Much as it shames me to admit it, I still haven’t seen Predator or its sequel. Those two movies have been mainstays on my “to watch” list for quite some time, but I just haven’t gotten around to them. I was worried that this would significantly hamper my enjoyment of their follow-up, Predators.

It didn’t.

In fact, I’d say that this movie served as an ideal introduction to the Predators. The movie is paced extraordinarily well, gradually introducing them and their world with a perfectly timed slow burn. The exposition about their culture and technology was very well done, leaving just enough to the imagination and going through it all in an entertaining manner.

It helps that the cast is outstanding. While I thought that Danny Trejo was grossly and inexcusably under-utilized, there’s no denying that he did a great job with his role. In fact, all of the actors do wonders with their characters in relatively short amounts of time.

Laurence Fishburne, for example, elevates the movie to a whole ‘nother level just by showing up. I know I’m going to catch heat for making this comparison, but his performance here seriously reminded me of Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. His role was that crazy, that sympathetic and that captivating to watch.

Another noteworthy actor is Alice Braga, who treads a lot of high-wires here. She stands perfectly well on her own, but also has intriguing dynamics with the other characters. She’s sort of a love interest, but also sort of not. She’ll save the lives of her teammates when possible, but won’t hesitate to put them out of their misery when it’s not. She’s a beautiful woman who interacts with the others as if she was one of the guys. Braga takes all of these complexities and presents it to us in a neat and pretty little package. Very well done.

Topher Grace is in this movie, playing a rather strange role. Chances are good that you know about his character bait-and-switch already, but that revelation doesn’t come until his last five minutes of screen time. Fortunately, though Grace does have a few “useless burden” moments, he’s actually rather well-utilized up until that point. Wiping the big reveal from my brain, I had actually thought that the Predators gathered up all the hardest badasses of Earth and then threw in a doctor just to give them a sporting chance. Grace plays a total wuss who’s nonetheless a competent, proactive doctor and a rather effective comedy relief.

But the leader of this ensemble is Adrien Brody, who theoretically seems like an odd successor to Arnold Schwarzenegger. In practice, the guy’s a badass. He plays an anonymous killer with a mysterious past, a knack for taking charge, a clear desire to stay alive at any cost and more muscles than I ever thought could fit on Brody’s wiry frame. Brody takes this role and simply becomes… well, a predator. He does an amazing job with the character, though it certainly helps that the script and direction gave him a lot to work with. In fact, I’d say it gave him too much.

My favorite ensemble stories (Watchmen, for example) are those in which every character plays an integral role. There is no single main character, but half a dozen or more of them. This is especially useful in movies with high body counts, as it engenders concern and doubt over which characters will die and when. Here, though all of our main characters get their own distinct personalities, there’s absolutely no doubt that Brody is the leader of the pack and does pretty much all of the heavy lifting in this picture.

This movie establishes the characters’ roles in the story with the precision and subtlety of a band saw. Right off the bat, we have a pretty solid idea of who the heroes are, who’s cannon fodder and who’s only there for comedy relief. And with very few exceptions, my first guesses were all accurate. In fact, the script is very ham-fisted and predictable in how it sets up and pays off certain plot points. There are effective and strategically-placed “cool down” moments that allow for some rather solid moments of characterization, though these are the times when particular characters may as well be breaking mirrors, walking under ladders and painting targets on their foreheads.

As for the action, there’s no denying it was effective. In fact, there were quite a few places when the horror elements and the action elements blended perfectly together. All the same, I couldn’t help feeling like there really wasn’t much there that I hadn’t already seen before. It was great stuff, but nothing I hadn’t seen before. In fact, I’d say that’s an apt description of the entire movie. In terms of plot points, character beats, structure and action, there’s precious little that hasn’t already been seen umpteen times. Yet the visuals are gorgeous, the tension is solid and the action is satisfying to watch.

What it all comes down to is that though very little of Predators is new, most everything in it is quite well done. I found it to be a very enjoyable action movie, well worth your dollars in this quality-starved summer.