle: Yes.
And then, it promptly bites her in the ass, as Doc is revealed to be a antisocial monster. She's probably thinking that Royce was right and now regrets it. Just as Royce appears behind Doc.
Royce sees the ship blow up; he's already learned that Isabelle was right.
They only have each other to rely on now. *sparkly hearts*
And then Adrien Brody pets her, and emotes, and does the soft spoken exasperation thing - and pushes every Redeemed Bad Boy button in my brain. Like I said - I don't know that Rodriguez wrote it that way - but, boy, is it ever what's on screen.
So now that he's found Redemption, Royce proceeds to out BAMF Mr Black. Kinda. He first kills the treacherous Doc slowly, and then, uses him like the booby-trapped bait he originally wanted to. Then, he takes on Mr. Black.
It's not enough, but fortunately, Isabelle hasn't forgotten she's a BAMF in her own right. She overcomes total paralysis to find her rifle and shoot Mr Black through the heart.
Mr Black nails her to a log for her efforts, causing Royce to go completely mental and start wailing on his ass with an axe.
Mr Black finally dies. You get the impression that Royce and Isabelle are literally too tired to kiss over it. They do, however, manage to properly introduce themselves.
With the dawn comes a truly beautiful, dystopian shot of them cuddling in the burnt out camp. Royce is wrapped around her, and it's just lovely.
Of course the peace is ruined instantly, when they realize there's another shipment of game being dropped, which implies that more Predators are on the way. Our loving couple support each other, as they stagger off into the sequel. Or to have sex in fanfic. Or both. God bless the Internet.
This film is like a harlequin novel for scifi geek girls. Realism - or even fleshed-out characteristics - do not matter - the archetypes do.
Isabelle is another TV Boyfriend. She wants the group to stick together and be a team. But, Alice Braga manages to get it. Isabelle is caring but not soft or girly. Royce is right when he says that Isabelle needs to believe in something - a country, a team, a code.
Her lowest point isn't the pit with the Doc - it's in Noland's hideout when she admits that she's nothing more than a Predator. (As a result, Royce starts to tell her his name. They are interrupted and really don't have another moment until the very end.)
Then, there's Royce.
When you put an actor like Adrien Brody into a role of the silent/snarky tough guy anti hero - there's going to be alot going on in the face and eyes. By making him come back and save the woman, you're going to make me want to know what that something behind the eyes is.
In real life, I probably wouldn't trust Royce to hold open a door for me. But in film, he's instantly a TV Boyfriend and is pocketed along with the other Tricksters and Bad Boys.
It's all just proof that a movie doesn't necessarily have to be good - just capture my imagination.
The FanMix
(Because if it captures my imagination, there's music involved.)
Van Halen: Humans Being
Royce/Overall Theme
There is just enough Christ in me
To make me feel almost guilty
Is that why God made us bleed
To make us see we're Humans Being?
This is the song that sums up the movie best for me. The Predators aren't as important to me as the humans struggling to survive. We are pack animals - and I like movies that show this.
Metallica: All Nightmare Long
Mr Black/The Hunt
Cause we hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down All Nightmare Long
Feel us breathe upon your face
Feel us shift, every move we trace
Hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down all nightmare long, yeah
Luck runs out
You crawl back in, but your luck runs out
The song is relentless - and toying with you. It reminds me of Mr Black and the lyrics are just an eerie fit to the Predator's POV.
Nine Inch Nails: Meet Your Master
New Predators vs Original Predators
We're going to play a new game
You'll put on this blind fold
You'll do what we tell you
You'll do as your told
Used to be the leader, but
Now comes the time to serve
Maybe we show some mercy
Maybe you get what you deserve
Count down to the end
Gonna make it come faster
Right around the bend
Is a coming disaster (-saster)
Count down to the end
And We're headed there faster, faster
Come on down my friend
It's time to meet your master
The lyrics on this one kinda say it all. Bigger, Stronger, Faster - the larger Predators see no reason not to hunt their predecessors. The idea that to evolve, they must hunt - what greater prey than their own?
Wolf Parade: You Are A Runner and I Am My Father's Son
Royce/Isabelle: Royce trying to explain lone wolf survival to the person he can't keep out.
