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The Predator (2018), R, ★1/2


Predator was the start of a very inconsistent series of films but the 1987 movie was an action film that took the level of action, testosterone and cleverness on another level. I figured out what was so good about that movie after watching it again recently. The jungle setting inhabits the isolation and fear that the squad is feeling while the hunters are being hunted by a unique type of alien with its camouflage and advanced weaponry. Also, the tone changes from a macho film to an action film to a horror film to a survival film to a mano-a-mano film. That film had a lot of ingredients in a film that horror/action fans were craving for and that is what establishes the first Predator as an '80s classic and action classic. We had some sub-par sequels and a sequel that I thought was surprisingly decent which was Predators but I'm afraid that we've come to a point that they should just close the book on making another Predator movie for a while because this latest effort was awfully disappointing.

A Predator has crash-landed on Earth after being chased by another larger ship. The movie immediately gets started as the Predator has killed a teammate of a group hostage military rescue lead by sniper Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook). However, Quinn uses the Predator's gauntlet to shoot something that incapacitates the Predator and the falling blood spills on the Predator's invisible suit. Soon, a government team called by Project Stargazer led by Will Traeger (Sterling K. Brown) as they get their hands on the Predator.

Quinn delivers his mask, gauntlet and other gear to send back to his son, Rory (Jacob Tremblay) and ex-wife's, Emily's (Yvonne Strahovski) home. Emily comes home with two potential Halloween masks but Rory does not want to dress up as those figures because the bullies from high school will taunt him. Rory then opens the package to find the Predator's gear and while he turned it on, the larger Predator gets a lock on his location and he sets off to Earth.

Quinn undergoes a psychological evaluation following the disaster in Mexico and he is then placed with other government prisoners - ex-Marine "Nebraska" (Trevante Rhodes), Baxley (Thomas Jane), joker Coyle (Keegan Michael-Key), Nettles (Augusto Aguilera) and former Marine Lynch (Alfie Allen). They bring in biologist Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn) to look at the sedated Fugitive Predator. But, the Fugitive Predator gets away.


Yeah....this is a terrible movie. One of the worst movies of the franchise, maybe the worst. The problem is that the movie is so chaotic with such personalities that it loses its way through the unfunny jokiness and loses its story's coherence. There's not much to grab onto regarding the characters or the story. When it goes into its comedy route in which director Shane Black has acclimated in his screenwriting and directing credits (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys), the movie felt like more of a parody of a Predator film than an actual Predator film. It relies on too much comedic one-liners that felt unfunny, jokey and also vulgar in which they sound like fraternity boys or teenagers spewing off profanity. The pervasive language is definitely not earned.

Even though I did not love the characters, I felt that there were good performances. I liked Holbrook, Keegan Michael-Key, Sterling K. Brown and Jacob Tremblay. Trevante Rhodes from his excellent effort in Moonlight goes one-note on his character, Olivia Munn was miscast as the biologist and Thomas Jane & Alfie Allen provide nothing to their characters.

Also, another problem is that the movie focuses too much on The Predator and its technology that we never get invested in the characters and we do not remember the characters. In the original movie, we remember everybody because there was enough depth in a few sentences. Here, there are just tropes of characters from Shane Black's movies and it never gels with the franchise. Also, the science behind what was going behind The Predator is bogus. I'll give credit to the violence and the action but it's all recycled stuff from other Predator and action movies. If someone posts a compilation of all the action, it's nearly a 3-3.5 star movie but everything else amounts to a nearly deplorable movie. It is easily Shane Black's worst movie in his filmography.

*1/2


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