Mahershala Ali’s death in Predators was a confusing one, so what actually happens to his character? This 2010 sequel found a disparate group of killers and assassins stranded together on a planet that is revealed to be a Predator game preserve, and they have to fight back against a superior foe while learning to work together. Predators also featured was an early role for future Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as Mombasa, a RUF death squad officer, with the actor appearing alongside an ensemble that included Adrien Brody, Alice Braga and Topher Grace.
It wouldn't be a Predator movie with a high body count, and this entry is no different. Director Nimród Antal stages some effective gruesome demises for his cast, which includes spines being torn out or in the case of one unlucky character, exploding in a cloud of gore. Ali's Mombasa is one of the earliest characters to meet his end, but the staging of the scene has left some viewers confused as to what, exactly, happens to him.
Mombasa's Predators' death occurs during an ambush when he is suddenly shot in the chest by an unseen attacker. It then appears that spikes emerge out of the ground around him, impaling him as if he stepped on a booby trap. Some viewers believed the three Predators in the scene may have somehow shot the spikes into Mombasa’s chest, but for the most part, the technicalities of his death have left many baffled. The Predators DVD commentary, courtesy of producer Robert Rodriguez and director Antal, clears up the confusion. Rodriguez states about Mombasa's death that “He gets shot with a projectile which expands in his body. That’s where all those pins come out of […] they don’t come from the ground, they came from inside of his body.”
Thus, the uniqueness of this Predators kill is thanks to the wicked mechanics of the ammunition he was shot with. Upon reviewing the scene again with this knowledge, Mombasa’s body language suggests the projectile likely entered from beneath him, piercing him in the abdomen. The upward momentum of the projectile is likely what propelled Mombasa up into the air once the spikes released themselves from within.
Following the notable deaths of Predator 2, the director and his creative team realized many of the series’ signature beats had become stale. They sought to spice things up in Predators by introducing more advanced and creative ways for characters to perish, which is where the spike bullet idea came from. While it's a unique concept, there's a lack of clarity with the way the scene is staged and edited, rendering Mahershala Ali’s death scene needlessly confusing.