I was a hero early in the morning
I ain't no hero in the night
I am my father's son
and I'll build a house inside of you
I'll go in through the mouth
I'll draw three figures on your heart
one of them will be me as a boy
one of them will be me
one of them will be me watching you run
watching you run
watching you run into the high noon sun
watching you run farther than guns will go
you are a runner with a stolen voice
and you are a runner and I am my father's son
The music is off step - so is Royce around Isabelle. He can't go back to pretending he's a military man - a hero. He can't pretend to be alone and uncaring. So he stands there - watching her.
Ane Brud: Common Bird
Isabelle: Coping with the entire situation
I am a lone wolf
A beauty and a beast
Both hunter and hunted
Soft tongue and sharp teeth
I'm toned from my travels
Yet raw from this road
As I drink from storm puddles
And the stories I'm told
Help me figure this out
Help me figure you in
You're a shadow to me
That I echo when I sing
Isabelle is also off step and the discordant melody suits her. She is forced to realize that she was correctly picked out as a Predator. The reasons and trappings of morality were just illusions. It hurts her.
Shinedown: Heroes
Noland: Surviving 10 Seasons with no company but the voices in his head
Ain't nothing for me to end up like this
There's no comparing me this time
All my heroes have now become ghosts
Sold their sorrow to the ones who paid the most
All my heroes are dead and gone
But their inside of me, they still live on
Cabin Fever and the Hunt have completely stolen Noland's sanity. He also sold his soul for survival along the way. It's something he doesn't understand. Royce wouldn't either if he didn't have Isabelle. What's being alive worth? Is it worth no longer being human?
Alice In Chains: All Secrets Known
Royce/Isabelle: Huddled in the Burnt-Out Camp
Hope, a new beginning
Time, time to start living
Just like just before we died
There's no going back to the place we started from
All Secrets Known
There's a weird dual sense of hope and hopelessness in that closing shot. This song reminds me of it. You want to freeze the moment in time - to stay in the place where you believe they survive. But there's a sense - the moment they move, reality will set in. The moment the Predators arrive, Royce and Isabelle are Priority One.
Mix here. If you unzip it all to the same folder, iTunes should recognize it as an album and load it with artwork.
Original post at my dreamwidth
And by spoilers, I mean my reaction is solely based on Royce/Isabelle. YAY Canon couples!
Prior to that - on the blu ray is a promo for the A-Team. This cracks my shit up - WHERE IS THAT CROSSOVER?! Boscoe could make some insane tank from left over bits of that mine. Face could find a way con the Predators into betting their ship. Hannibal would probably charge them. And then Murdoch could fly them all home in a ship. I want this crack.
Ahem.
The movie.
OK the opener is awesome. BAM! Hi! You're in a Predators movie! Adrien Brody falls from the sky. You don't know what's going on. HE doesn't know what's going on. In fact, once he realizes he's falling, his biggest concern is OMFG PARACHUTE!
The chute - or possible bomb from the noises its making - no wait! CHUTE! - opens, but just barely. He hits the upper canopy of really tall trees hard. But that's ok, because truthfully, they do more to break his fall than the chute did.
He finally hits the ground, hard enough to knock himself out for a beat and the title to crash in.
HEE! OMG. I just love that. Apparently, there's was some original bullshit about how they all get picked and what not. I don't want it. It isn't the original Predator movie. In that movie, the buildup was in part so you could see how well they worked together and how badass they were. It made it more deadly when the Predator split them up and began picking them off.
For this movie, I think it was a far smarter choice to make the audience play catch up with the characters. We're never going to care about them the way we did the originals, because the lead doesn't care about them that way either.
Speaking of our lead - I don't know if Rodriguez and Nimrod set out to create an ultimate Bad Boy fantasy - but that's what they got. I feel about Royce the way I do about Riddick. The character is over the top, cliched and predictable. He is also a Bad Boy and a Rebel. But YOU could redeem him. And by "you" I mean the fangirl insert - Isabelle.
Royce has no patience for anyone. He also doesn't explain himself to the first two people he meets. He does explain himself - albeit sarcastically and at gunpoint - to Isabelle: So I can figure out who threw me out of a fucking airplane.
