The original Arnold Schwarzenegger led “Predator” film is among many people’s favorite movies. It is a unique blend of action and science fiction with elements of horror that all worked. After a few sequels as well as a few Alien crossovers that didn’t live up to the original, news that Shane Black was going to helm a new sequel was met with enthusiasm from the fanbase.
“The Predator” tells the story of an alien Predator who crashes down on Earth and is captured by the Government after a Captain named Quinn McKenna fights him and the Predator kills his men. McKenna manages to escape and steal some alien technology which he sends home where his son Rory begins to explore the technology. McKenna is captured and is deemed insane by the military and is shipped off on a bus with other former soldiers with varying mental health issues. Along the way, the men must bond and join forces to fight off the alien Predator.
Going into this film, I had high hopes for this sequel. The trailer looked like it might be a return to form and I found some enjoyment from the other sequels. Unfortunately, this didn’t live up to my expectations. Shane Black co-wrote and directed this film and it is filled with his sense of humor. Black co-starred in the first film and did some script doctoring.
Boyd Holbrook plays the lead role of Captain Quinn McKenna and does a decent job. Holbrook doesn’t exactly have the commanding presence a Ranger Captain should have however. The highlight as far as acting is the pair of Keegan Michael-Key and Thomas Jane. Jane’s character has Tourette syndrome and they play that for laughs and it works mostly due to Thomas Jane’s delivery. I feel like the movie would have benefited from Boyd Holbrook and Thomas Jane switching roles. Jane is older with a leadership quality. Sterling K. Brown is also pretty entertaining in the film.
The movie suffered from a fair amount of controversy due to Olivia Munn sharing a scene with an actor who happened to be a registered sex offender. Olivia Munn was angry she wasn’t informed of that fact while filming. The film also tried to make autism a key plot point to the ending which can be viewed as insensitive even though Shane Black intended it to be a positive thing.
The film is cgi heavy but the cgi isn’t exactly up to snuff. The predator dogs were done decently but most of the fights involving the Predator and the Super Predator looked very dated for 2018 standards.
“The Predator” tried for a more grounded approach than “Predators” but I have to admit I enjoyed the Robert Rodriguez predecessor more. The concept was decent but it was just a case of the movie not quite working for various reasons. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t a classic like the original by a far stretch either.
Grade: C
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