Directed by: Shane Black | Produced by: John Davis | Written by: Fred Dekker, Shane Black | Starring: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Sterling K. Brown, Keegan Michael-Key, Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Yvonne Strahovski | Music by: Henry Jackman | Cinematography: Larry Fong | Edited by: Henry B. Miller III, Billy Weber | Production Company: Davis Entertainment | Distributed by: 20th Century Fox | Official Website
6.2/10
Almost 20 years ago, the first Predator movie was released. Until now, we know very little about this creature unless he has Rasta-style creature. All we know is he is big, he is ruthless and they hunt humans for sport, something that perfectly described by Olivia Munn’s character as “They are more suitable to be called Hunter, not Predator”.
20 years later, movie audiences become so crazy about myths and superheroes, so Director Shane Black decided to take the latest Predator movie into the high-tech era where they are evolving. The Predator is now not only big and ruthless, but also prowess in advanced technology. With it’s high intelligence and advance control of technology, it almost feels like this Predator was a failed experiment of Stark Industries, just like Ultron.
The Predator first encounter with human was with Captain Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook), an ex-Army turned mercenaries. Before he was taken to rehabilitation shelter by government agent Will Traeger (Sterling K. Brown), McKenna took the predator’s helmet and armor and sent it to his PO Box address. He didn’t know that the package is later sent to his home and found by his Asperger’s syndrome son, Rory (Jacob Tremblay).
At the rehabilitation, McKenna meets several ex-soldier who also have mental issues like PTSD, suicidal thoughts or Tourette syndrome, and called themselves “The Loonies”: Nebraska Williams (Trevante Rhodes), Coyle (Keegan-Michael Key), Baxley (Thomas Jane), Lynch (Alfie Allen) and Nettles (Augusto Aguilera). They soon know that the Predator escaped the government’s quarantine and they must cooperate with John Hopkins’ biologist Dr. Casey Brackett (Olivia Munn) to find out the real purpose the Predator comes to earth.
The Predator is a quite good movie, if you just saw the strong casts who played their roles real good. Although Boyd Holbrook’s acting were quickly forgettable and Jacob Tremblay is shining as bright as usual, the other Loonies were exceptional. Their dark humors might be exaggerated for a supposedly-thrilling movie, but they played their characters completely with their mental issues. Trevante Rhodes should take roles in action movies more often, and Keegan-michael Key nailed the character with Tourette syndrome perfectly. Sterling K. Brown’s character might not be obviously worked for any specific agencies, but he proved that he should be playing villain more often too. Unfortunately, the female characters might just be a sweetener for this full-of-testosterone movie. Olivia Munn’s character should be the smartest character in this movie but she lost the charm on the last half of this movie. Yvonne Strahovski played ex-wife of McKenna but she only got a strongest moment to prove her and she took it exceptionally.
Other than the casts, I was left with confusion with the tone of the movie. The original Predator movie is a thrilling movie where you scared the predator will somehow jump out of the screen and hunt you down. This movie, however, took another direction into a sci-fi drama where you can say goodbye to all the horrors. Director Black manifests the predator exactly like the original one, but he seems to forget to treat the mental issues he gave to his characters equally. He treats Rory’s Asperger’s syndrome like God where he is told to be “the next step of evolution”, but he forgets the adult characters who have PTSD or Tourette syndrome. There are too many plot holes everywhere and the only thing that’s good from this movie, the dark humor, seems to be placed wrongly.
This is probably the most uninteresting release of the predator franchise that doesn’t have “Aliens vs” in the titles. No wonder Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to take part of this movie. This movie sets up for a sequel, but who knows where they might be led into after this failed movie.
The Lady in Pink 