THE PREDATOR: TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN AND DOWN AGAIN

If you've never heard me say it, and I believe I've told everyone I've had a decent sci-fi conversation with, Predator (1987) was the Boogeyman (ojuju) of my childhood, lets just say I saw it at an inappropriate age, and the dark corners of my home were never the same again, which is why I'm such a stickler for movie age restrictions (those things are important!). Since then, I've had a complicated relationship with the character; from being shit scared of it to rooting for it (them?), and now its settled into an appreciation for one of the best sci-fi characters ever created. Saying I'm a fan of the character would certainly not be out of place, I've seen every Predator movie made. So when the trailer for The Predator popped up on my recommended youtube videos, you bet I was excited!, excited but cautious, after all, after 5 movies (shared universe and all), they had yet to make a Predator movie that could usurp the original. The Predator came out over a week ago and I know, I know, I’m late on this one, but I got sidetracked and just found the time to squeeze out this review. This was my most anticipated movie of the month and it turned out to be quite underwhelming, not sure if it was the high expectations I had (it wasn’t), or that it just didn’t step up to the plate (it didn’t), but as I always try to do, here’s my honest two cents on the latest installment of the Predator series.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

This is how we greet in my Homeworld

Like the Predator signature move, I'm going for the jugular - this movie could have been much better! It’s a shame that after three sequels (in main franchise), no Predator movie has quite lived up to the original film. Unfortunately, this film was made with at least a sequel in mind, and the plot evidently suffered for that. At the end, It mostly felt like a prop-up to the sequel we may or may not get to see, depending on how well this movie does at the box office. So what was it all about? well, we discover the Predators have been enhancing themselves by merging specific genetic traits of other alien species with theirs, and had to start making more frequent trips to their favourite Game reserve – Earth, to harvest as much human DNA (from worthy candidates) as they could, because of an impending end-time event. So, before they run out of that good ol' human tonic for good, the Predators plan to visit the planet en masse, thus effectively converting the Predators from simple Sports Hunters to the cliched category of extraterrestrial mass invaders. An idea at odds with the core concept of The Predators. During the franchise, the Yautja (The predator’s race, that’s right they have a name) have showed themselves to be honourable in the hunt, and even fought on equal terms when challenged, so its something of a character somersault when they are now seeking a physical advantage via genetic upgrading (aka doping) and planning mass invasions.

Stop or I'll tickle you with my pea shooter!

Now the logic and loopholes of this movie had me brimming with questions (and I suggest you brace yourself, I’m about to geek hard). At the end of the final scene, you probably asked yourself why a Predator would gift humankind with the (adequately dubbed) Predator-Killer to kill his own kind? Which begs the next question, why would a Predator go rogue just to save the quarry? Did he consider us worthy of such a weapon or did he just want us to live a little longer so he and his buddies could hunt us a little while longer?, if so why not try to initiate some dialogue before killing everyone during his escape from the Stargazer facility? Okay so maybe not everyone, he spared Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn), would it have spared a naked guy in the fetal position too or was this Predator against violence on women? Did he mean to use the Predator killer for himself when he crash landed? Or maybe he was just an idealist; a purist - who detested gene splicing or the fact that his people no longer cared for the code of honour of the Yautja? 

Perhaps that scene from Predators (2010), could have been expanded upon; where Laurence Fishbourne’s Nolan explains an ongoing blood feud between the big and small Predators, and maybe our messiah Predator was one of the smaller Predators who resented the ideas of gene splicing - but unfortunately were the minority. It certainly would have been interesting to see what was happening on the other side; maybe an opening scene showing an ongoing civil war between the Predators and our rogue Predator battles to escape with his precious cargo. Although, this may  have detracted from the mysticism that makes the Predators that much interesting, and might have been have been difficult to pull off, with a modest budget of $88 million (Considering the dodgy CGI at times) but it would have been a way to go.

Relax, we're the good guys

This movie had early pacing issues, the first 10 – 15 minutes of the film were almost a blur as scenes changed before you could process them; from the point Quinn McKenna's (Boyd Holdbrook) discovered the crashed Predator ship till he gets picked up by Stargazer, which may indicate that parts of these scenes didn’t make it out of the editing room, probably due to last minute re-shoots and so on? The pacing did get did better though, as the movie found its ‘footing’, but was initially quite disturbing.

In recent times, humour has largely been embedded into most action movies, the aftermath of the 'supposed need' for films to show the lighter/human side of their characters, or for the audience to have an outlet to release pent up tension, whatever it may be, comedy has become a mainstay in the genre, with amusing situations and one-liners being ingrained across the board, and The Predator was no exception, except the execution left a little to be desired; some of the jokes fell flat, were a tad overdone and deflated certain scenes when the stakes should have felt higher, something buoyed by the fact that mentally unstable ex-soldiers were the chosen protagonists (they'd supposedly provide laughs right?). Personnel-wise, Olivia Munn looked out of her acting depth at times but gave a decent performance, while Boyd Holdbrook, Trevant Rhodes and Jacob Tremblay shone in their roles. Sterling K. Brown played the big bad uncompromising Government agent as well as could be expected of a cliche, but sadly the talents of some of the other actors were conspicuously wasted.

I'm just going to crash my ship so the movie can start

Its understandable that the franchise has to grow and not be repetitive, but as far as this goes, Predators (2010) did it better. The marketing slogan for the movie passed a clear message ‘The Hunt Has Evolved’, hinting at the evolution of The Predators to a new enhanced form; The Ultimate Predator. The idea that the Predators sought to upgrade themselves to be better; faster, stronger and more efficient is a very viable one, since it would make them better hunters capable on taking on bigger challenges, something the Yautja live for, but the plot completely wastes this idea, leading to a rather disappointing endgame and many questions, and the fact that half of the writing team (Shane Black, Fred Dekker) of the original film came back for this one makes it all the more dissatisfying. It just feels like so much was changed in this movie at the dying minute, which would explain why some scenes felt incomplete or were removed (the tank scene), or the ridiculous escape pod which totally seemed like an afterthought.

The Predator starts out promising, but becomes just another popcorn movie before the second act is done. While it managed to avoid being convoluted, its biggest crime is it's cheesy plot, which is a shame considering the layers of Predator lore (canon and non-canon) that could have been exploited for bigger gains. The attempted nostalgic throwbacks to Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous 'Ugly Motherfucker' line and Jake Busey (Sean Keyes) playing the son of the character his Dad, Gary Busey (Peter Keyes) played in the second film, were used to underwhelming effect. The Predator turned out to be quite mediocre at the end of it. Casual movie goers will probably have a good time while fans of the series will find it rather passable.

Rejectrating: 5/10