Director: Shane Black
Writer: Fred Dekker
Cast: Sterling K. Brown, Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, and Trevante Rhodes
After making contact with an alien Army, sniper Quinn McKenna sends a souvenir home for proof of his encounter. While being detained and evaluated by Army personnel, His young son finds the items and inadvertently sets off a beacon that draws the Predators back down to Earth, to wreak havoc.
The Earth is in peril once more but this time it’s funny. Maybe not slapstick funny but there is a noticeably humorous approach to the latest Predator film. Even the Alien gets in on the joke by using a severed hand to offer a thumbs up. This newest addition to the franchise arrives eight years after 2010’s Predators. In the last film, the protagonists were captured and taken to an alien planet, this time around the fight comes to Earth. Boyd Holbrook stars as the tough as nails Army sniper who leads a loony bunch of fellow soldiers on a crusade to save Earth. He meets these would be heroes on a bus to their padded rooms, starting a series of dark jokes and one-liners that never lets up. Though comical, the “loonies” as they call themselves are a far cry from the original action juggernauts of the first film. Although the 2018 version of The Predator is as action-packed as the 1987 original, the cast lacks a little star power. While Holbrook is a passable action hero, he is no Schwarzenegger. He’s a good actor with a solid body of work but isn’t the big action hero we expect in a film like this. Shortcomings aside, Holbrook is a solid actor and brings just enough attitude to make cocky soldier Quinn McKenna believable.
The predator isn’t the only threat to these soldiers, as they are also being followed by the government. Sterling K. Brown, America’s favorite triplet, is the determined government official fighting desperately to hunt down the fugitive soldiers and the Alien. This role is a big departure from Brown’s usual bubbly goody-two-shoes persona. As the gruff “Traeger” he is an equal mix of comedy and evil, like a Tommy Lee Jones, joker hybrid. He starts off with a few good jokes before evolving into a cold calculating maniac crazy enough to order his men to shoot the kneecaps off of a little boy. Brown is delightfully sinister, a side of him that is as enjoyable as it is unsettling. He’s so good at being bad that his comeuppance though swift and gruesome is actually quite funny.
The Predator brings the alien saga to a brand new audience offering only a handful of references to the original. The action is nonstop with the occasional break for laughter. It is as much a comedy as an action adventure with some gore filled death scenes. Though the film is enjoyable, some scenes are overdone, confusing and a bit cheesy. For instance, there’s a chase scene where the only female (Munn) in the loonies’ crew makes the odd decision to hop on a moving motorcycle face to face with the driver. In another scene the loonies disappear and somehow return with a helicopter. How they found a running helicopter in the middle of suburbia is anyone’s guess. Unfortunately, all of the loonies don’t survive and their final scenes are the most over the top. Two loonies kill each other, one smartass accidentally shoots himself in the head, one gets literally chopped in half and another jumps into a jet engine. Overall, The Predator is a good time at the movies with plenty of action, a little gore and tons of humor.
The Predator is in theaters this Friday, Sept. 14th!