Isabelle starts rounding them up. And even though he will later deny it, Royce doesn't say he wants to be on his own and makes no early attempts to leave. He even "helps" get the Doc out of the tree. It's played for laughs - but I notice he's explaining himself to Isabelle again: It was taking too long.
When they find the altar - or whatever it is - he does head off on his own and again, it's Isabelle he's explaining himself to - get to high ground and find a way out. The You should follow me is directed at her specifically and as she's herding the others -
Well from this point on - Royce treats the others like they're his girlfriend's cats. He tolerates their existence but he's not shedding tears over them. It's slightly awesome.
Royce has decided that they have no answers and are useless. He ignores them. But he can't ignore Isabelle. He almost convinces himself to leave them, but he cannot seem to walk away cleanly from Isabelle. He has to answer her. Even if he won't tell her his name. I'm not doing this. I'm better on my own.
Then she cheats and offers to show him something fucked up. HEE. Royce has a great "I am SO going to regret this" look.
So water cannot find north and the sun hasn't moved for hours. That's not important. What's important is that Isabelle has invaded his personal bubble to show him the leaf. This is a bit of a plot point because from this point on, he can't seem to keep himself away from her. If she gets within 4 feet, he's going to drift over to her.
Prior to that, she'd been in the middle of the group. Now she's the one at his back. It's in part because she and Nickolai are military - he and they speak the same language. But it's still Classic Bad Boy. He's an outcast but he'll try for the right woman.
And I just realized when they see the cages they think that's what's going on - they're in the middle of the jungle with tigers or some crap.
They still think there's a human explanation for what's happening. Especially when they stumble across the dead special forces guy's area. And when the traps are sprung, Royce immediately answers Isabelle's call for help. woof.
The back to back spin is just pretty - but Royce also trusts the sniper's eyes - not only can't he ignore her - he needs her.
Then they get to the high ground and realize they are on some other planet. Another planet.
Everyone freaks the fuck out. Then, alien dogs come - proving even more that they are not on Earth. Everyone freaks the fuck out more. They scatter. We discover that in a state of panic, Isabelle and the Death Squad Guy are the only ones who will think of others.
To be fair, Royce stands his ground and Isabelle runs from his point - so he isn't shown knowing she's in trouble. He's recognized the Hunt for what it is and he's still explaining himself to her, but he's no longer invading her space.
So they find a trap and Isabelle says she can't leave a man behind. Royce walks off and isn't surprised to hear the shot; which makes me think he didn't walk off to leave her, as to force her hand to follow. Again - Classic Bad Boy - "He doesn't really mean it. He's just pretending not to care."
Royce seems genuinely scared: We run; we die. And his reaction is to hide behind Isabelle - HA. I mean trust Isabelle's eyes again. AND invade her personal space. Again.
The love fest is broken up when he realizes Isabelle knows what the crucified Predator is. He immediately abandons her and leaves her as bait with the others.
And even though she's been abducted by aliens, dropped out of spaceship with a faulty parachute, almost mauled by rhino-dogs and had to shoot a man rather than save him - Royce leaving is what Isabelle chooses to be mad about.
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA. *draws sparkly hearts around them*
Royce is a bad ass and manages to save them. Kinda. Ok, mostly, he almost gets them killed, in several different ways - including a 80 foot cliff. But he also seems upset that Isabelle takes a swing at him. He hilariously stands up, so he's too tall for her to do it again. snerk
He puts up with it and gives them intel. Interestingly, he doesn't rat out Isabelle until she threatens to leave him on his own - especially considering she has necessary intel. Royce is in bad ass survival mode but she's useful. Totally the only reason he cares. No. Really. *pets* Poor, doomed Bad Boy.
And when things calm down, he's even compelled to try and fix it. You still pissed?
It irks him to have the hot chick not speaking to him. LOL. Oh baby, you are such a Classic Bad Boy. You care what The Girl thinks about you. Now you have to relate to her and shit. Show her how cultured you are - quote Hemingway and sum up the premise of the franchise while you're at it.
When their trap is sprung, they forget about the argument and get into each other's personal bubble again. Royce practically crawls on top of her. (She even manages a quick "why is he kissing my arm" glance at one point. Ha!)
Then it happens - in every Bad Boy Meets Good Girl movie. The Bad Boy meets a Bad Girl. This one is named Noland and from the first time Royce sees him and realizes someone survived this craphole - well, he's got a new crush.
