"They're large, they're fast, and fucking you up is their idea of tourism" - Traeger
After an eight year absence, the Predator has finally returned. This time it's writer/director Shane Black, cast member of the 1987 original, at the helm. Bringing his trademark dry wit to the script and experience from working on the first film in the series, Black seems the perfect choice to keep the franchise running. This latest entry, The Predator, serves as yet another sequel/reboot, referencing the previous films whilst also establishing its own story. With guts, gore and one-liners guaranteed, lets find out if The Predator is worthy to stand amongst its entertaining predecessors.
Upon discovering a crashed spaceship, former Ranger Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) soon comes face-to-face with a deadly, invisible foe. Salvaging a strange looking mask and other technology from the ship, Quinn mails his findings to his families' home, where they immediately attract the interest of his young son, Rory (Jacob Tremblay). Quickly imprisoned by government agent Traeger (Sterling K. Brown), McKenna must learn to work with a rag-tag team of prisoners to escape and warn of the alien threat. Meanwhile, as Traeger recruits biologist Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn) to examine the alien, dubbed a "Predator", another spaceship arrives to earth, bringing with it a larger, more vicious threat than before...
One thing that the Predator series has always offered is a diverse mix of characters, whether they be soldiers, the police or even yakuza. In The Predator, our team is a group of foul-mouthed "loonies", each one having their own difficult past. McKenna, one of the more sane members of the group, leads them into battle, with the cool Nebraska (Trevante Rhodes) on hand to serve as second-in-command. I enjoyed Rhodes portrayal of the character, as he delivers his lines in a less over-the-top manner than his cast-mates and exudes confidence. Joining the team after the first encounter with a Predator is Olivia Munn's Casey Bracket. Her backstory and skills are far more interesting than McKenna's, which makes me feel she should have been the protagonist. She quickly learns about the Predators' strengths and weaknesses, which would make her different to the other protagonists in the series. Sterling K. Brown is the film's villain, Traeger. At first, he seemed to be just a standard antagonist, offering nothing that really stood out compared to the other characters. However, in the film's final third he interacts with McKenna's son, and his performance became a hilarious blend of Tim Curry and Eddie Murphy. Changing his voice, laughing a lot and stealing every scene he was in, his performance suddenly became my favourite part of the film.
But we don't watch a Predator film for the human characters, do we? We want to see those badass, dreadlocked warriors from outer space cause mayhem. The first Predator the humans encounter is exactly as one might expect: an awesome design with a performer wearing the costume. It was great to see this creature on the big screen again after so long, and every scene it was in reminded me how enjoyable these films can be. But then, the film introduces a bigger Predator (about 10ft tall) and things start to go downhill. The new Predator is just a standard Predator design (with no cool looking mask), and it's bigger. That's it. No new gadgets, no new character traits, just bigger. And to top it off, the CGI is ropy to say the least. For a film made in 2018, the creature should look convincing, but instead we have what looks like a video game character rather than a living, breathing creature. If you have a monster this large, of course its going to be CGI, but the whole idea of just making the Predator really big is not that exciting, and certainly not a strong enough concept to clog up half of the film's action sequences.
There's some major character inconsistencies throughout the film, which makes this particular cast hard to relate to or care that much about. We're told McKenna has PTSD, yet this is never explored or adds any depth. We should feel more sympathetic towards him when learning this, but he remains the same throughout the film, never wavering from the confident leader we see him as in the beginning. McKenna's ex-wife, Emily (Yvonne Strahovski), is a similarly curious case. Before we meet her, she leaves a note for Rory telling him something along the lines of "clean the house for 90 minutes or I'll cut you", which more than implies she may not be the most loving mother. Yet, when she arrives home, she is kind and sympathetic to Rory after he tells her he's being bullied at school. Speaking of the school bullies, the two kids who pick on Rory for having Aspergers syndrome are very cliche and have some laughably bad dialogue. It's these scenes and the weird character choices that made me feel like I wasn't watching a Predator film, and instead a made for TV feature you'd see on the Sci-Fi channel.
