The Predator (2018) Review

Starring: Byod Holbrook, Jacob Tremblay, Olivia Munn

Directed by: Shane Black

Okay, lets get the pleasantries out of the way: The Predator IS a mess. Not an all-together bad one, rather, an engaging one; fun fodder through large portions, especially if you’re willing to leave your brain at the door and turn yourself in for an evening. The sort of popcorn spectacle which, in that great movie way, affords one to shirk real world troubles at least for a while. And really, aren’t we are there to be entertained? To laugh and howl? to writhe in suspense and anger? What I’m getting at is: don’t flat-out dismiss the film just because there are terrible reviews, give it a shot.just know that it is mess.

Byod Holbrook plays lead Quinn McKenna, an Army Ranger who’s field mission is cut short when a damaged alien vessel descends from the sky and crash lands in a nearby path. Upon further investigation, McKenna finds a trove of alien tech along with the slaughtered remains of his squad done in by the Predator—an alien belonging to a race of hunter-beings from the outer reaches of space, bulking, primal, and absolute in their adoration for the sport of the hunt. McKenna breaks away after incapacitating the alien being but not before snatching spoils from the crash. For fear of having the evidence destroyed he sends pieces of predator gear home to an estranged wife and young son played by the charming Jacob Tremblay. 

Government personnel apprehend the predator; McKenna is hauled off for questioning, and the rest just writes itself. The Predator breaks out of the clutches of government agent Will Traeger in a race to reclaim it’s missing equipment, followed closely behind by recruit Casey Bracket, a biologist bent on studying the origins of the alien creature. Meanwhile,  aboard a transport vehicle, McKenna familiarizes himself with other government detainees—a ragtag group of ex-marines and military personnel hailing from all different walks of life.  Learning that the alien has targeted his son, McKenna sets forth, along with Bracket and his new team of off-kilter personalities to take down the predator before it reaches his family while along the way side-tracked  by a fiercer, larger menace, the Super-Predator. 

That is the long and the short of it. The underlying foundation half-emulates the McTiernan original and only half succeeds. When it’s not trying to be a classic Predator film it stumbles into Shane Black territory with it’s witty writing and trademark character banter and the dissonances in tone are a sight to behold. Again, the film revolves around the concept of a hunter/prey dynamic present in the extended universe ventures thus far but interspersed throughout are comedic meanderings, sight gags and oddly timed punch-lines, all genuinely funny, and moving in certain sequences even if they are brought on by trite character development. Routinely these lighter elements get side-lined by the sheer gore and violence inherent in a film of this nature; but of course, it IS a Predator film, and to that extent it flounders around , scene to scene, plagued by the industrial issues perennial in all modern day super-production. The film never situates itself into a real pocket thematically or otherwise. Instead it jets along a creaky adventure structure, satisfied with the basic adrenaline of forward movement. 

On the inconsistencies of tone i’ll say this: It’s as if Shane Black and writer Fred Dekker, amused by the product of their comedic prowess, sat down to write a Predator film only to forget along the way that they were, in fact, writing a predator film. They would pump the breaks, re-collect themselves, then solemnly swerve back on track only for the process to repeat again somewhere down along the path. An element of parody permeates throughout the first two acts. A light and fun air that gets blown away by the markedly messy third act.   

What DOES jive are these amazing characters, far and away the best element of The Predator. Everyone here is perfectly cast. Holbrook plays gruff and withered and has the face and physique to sell it. Trevante Rhode’s Nebraska is brash and mercurial and bad-ass if I may say so; Thomas Jane’s portrayal of a military vet suffering from ptsd works in harmony with Keegan-Michael Key’s spastic Coyle who squirms in every scene with fear (a personal favorite actor of mine.) Olivia Munn injects Bracket with a serious case of “Munn-face,” distracting, somewhat, but shouldn’t take away from her great performance and genuine sense of agency.  I’m a sucker for a good, functioning, rollicking ensemble cast, and these actors  knock it out of the park with the material. A real feat given the nature of the film. It’s fun. It’s chaotic, in a thrilling way.  

If it sounds like I’m grilling the film it’s because I am. Nothing about the opening line changes; I love it. I’m still recommending the film. Get a couple of drinks in you; bring a friend, or several. The real pain comes from having the thing you love—the thing that spirits you away from all your worldly troubles—be released in the state that it was in. To be left long-after with the inevitable “What if’s?” I have a responsibility as a critic and a fan to point out where the film falls apart thematically and narratively. So it bears  also mentioning where The Predator stumbles in the department of craft.  The cinematography and blocking can often seem lazy and uninspired and the special effects clearly take a nose dive when approaching the final act of the film when we’re introduced to the super predator, a larger, fiercer cousin of the regular-sized alien. 

There is also the matter of predator dogs that..no. They don’t function in the slightest, from design to general application. It doesn’t help that they weave in and out of relevance to the plot, on a mere whim. Always the sign of awkward screen-writing. Speaking of third acts, character motivations set from the beginning fall by the wayside, leaps in logic abound and plot holes become all the more apparent, especially with regards to the predators nature. 

So like I said: bring a friend, get some drinks, know what you’re getting yourself into. If you come in with reservations you probably won’t enjoy the experience. But of you come in without that pesky little node in your brain curmudgeonly pointing out all the inconsistencies and missteps thereto, and if you just so happen to enjoy the earlier films, then you just might have a good time. Happy hunting.