They follow him to the abdandoned mine and the others grow more and more leery. Because Noland is batshit crazy. Royce thinks it's awesome.
Plus, he's getting more intel. I'm kinda with Royce. I mean, if you're going to stop the movie for an exposition dump? Let me watch Laurence Fishburne being a Batshit Crazy BAMF while doing it.
Isabelle decides to take offense that Noland didn't help them at the camp either. Royce is all "whatever, now about that ship."
Noland leaves and they all stare at Royce, who gives a look to say, "Come on, that was kinda cool. Plus, you get co-starred with Laurence Fishburne on your resume. How fucking cool is that?"
But now, he has to make up with Isabelle. She's huddled in a corner, so he brings her water and guards her while eating. Awwwwwww. You're still his favorite, Isabelle.
Noland betrays them, and Royce sells his ass out to the Predators. YAY - he picks the Good Girl. (Yeah, I totally didn't see the same film you did. I know. But it makes me happy.)
Then, everyone starts dying and they start running. Mostly, they die on their own terms, without impacting Isabelle in any way other than to make her run faster.
Then, the Doc gets hurt, and the fundamental difference between the Good Girl and the Bad Boy comes to light.
Royce: They want you to feel something for this man. To be human.
Isabelle: And what are you?
Royce: (mirroring Noland) Alive.
Isabelle: What's that worth?
Again it's the classic Bad Boy: he claims he won't change, but he fundamentally has. He's using his Bad Boy ways to help the Good Girl, even though he won't admit it. He's outta here, dammit.
He's in the camp when Mr Black comes with Isabelle and the Doc, so he knows, they're alive in that pit. But he is still outta here and takes off running to the ship.
And then can't get on it.
Because he knows, they are still alive in that pit and about to be killed, in one of the various, horrendous ways this planet has to offer. Damn those Good Girls.
Somewhere in there, a Predator gets his head cut off. It's not important, because this movie is about humans.
Doc: If you had to do it over again, would you make the same choice?
Isabelle: Yes.
And then, it promptly bites her in the ass, as Doc is revealed to be a antisocial monster. She's probably thinking that Royce was right and now regrets it. Just as Royce appears behind Doc.
Royce sees the ship blow up; he's already learned that Isabelle was right.
They only have each other to rely on now. *sparkly hearts*
And then Adrien Brody pets her, and emotes, and does the soft spoken exasperation thing - and pushes every Redeemed Bad Boy button in my brain. Like I said - I don't know that Rodriguez wrote it that way - but, boy, is it ever what's on screen.
So now that he's found Redemption, Royce proceeds to out BAMF Mr Black. Kinda. He first kills the treacherous Doc slowly, and then, uses him like the booby-trapped bait he originally wanted to. Then, he takes on Mr. Black.
It's not enough, but fortunately, Isabelle hasn't forgotten she's a BAMF in her own right. She overcomes total paralysis to find her rifle and shoot Mr Black through the heart.
Mr Black nails her to a log for her efforts, causing Royce to go completely mental and start wailing on his ass with an axe.
Mr Black finally dies. You get the impression that Royce and Isabelle are literally too tired to kiss over it. They do, however, manage to properly introduce themselves.
With the dawn comes a truly beautiful, dystopian shot of them cuddling in the burnt out camp. Royce is wrapped around her, and it's just lovely.
Of course the peace is ruined instantly, when they realize there's another shipment of game being dropped, which implies that more Predators are on the way. Our loving couple support each other, as they stagger off into the sequel. Or to have sex in fanfic. Or both. God bless the Internet.
This film is like a harlequin novel for scifi geek girls. Realism - or even fleshed-out characteristics - do not matter - the archetypes do.
Isabelle is another TV Boyfriend. She wants the group to stick together and be a team. But, Alice Braga manages to get it. Isabelle is caring but not soft or girly. Royce is right when he says that Isabelle needs to believe in something - a country, a team, a code.
Her lowest point isn't the pit with the Doc - it's in Noland's hideout when she admits that she's nothing more than a Predator. (As a result, Royce starts to tell her his name. They are interrupted and really don't have another moment until the very end.)
Then, there's Royce.
