Predator technology falls into the hands of a young boy, prompting
the boy's father, an Army Ranger, to battle the alien creature. ACTION/SCI-FI
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The Predator (2018)Directed by Shane Black
Written by Fred Dekker and Shane Black Starring Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera, Yvonne Strahovski, Jake Busey, Brian A. Prince Sequel to 2010's Predators |
The Predator is the most bizarre blockbuster so far this year, mostly because it tries so hard to achieve something nobody wants from a Predator movie. For some inexplicable reason, The Predator is a comedy from start to finish. I'm not talking cheesy one-liners. I mean Batman & Robin level ridiculous dialogue. While that can be a good deflection from the hardcore violence (see Deadpool), it feels so out of place in this film. While the fourth entry in the franchise is somewhat better than the franchise low, Predator 2, it comes nowhere near the classic original and actually falls short of the 2010 cult classic Predators. In short, it's just kinda meh.
The film's biggest issue is an unearned sense of camaraderie amongst the characters. Boyd Holbrook's lead hero, Quinn McKenna, recruits several psychologically disturbed ex-soldiers to help him stop the Predator. Despite there being next to no logical reason why they should help him considering they'd just met, McKenna spends the rest of the film acting like these soldiers are his squad that he's spent several tours in the s**t with. It comes down to poor writing, and Olivia Munn's science teacher with government clearance (???) doesn't help the film's case. Her entire character exists to set up dumb jokes with the crazy soldiers. The only character I thought was worth following was the villain Traegar, played by Sterling K. Brown, and that's only because of Brown's performance. This film sees a Predator try to genetically assimilate traits of autism, an extended joke scene involving Thomas Jane's tourette's and Olivia Munn's vagina, and a set-up for some kind of Predator worldkiller that is clearly sequel bait for a follow-up that is unlikely to happen given that this long-gestating film was unfortunately an absolute miss. Maybe Shane Black shouldn't be asked to put his personal touch on beloved franchises, what with Iron Man 3 and now The Predator. Despite my grievances with the film, it was somewhat entertaining, but it was the farthest thing from a Predator movie that this franchise as ever done. |