The Predator

Year: 2018
Director: Shane Black
Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Thomas Jane, Sterling K Brown, Alfie Allen, Keegan-Michael Key, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, Brian A Prince


Plot: When a pair of Predators bring their fight with one another to Earth, only a group of crazy soldiers and a biologist stand between them and total chaos.


Review: So what does Shane Black, the man who played Hawkins in the original and writer of the legendary Lethal Weapon, and director of Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys bring to the table for this updated entry in the Predator franchise? After seeing it, the one word that comes to mind is "unconventional".

It's clear that Black and co-writer Fred Dekker wanted to create an entirely different animal with The Predator. This time, it's not about hunting man anymore, but about the evolution of the Predator race. Black and Dekker pitch the idea that Predators are now all about enhancement and superiority, and humans on Earth are just one of the pieces of the puzzle. So on the other side of this, we have a kid with Asperger's who is smart enough to understand Predator technology, a female biologist and a group of PTSD soldiers who have to team up and stop the Predators.

Now, all this doesn't sound too bad on paper, but Black's execution is rather messy. I honestly didn't mind the constant humor projected by the soldiers, who constantly act like they just got out of the psych ward. But Black should have edited the amount of time spent hanging with these guys, as their antics pretty much overshadowed the Predators' threat. Speaking of the Predators, Black throws in a couple of Predator dogs, which were kinda cool until one of them gets domesticated after taking a shot to the head. Another one of Black's weird attempts at humor? Maybe, but this one honestly didn't work.

Cast wise, Boyd Holbrook is rather miscast as lead hero McKenna, not having the dramatic chops to play a father. Personally I felt that he should switch roles with Thomas Jane, who got the role of a soldier with Tourette's, and it was played for laughs too. Jane would have nailed the role since he had played Jacob Tremblay's father in Before I Wake, so the two would have looked convincing here. Tremblay is on point here as Rory McKenna, being no stranger to playing kids with problems. Olivia Munn is okay as the biologist, but her character got the hang of throwing herself at danger way too quickly. Sterling K Brown fares better as government agent Traeger, while Trevante Rhodes, Augusto Aguilera, Alfie Allen and Keegan-Michael Key give a nice sense of variation playing the crazy crew. Jake Busey, who is thrown in here as the son of his real life father's character from Predator 2, is given zero to do here. His connection to Gary Busey isn't even mentioned, much less explored. A total waste.

The good part is, Black doesn't hold back on the violence. We have dismemberments, disembowelments, beheadings and impalings. The action sequences are a mixed bag though. A lot of them take place in the dark and are sometimes difficult to make out, though the final fight was well executed.

In the end, The Predator isn't a bad movie, but it's certainly not an easy film to get behind. Honestly, I expected more from Black. I'd give him credit for having the balls to make this film, but a more conventional approach would have been wiser. (6.5/10)