“Predator” (1987) was one of those sci-fianomalies—a cheap scifi slash-monster flick starring then- B-list icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, who’d scored big-time three years earlier with his sci-fieffort “Terminator.” Schwarzenegger had since done “Commando” and “Raw Deal”—low-budget, shoot-em-up thrillers, and anyone not paying attention assumed “Predator” was more of the same.

In fact, if you didn’t know better, you entered the theater thinking exactly that: A squad of mercenaries and commandos (including Carl Weathers and Jesse Ventura) wander into the Central American jungles to rescue an American hostage from a band of rebels.

But a good half-hour into the film, something startling happens: The squad discovers it’s being stalked, eliminated one by one by an invisible alien creature. (To this day, I have trouble visualizing somebody actually pitching that script. “Oh, yeah, then an invisible monster from outer space starts killing the good guys.” Really?)

But it worked. Partly because the script—especially the last act—was decently spooky and convincing and damn if the plot wasn’t utterly unique. It pitted Arnold against some intelligent alien creature that couldn’t even be seen. The alien (a Yautja, if you must know) was deftly portrayed, albeit in dismal sequels: We actually see the Yautja race on its home planet, and thus a minor cult species, much like “Alien’s” Xenomorph, was established in the nerdy annals of must-see sci-fi.

Now comes “Predators”— the third “Predator” film (or fifth if you include Xenomorphs in the mix)— and frankly, if you’ve not seen any of the sequels, you will not ultimately die unhappy.

But “Predators,” which returns to the original man-in-jungle-vs-unseen beast roots, is the best effort since the original. This time, however, the humans are dropped (literally) into an alien jungle and stalked by the Yautjas, who are presumably saving big bucks by shipping their prey, en masse, closer to home.

This ragtag team of well-armed misfits is led by Royce (a buff and grumbly Adrien Brody), who quickly deduces they are indeed being stalked by an invisible alien life form.

For the first hour, the man-asquarry premise works nicely—if, like, you’re into this sort of thing—”Predators” being a gruff and ghoulish machismo sort of action adventure.

But then the filmmakers try to spice things up, so the manhunt gets a little tweaked. I’m not saying it doesn’t work as a plot device, it just gets complicated, a little goofy and, near the end, a little convoluted. It’s not an unpleasant ride for we Yautja-lovers, but just be aware that it tries to get a little overcreative.

And if the numbers hold up, there’s plenty of room for a “Predators 2.”

Personally, I wish we could have spent a little more time back on the Yautja home world (which I found fascinating), but I suspect we’ll be back in the leafy gamepreserve, killing off the truly machismo one by one. (I’m sure there’s rampant symbolism at play here somewhere but, ah, forget it— I’m just sitting back to enjoy the cheesy ride.)