When you put an actor like Adrien Brody into a role of the silent/snarky tough guy anti hero - there's going to be alot going on in the face and eyes. By making him come back and save the woman, you're going to make me want to know what that something behind the eyes is.
In real life, I probably wouldn't trust Royce to hold open a door for me. But in film, he's instantly a TV Boyfriend and is pocketed along with the other Tricksters and Bad Boys.
It's all just proof that a movie doesn't necessarily have to be good - just capture my imagination.
The FanMix
(Because if it captures my imagination, there's music involved.)
Van Halen: Humans Being
Royce/Overall Theme
There is just enough Christ in me
To make me feel almost guilty
Is that why God made us bleed
To make us see we're Humans Being?
This is the song that sums up the movie best for me. The Predators aren't as important to me as the humans struggling to survive. We are pack animals - and I like movies that show this.
Metallica: All Nightmare Long
Mr Black/The Hunt
Cause we hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down All Nightmare Long
Feel us breathe upon your face
Feel us shift, every move we trace
Hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down all nightmare long, yeah
Luck runs out
You crawl back in, but your luck runs out
The song is relentless - and toying with you. It reminds me of Mr Black and the lyrics are just an eerie fit to the Predator's POV.
Nine Inch Nails: Meet Your Master
New Predators vs Original Predators
We're going to play a new game
You'll put on this blind fold
You'll do what we tell you
You'll do as your told
Used to be the leader, but
Now comes the time to serve
Maybe we show some mercy
Maybe you get what you deserve
Count down to the end
Gonna make it come faster
Right around the bend
Is a coming disaster (-saster)
Count down to the end
And We're headed there faster, faster
Come on down my friend
It's time to meet your master
The lyrics on this one kinda say it all. Bigger, Stronger, Faster - the larger Predators see no reason not to hunt their predecessors. The idea that to evolve, they must hunt - what greater prey than their own?
Wolf Parade: You Are A Runner and I Am My Father's Son
Royce/Isabelle: Royce trying to explain lone wolf survival to the person he can't keep out.
I was a hero early in the morning
I ain't no hero in the night
I am my father's son
and I'll build a house inside of you
I'll go in through the mouth
I'll draw three figures on your heart
one of them will be me as a boy
one of them will be me
one of them will be me watching you run
watching you run
watching you run into the high noon sun
watching you run farther than guns will go
you are a runner with a stolen voice
and you are a runner and I am my father's son
The music is off step - so is Royce around Isabelle. He can't go back to pretending he's a military man - a hero. He can't pretend to be alone and uncaring. So he stands there - watching her.
Ane Brud: Common Bird
Isabelle: Coping with the entire situation
I am a lone wolf
A beauty and a beast
Both hunter and hunted
Soft tongue and sharp teeth
I'm toned from my travels
Yet raw from this road
As I drink from storm puddles
And the stories I'm told
Help me figure this out
Help me figure you in
You're a shadow to me
That I echo when I sing
Isabelle is also off step and the discordant melody suits her. She is forced to realize that she was correctly picked out as a Predator. The reasons and trappings of morality were just illusions. It hurts her.
Shinedown: Heroes
Noland: Surviving 10 Seasons with no company but the voices in his head
Ain't nothing for me to end up like this
There's no comparing me this time
All my heroes have now become ghosts
Sold their sorrow to the ones who paid the most
All my heroes are dead and gone
But their inside of me, they still live on
Cabin Fever and the Hunt have completely stolen Noland's sanity. He also sold his soul for survival along the way. It's something he doesn't understand. Royce wouldn't either if he didn't have Isabelle. What's being alive worth? Is it worth no longer being human?
Alice In Chains: All Secrets Known
Royce/Isabelle: Huddled in the Burnt-Out Camp
Hope, a new beginning
Time, time to start living
Just like just before we died
There's no going back to the place we started from
All Secrets Known
There's a weird dual sense of hope and hopelessness in that closing shot. This song reminds me of it. You want to freeze the moment in time - to stay in the place where you believe they survive. But there's a sense - the moment they move, reality will set in. The moment the Predators arrive, Royce and Isabelle are Priority One.
Mix here. If you unzip it all to the same folder, iTunes should recognize it as an album and load it with artwork.
Original post at my dreamwidth