In 1987, audiences were wowed by the original “Predator” film. Not because it was anything truly groundbreaking, more so because it seemed like something could actually kill Schwarzenegger. Now, the original film is remembered fondly as a big, brash, and gory action blockbuster. But as the years went on and Predators kept returning to the cinema, the quality of their escapades began to drop. Now Shane Black’s (“The Nice Guys,” “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”) “The Predator” is here to, hopefully, show these killers can still…kill.
“The Predator” starts and the blood flows almost immediately. While its protagonist Quinn McKenna is routine and cookie cutter, he’s performed well by Boyd Holbrook (“Narcos,” “Logan”), with a southern charm and steel eyed gaze that’s enjoyable to watch. The same goes for the rest of his crew of mentally unstable soldiers, with particular credit to Trevante Rhodes (“Moonlight,” “If Loving You Is Wrong”) who manages to out charm and outshine Boyd in every scene they’re in.
The same cannot be said for the film’s females. Olivia Munn (“The Newsroom,” “X-Men: Apocalypse”) fairs the best, as she manages to be the closest thing the film has to a character who experiences growth and change. McKenna’s ex-wife, played by Yvonne Strahovski (“Chuck,” “The Handmaid's Tale”), gets the short end of the stick in both screen time and development.
Sterling K. Brown’s (“This is Us,” “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story”) antagonistic Will Traeger is easily the film’s goofiest character. Brown carries the character with a self-important cheesiness that makes him the movie’s most entertaining piece. Jacob Trembley however, fresh off his acclaimed performances in “Room” and “Wonder”, fairs worse than anyone else in the film. His character is boiled down to a pre-teen deus-ex machina, utilized to translate alien tech thanks to his autism and as bait in the hunts, and whine the rest of the time.
Trembley’s poor characterization also speaks to the film’s general laziness. Need a kid who’s super smart? Easy, give them autism. Need a crew of soldiers? Easy, make them the rag tag bunch. The only clever spin “The Predator” tries to put on its tired clichés is that, instead of smoking, the human villain chews Nicorette gum. An amusing detail, nonetheless.
Every good intention the film has seems misplaced though. It mistakes the hardened fighting spirit in the first film for a douchey frat boy sense of humor here. It doesn’t mean that none of the jokes land, but for the most part the only thing they induce is eye rolling. By the time the movie passes into its second half though, everything seems to get better.
The humor becomes smarter, the action is more satisfying, and the overall pacing improves drastically. It becomes the kind of mindless action movie it clearly wants to be. And while its debatable if the entire product is a “Predator” movie, since it mainly favors big loud action over sneaking stealth moments, it nonetheless becomes enjoyable in its second half.
It still suffers from a general addiction to cheese and the ending is just awful, but at least it becomes bearable. What doesn’t improve though, is the editing. In fact, it only gets worse as the film progresses, as do the visual effects. What starts as a decently edited film with cool practical effects becomes a CGI mess with green screen seams popping up everywhere. It’s also very clear in the second half that the film generally suffers from a lot of studio meddling, as most of the editing mistakes seem amateurish at best.
“The Predator” isn’t the best the series has to offer, nor is it the worst. It’s first half is more visually engaging than the seconds, but the second half has superior writing, action, and humor. It becomes a film that is, ultimately, despite its cheese and adherence to the worst of the 80’s clichés. As McKenna himself says, “Nobody’s gonna remember them when the day is over.” As passable as it may be, the same can probably be said for this movie. 2.5/5
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