Whilst there's fun to be had with some of the performances and other humorous moments, The Predator feels like a significantly weaker entry in what was a strong trilogy. The new giant Predator is lame and the characters are difficult to become attached to. But, with all that included, the film at least felt like a weird enough experience to laugh at and along with, which makes it an enjoyable journey at most. I believe no entry in the series can top the original for its suspense and creativity, and The Predator will certainly not be held in as high regard in the next thirty years or so. It's just about fun enough to not be terrible, but I would expect a lot better from this series. A future classic? No. Just about trashy enough to enjoy? Yes.
One thing that the Predator series has always offered is a diverse mix of characters, whether they be soldiers, the police or even yakuza. In The Predator, our team is a group of foul-mouthed "loonies", each one having their own difficult past. McKenna, one of the more sane members of the group, leads them into battle, with the cool Nebraska (Trevante Rhodes) on hand to serve as second-in-command. I enjoyed Rhodes portrayal of the character, as he delivers his lines in a less over-the-top manner than his cast-mates and exudes confidence. Joining the team after the first encounter with a Predator is Olivia Munn's Casey Bracket. Her backstory and skills are far more interesting than McKenna's, which makes me feel she should have been the protagonist. She quickly learns about the Predators' strengths and weaknesses, which would make her different to the other protagonists in the series. Sterling K. Brown is the film's villain, Traeger. At first, he seemed to be just a standard antagonist, offering nothing that really stood out compared to the other characters. However, in the film's final third he interacts with McKenna's son, and his performance became a hilarious blend of Tim Curry and Eddie Murphy. Changing his voice, laughing a lot and stealing every scene he was in, his performance suddenly became my favourite part of the film.
But we don't watch a Predator film for the human characters, do we? We want to see those badass, dreadlocked warriors from outer space cause mayhem. The first Predator the humans encounter is exactly as one might expect: an awesome design with a performer wearing the costume. It was great to see this creature on the big screen again after so long, and every scene it was in reminded me how enjoyable these films can be. But then, the film introduces a bigger Predator (about 10ft tall) and things start to go downhill. The new Predator is just a standard Predator design (with no cool looking mask), and it's bigger. That's it. No new gadgets, no new character traits, just bigger. And to top it off, the CGI is ropy to say the least. For a film made in 2018, the creature should look convincing, but instead we have what looks like a video game character rather than a living, breathing creature. If you have a monster this large, of course its going to be CGI, but the whole idea of just making the Predator really big is not that exciting, and certainly not a strong enough concept to clog up half of the film's action sequences.There's some major character inconsistencies throughout the film, which makes this particular cast hard to relate to or care that much about. We're told McKenna has PTSD, yet this is never explored or adds any depth. We should feel more sympathetic towards him when learning this, but he remains the same throughout the film, never wavering from the confident leader we see him as in the beginning. McKenna's ex-wife, Emily (Yvonne Strahovski), is a similarly curious case. Before we meet her, she leaves a note for Rory telling him something along the lines of "clean the house for 90 minutes or I'll cut you", which more than implies she may not be the most loving mother. Yet, when she arrives home, she is kind and sympathetic to Rory after he tells her he's being bullied at school. Speaking of the school bullies, the two kids who pick on Rory for having Aspergers syndrome are very cliche and have some laughably bad dialogue. It's these scenes and the weird character choices that made me feel like I wasn't watching a Predator film, and instead a made for TV feature you'd see on the Sci-Fi channel.
Whilst there's fun to be had with some of the performances and other humorous moments, The Predator feels like a significantly weaker entry in what was a strong trilogy. The new giant Predator is lame and the characters are difficult to become attached to. But, with all that included, the film at least felt like a weird enough experience to laugh at and along with, which makes it an enjoyable journey at most. I believe no entry in the series can top the original for its suspense and creativity, and The Predator will certainly not be held in as high regard in the next thirty years or so. It's just about fun enough to not be terrible, but I would expect a lot better from this series. A future classic? No. Just about trashy enough to enjoy? Yes.
