Technically speaking, The Predator is now the sixth movie in the franchise featuring the technologically advanced hunters from another planet. It all started with the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led Predator (1987) which is now more than 30 years old. Yikes! The sequel, Predator 2 (1990), followed before going dormant for more than a decade, presumably because fans didn’t seem to care for the subpar sequel. In an attempt to resurrect two franchises, Alien vs. Predator (2004) came to be, but with a huge catch…It was rated PG-13. Talk about cutting a movie off at the knees. Trying to makeup for a genuinely boneheaded decision, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) was released which also was the return to its R-rated glory. While uber violent, it lacked the quality needed to sustain this collaboration past this point. Predators (2010) was the last we’d see for a while due to its lackluster box office run. Having time to stew on missed opportunities, it’s time to get back in the hunt.
When an alien spacecraft crashes an operation in the middle of the jungle, finger pointing, confusion and cover-ups follow. Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) is the last man standing after a close encounter of the deadliest kind and ends up becoming a liability in the eyes of a certain faction of the government. The man that heads up this shadow agency (Sterling K. Brown) knows quite a bit more than his adversaries. After writing off Quinn and shipping him off to a place to be “dealt with”, something more dangerous is coming forward with a much more devious agenda. The only hope for Quinn is to team up with a group of military cast-offs that he barely knows along with a professor (Olivia Munn) who happens to be versed in this sort of thing. As he confronts his captors, Quinn is also about to be in for the fight of his life against alien lifeforms. As it turns out, his young son, Rory (Jacob Tremblay) may be the key to saving everyone.
When you look at the headliners powering The Predator, there’s nothing to make you all warm and fuzzy. As a matter of fact, the only actor that will probably stick out at first glance at this curious roster is Keegan-Michael Key. And that’s only because he’s usually attached to comedies, more on that aspect later. Boyd Holbrook scored the lead role, and unless you are a fan of Netflix’s drug cartel driven series Narcos (like me), there’s a good chance you’ll have trouble placing him. Jacob Tremblay, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Trevante Rhodes, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Jake Busey and Yvonne Strahovski provide some of the supporting roles and each character has his or her quirkiness about them. So, this may not be star-studded ensemble cast we’re dealing with but each of their characters will give you something to remember them by. This is definitely a character driven feature.
There is a large difference between Shane Black’s vision of this franchise going forward versus that of previous “Predator” iterations. In one word, humor. That’s the outlying trait that, not surprisingly given Black’s past projects such as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Iron Man 3 (2013) and The Nice Guys (2016), that gives this pseudo-sequel a fighting chance. Had 20th Century Fox opted to just play it safe and go the traditional route of the franchise, this would have been most certainly a failed venture. Instead, by infusing wit and some straight up old-fashioned comedy, The Predator just might have its niche box office benefactors awaiting its arrival.
There will be a few choices of rated-R movies in theaters this weekend. The Predator brings with it an already familiar story and a director that has been known to bring entertaining moments in the most unorthodox of ways. Come for the carnage, stay for the comedy. While not having an A-list cast attached, the hope is that giving audiences a fun, care-free experience at the theaters will be reason enough to garner some good will. Not without its flaws throughout, there’s something about this offering that keeps you from absolutely rejecting it.
