Andrew Todd said in his
review, “Kicking off with a bang in the middle of a space battle, an
aggressive, semi-retro score soaring in the background, the latest installment
of the sci-fi franchise is committed to showing more Predator-y action than any
previous entry. Writer-director Shane Black’s ode to the 1987 original (in
which he co-starred) uses its alien sports-hunters’ weird bodies and lethal
technology in ways many have been waiting to see for over 30 years. Creative,
bloody and often hilarious kills, new additions to Predator lore and a
surprising quantity of cool sci-fi nonsense are thrown around with the glee of
a fan let loose in a multimillion-dollar playground.”
The first time we see a
Predator on Earth, it’s camouflaged, shown by a drop of blood that falls on its
disguise from a severed victim hanging from the tree above. The action only
becomes more graphic. Spines are torn, heads are decapitated, bodies are
ripped, and there are Predator dogs and new, 11-foot Predator hybrids. Needless
to say Predator fans, to a point that there are Predator fans this year, will
love it. It’s the R-rated movie they’ve wanted for a long time, made by people
who evidently wanted this movie.
“The Predator’s” story
pulls together four storylines that crash halfway through. The major one is
with sniper (Boyd Holbrook, so much talent that can’t tell a joke) who meets a
Predator in the jungle, and is thrown with a group of “loonies” (Thomas Jane,
Keegan-Michael Key, Alfie Allen, Trevante Rhodes and Augusto Aguilera) the
military doesn’t want to deal with. Before being thrown to them, he mails a
Predator machine to himself, which goes to his autistic son Rory, played by
Jacob Tremblay, giving a serious role that doesn’t feel right for this movie.
We also meet the alien-researching biologist Casey Bracket (an excellent Olivia
Munn), brought to a military research project led by the inconsiderate,
Nicorette-chewing Traeger (a scene-stealer Sterling K. Brown). Then there’s an
enhanced Predator tracking a rogue member of its own kind. “The Predator” has a
lot happening, and not everything goes with the same weight.
Depending on where you
put it, this is the third, the fourth, or the sixth film in the Predator
franchise, but technically, “The Predator” is some sort of midquel, referencing
on the past films and referencing on franchise principles. Todd stated, “Its
cast of twitchy, self-consciously idiosyncratic misfits (every one of whom is
introduced via a signature prop or tic, which is as irritating as it is
efficient) is far from the musclebound Bad Dudes of the original, though
they’re still afforded more than a small dose of bro-y camaraderie.” The
presence of a bigger, badder Predator looks knowingly, hilariously stupid. Even
the characters are Predator fans, either because of scientific purposes or just
because they’re awesome.
If anything, “The
Predator’s” biggest problem as a sequel is trying too hard. Todd noted, “It’s
definitely a Shane Black film, taking place at Halloween instead of his
signature Christmas setting, and popping with colorful, comedic, cigar-chomping
dialogue.” (A kid gets to say the F word, which is a joy.) However, while the
fan service is kept low-key, this is not “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” the amount
of in-jokes will either satisfy or annoy longtime fans. So many Schwarzenegger
one-liners are reworded and thrown out there. Jake Busey plays the character
his father created in “Predator 2.” At one point, a character skeptically asks,
“Have you seen the new Predator?”
Todd said, “All this stuff is fun, but at a certain point, the meta-comedy
crosses the 22 Jump Street threshold.”
Sadly, those who have
seen the new Predator won’t have anything held against them by saying “yes, and
it’s got some problems.” Todd said, “The movie’s hacked-to-pieces pacing has
the editorial grace of a wrist-blade through the neck.” The Predator-only story
lacks any direction and doesn’t make a lot of sense, with characters having to
say the silly complex goals of their alien enemies mainly so that the audience
can follow along. While the cast may have started out as interesting,
three-dimensional characters, so some are still extremely watchable, you get
the feeling that their development is not finished. Todd noted, “Even the
beat-by-beat editing is choppy as heck, with some sequences moving so quickly
from gag to gag that it’s clear large chunks of connective tissue are
straight-up missing. The movie culminates in a bizarre, sequel-baiting ending
that is almost certain to disappoint many viewers, whether it actually
generates a sequel or not.”
Where “The Predator”
gets really strange, and though it’s most likely to be gutted in online forums,
is in its thematic substance. Todd noted, “Central to the movie is the notion
of machismo and its various causes and effects. The Loonies echo
Schwarzenegger’s crew from the original film, but each is a subversion in some
way, with PTSD a common thread through all of them.” Sadly, the movie itself is
focused on giving kill after kill that its likable tries to challenge its manly
look is buried under, sadly, manly look. Characters show hints at times, but
the endless pace of the edit gets to suck us in before they can really show it.
The same could be said
of the film’s two female characters: Munn’s Casey starts out cornered by men
who don’t understand women, then becomes almost as tough as they are. Yvonne
Strahovski’s character is just forgotten about halfway through. Munn’s
character was just there to be a strong woman who can go up with the film’s
men, but in here, it looks like we’re meant to laugh along with the men
objectifying her. Todd noted, “Unfortunately, the scene that was cut due to
featuring Black’s friend and real-life sex offender Steven Wilder may have
actually mitigated some of these issues, serving as Munn’s character’s
introduction and setting up important character attributes that in the finished
cut appear out of nowhere.”
Finally, as you might
think from a movie whose characters call themselves “loonies,” “The Predator”
has a type of loaded relationship with mental illness. Todd said, “Beyond the
jokes at disordered characters’ expense (the Tourette’s-focused of which I
assume Black felt he could get away with, given he has Tourette’s himself), the
chopped-up script grossly simplifies complex issues.” Maybe Black and co-writer
Fred Dekker had more sensitivity in an earlier version, but the released
version of “The Predator” has some cringeworthy crimes in today’s age. As
predicted early on, Tremblay’s character’s autism isn’t just part of the
character, but a plot point, with autism eventually said to be, as said by Munn’s
character, “the next step on the evolutionary ladder.” Todd said, “That may
have been intended to lift up a misunderstood condition, but it ultimately
succeeds only in exacerbating the othering of it.” Added to another character
wanting to kill himself being cast as heroic, it’s going to make discussion,
and not in the movie’s favor.
Many of these problems won’t
affect “The Predator’s” main audience, obviously. For the most part, this is a
fun, demonstrative, R-rated film, and full of Shane Black-type jokes that
mostly work and gore curbs that almost always do. Longtime fans of the franchise
will get exactly what they’ve been wanting for years. However, the movie as a
whole feels like it’s gone through endless cuts, filled with rewrites and edits
into a formless, unclear mess. It just looks like, like the leftovers of a
Predator kill, a formless, unclear mess with so many gnarly parts all around in
it.
Despite the issues that
I do acknowledge that it does have, it’s still a lot of fun and you should see
it if it’s still playing in the theater. If not, you can wait for it on DVD and
rent it, if you feel like you don’t want to see the film. Still, I think people
who have waited eight years for another Predator movie will have an enjoyable
time. However, if people end up not liking this film, I completely understand.
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