(1.5 / 4)
Writer and director Shane Black’s signature whip-smart dialogue and nuanced camaraderie are MIA in this brainless attempt to reinvigorate the Predator franchise.
The Predator franchise is in an interesting predicament. Much like the Alien series, the iconic creature’s image has been left in tatters after how poorly he came off in the much reviled Alien vs. Predator crossovers. With it being 8 years since a new installment featuring the intergalactic hunter, the franchise was in desperate need of a new angle to reignite interest and kickstart a new series of stories. Enter director and co-writer Shane Black to breathe some life into this once captivating monster. Between Black himself having a supporting role and helping with the screenplay of the original Predator, as well as his success in applying his subversively sharp wit to big budget spectacles like Iron Man 3, this seemed like a recipe for success. Unfortunately Black’s phenomenal track record hits a bump, as The Predator fails as a re-imagination of the franchise lacking any of the traits that made Black’s past work so manically enthralling.
The story quite literally starts by crashing and burning, as we witness the titular huntsman’s spaceship crash land on Earth. A U.S. soldier in the vicinity of this crash named Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) has a brief faceoff with the Predator before subduing the beast and escaping. Fearing that no one will believe his encounter with the alien, Quinn shrewdly confiscates as much of The Predator’s alien tech as he can and ships it to the address of his ex-wife Emily (Yvonne Strahovski). Quinn is quickly detained by agent Will Traeger (Sterling K. Brown) who seeks to study the captured Predator and as a result imprisons Quinn so he will not interfere with this matter.
Quinn is on a bus to a psych ward where he meets a group of psychologically damaged war veterans. Inevitably, things quickly go off the rails and it isn’t long before Quinn must team up with the men on the bus, as well as biologist Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn), as they race to save Quinn’s autistic son Rory (Jacob Tremblay) who mistakenly uses the Predator gear sent to his home as a Halloween costume. With a cast of cynically shrewd protagonists, a precocious child being of invaluable aid, and the backdrop of taking place during a holiday, The Predator features many of the trappings of Black’s past hits. However, what conceptually seems like a match made in heaven quickly falters.
Predator films are hardly highbrow entertainment and it would generally be a fool’s errand to expect anything more than popcorn thrills, however, having Shane Black’s name attached does lead to a shift in expectations. Although ultimately the film is expected to primarily be a thrill ride rather than an introspective character study, you anticipate a higher level of intelligence in how the thrills are delivered, particularly as it pertains to the dark screwball humor. The trademark witty dialogue that was on full-display in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys is impossible to recognize in this effort with most of the lines falling flat.
Even more surprising is the fact that instead of working as a black comedy, some of the humor disappointingly borders on being offensive. One notably cringeworthy scene that went on for painfully too long had the group of mentally unstable soldiers placing bets on how Olivia Munn’s Casey would react to awaking in a room with six men starting at her. What was supposed to be unexpected came off as creepy and almost misogynistic as Casey is repeatedly chided for how she is reacting to the men. Many of the characters also are just a bit too gleeful about killing and bloodshed, and while this type of humor has worked in Black’s past work, in The Predator I found it more disturbing than comical (and this is coming from someone who found The Nice Guys to be a practically perfect film that was filled with darkly comedic moments where extreme violence is played for laughs).
The Predator is remarkably fast paced, but this proves to be unsustainable as the film is in such a rush to be eventful that basic characterization for the main players falls at the wayside. The original Predator and even the entertaining yet forgettable 2010 sequel didn’t spend much time developing nuanced personalities of their protagonists, however, many of these characters at least had a distinct identifier so that when their eventual purpose as fodder for the Predator was fulfilled their loss was felt on some level. The Predator barely even provides a way to discern amongst many of the characters, with the mentally unstable soldiers from the bus being particularly homogenous in traits. Biologist Casey Bracket also lacks any development as the story jumps right into how she can serve the plot rather than any idea of who she is and what drives her (though to be fair this may be due to some of her scenes being deleted thanks to the recent controversy with casting Steven Wilder Striegel).
The lack of character depth is again uncharacteristic of Black’s work, however, this could be due to the film requiring a high number of characters for the Predator to meet his body count quota by the film’s conclusion. This departure from the buddy cop format that is more in the director’s wheelhouse may help to explain why none of the relationships feel more than perfunctory. Whether it be Boyd Holbrook’s Quinn bonding with his son or select soldiers from the bus, the interactions consistently feel hollow and devoid of anything engaging.
Even for viewers who are indifferent to the inclusion of witty dialogue or meaningful relationships and are purely motivated by nostalgia, The Predator will hardly appeal to fans of the classic 80’s film. Little of the film features plot developments that are reminiscent of the original in terms of witnessing a battle of wits between trained soldiers and the sadistic alien warrior. All that the film has in this spirit is a tacked on final act with more in common with 2017’s Alien: Covenant than Predator, whereby the audience is presented with a sped-up vignette that rehashes the climax of the original story. This ends up feeling more like a studio hedging their bet rather than a payoff for loyal fans of the series.
Despite some clever ideas such as setting much of the film in suburbia and making the Predator’s equipment accessible to the struggling humans, The Predator fails to make much of an impression. Ultimately the film is a disappointment, especially considering the talent behind it. Shane Black is a superb filmmaker, so here’s hoping that his next effort incorporates more of what made his past films so great.
