Released: 6 June 2026
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Distributor: Hulu / Disney+
Budget: Unknown
Stars: Lindsay LaVanchy, Damien Haas, Louis Ozawa, Rick Gonzalez, Michael Biehn, and Britton Watkins

The Plot:
In this interconnected series of shorts, a bloodthirsty Viking warrior (LaVanchy), a battle-weary ninja (Ozawa), and a hot-shot pilot (Gonzalez) are forced to fight to the death after besting three separate Predators (Watkins) throughout history.

The Background:
What started as a high-budget B-movie that had Jean-Claude Van Damme running around a jungle in a bug suit eventually became a box office success when Predator (McTiernan, 1987) released on this day in 1987. Though praised as one of the best of its genre, Predator was followed by a troubled and financially stunted sequel in Predator 2 (Hopkins, 1990). Despite positive reviews, it took twenty years before Predators (Antal, 2010) revived the series with a back-to-basics approach. Though a minor hit, hopes for a direct sequel were quashed in favour of a soft reboot, though The Predator’s (ibid, 2018) divisive response saw the franchise take a hiatus despite its respectable box office. After 20^th Century Fox was purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2017, director Dan Trachtenberg and screenwriter Patrick Aison returned the franchise to its roots with Prey (Trachtenberg, 2022), a surprise hit that promised big things for the franchise. Indeed, while Trachtenberg was busying himself with a Predator-centric follow-up, he also spearheaded this separate project, an anthology film inspired by hyper-violent and stylised anime. Released exclusively on Disney+ and Hulu, Predator: Killer of Killers was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews that praised its visual design, varied stories, and intriguing expansion of the lore.

The Review:
Predator: Killer of Killers came somewhat hot off the heels of the surprise success of Prey, which successfully rejuvenated the Predator franchise after years of ups and downs. It seems my desperate call for new Predator stories set in unique time periods and locations has finally been answered as Predator: Killer of Killers takes place in the frigid wastelands of Scandinavia, the beautiful landscape of ancient Japan, in the midst of the Second World War, and finally on an alien world that could very well be the Yautja home world. Yes, after years of me fighting against it, the term “Yautja” is now undeniably canon thanks to the film’s opening quote from their codex. While I’m sure long-time fans of the extended Predator media are glad to see this, I can’t say I’ve ever been a fan of this name and would prefer the species went unnamed or were referred to as “Hunters” or “Predators” and the like. Still, I’m really glad we’re finally seeing the Predators being used in new settings and time periods as there’s so much potential for that to see how different people combat the Yautja threat depending on their technology or understanding of the alien foe. Indeed, to two of our main characters, the Yautja are seen as devils or demons rather than an extraterrestrial force, which is understandable given when they encounter them. Predator: Killer of Killers adopts a framing device where each of the main characters are trapped on a Yautja transport ship taking them to a gladiatorial arena for the finale, though this is primarily used as interludes between each story and to show who’s the main character of each segment. Finally, Predator: Killer of Killers uses subtitles when appropriate, particularly throughout “The Sword” and the final segment, where the characters talk exclusively in their native tongue even if we’ve heard them speak English before. I liked this aspect as it added some authenticity to the film, and each character, and I liked that their words weren’t translated for us beyond subtitles despite the characters wearing explosive translation collars.

The first segment, “The Sheild”, is set in Scandinavia, 841 and follows Viking warrioress Ursa as she leads her son, Anders (Hass), and their battle hungry clan into battle against the Krivichs to avenge the death of Ursa’s father, Einar (Doug Cockle), at the hands of the Krivich chieftain, Zoran (Andrew Morgado). While Anders is keen to make his mother proud, this is his first expedition so he’s understandably a little rattled at the sheer wanton destruction and violence his clan, and his vengeful mother, heap upon the Krivichs. Thus, he freezes when presented with his first kill, both out of fear and concerns for his place in Valhalla should he kill an unarmed man, though Ursa has no hesitation in cutting their prisoner in half after learning Zoran’s location. Unaware that a Yautja ship has dropped off a Predator to hunt the ruthless Vikings, Ursula shares the story of Einar’s death with Anders, which saw young Ursa (Cherami Leigh) consumed by anger and vengeance from a young age and determined to avenge her father, wearing his bloody handprint with pride despite initially being too overwhelmed by grief to function. So righteous is Ursa’s quest that she storms Zoran’s heavily fortified fortress alone, cutting through and bludgeoning many of his men single-handedly before her warriors (and Anders) join the fray. Using her sharpened, splintered dual shields, Ursa severs limbs and slaughters Zoran’s troops to confront the chief in his throne room. Despite Ursa’s rage, Zoran openly mocks her, disrespecting her in front of her men and leading to Anders beheading him for his insolence. Before Ursa can comment, the hulking Warlord Predator decloaks before them, naturally startling the Vikings and easily brutalising them with its superior speed, strength, and bionic hand appendage. Anders successfully wounds the Warlord with a spear, leading Ursa to leap to this defence, only for the Predator to bring the whole fortress down with a single concussive blow. Its helmet damaged by Ursa’s attack, the Predator stalks her on the brittle, frozen water, though she eventually traps and seemingly kills it by improvising with an anchor and turning its own weapon against it. Despite her victory, the exhausted and wounded Ursa is distraught when Anders succumbs to his wounds and dies in her arms.

“The Sword” is set in Japan, 1609 and follows twin brothers Kenji and Kiyoshi Kamakami, bright and optimistic youngsters who are forced to duel to determine which of them is strong enough to succeed their father, a stoic and demanding samurai warlord. Though Kiyoshi shares Kenji’s reluctance, he ultimately attacks with a sudden viciousness, forcing the hurt and heartbroken Kenji to flee. Upon his father’s demise twenty years later, Kiyoshi adopts his grim persona and succeeds to the throne, ceremonially burning his father’s corpse and ringing the bells to indicate the succession. This attracts Kenji’s attention, with him gearing up to confront his brother for his betrayal using the ninja skills he cultivated while living in exile. As a Predator watches with curiosity, Kenji stealthily subdues Kiyoshi’s guards and infiltrates his old homestead, utilising shuriken and a chained weapon to overwhelm his foes. When the alarm is raised, Kenji’s forced to take a more direct and violent route, cutting his brother’s personal guard down with his katana using a smoke bomb for cover. With a mere glance and a glare, they match swords once more as the Predator observes, with Kiyoshi’s straightforward samurai skills being somewhat outmatched by Kenji’s shinobi deviousness as Kenji utilises various weapons to press his attack. Still, the brothers are largely evenly matched, especially as Kiyoshi dons his father’s samurai outfit throughout the fight. Still, Kenji gets the upper hand and symbolically scars his cheek, just as Kiyoshi did when they were younger, then sheathes his sword rather than deliver a killing blow. Stunned when Kiyoshi apparently plummets to his death, Kenji’s ambushed by the Predator, who cuts down a bunch of Kiyoshi’s guards with its spear, katana-like blade, and fancy spring-loaded chains. Forced from the pagoda, Kenji utilises his ninja skill to hide, flee, and even launch surprise attacks on the cloaked Yautja, who relentlessly pursues him across the rooftops. Driven to the moat, Kenji’s amazed to find his brother alive and, though skewered by the Predator’s wrist blades, Kiyoshi joins his brother against their mutual foe. Despite the Predator’s great strength and explosive gadgets, Kiyoshi stabs it through the neck and the brothers injure and then dramatically cut the Predator in two with dual sword strikes, though Kiyoshi dies after making peace with his brother.

The third segment, “The Bullet”, starts in Florida, 1941 and finds free-spirited John J. Torres dreaming of being a pilot, much to the chagrin of his down-to-earth mechanic father (Felix Solis). Though Torres gets his wish, it comes from being drafted into the United States Navy and, one year later, Torres puts both his dreams and his practical skills to use when he impresses with his dad’s mechanics knowledge. Frustrated at being grounded by Captain Vandenberg/Vandy (Biehn), Torres is bewildered when one of their squadrons is decimated by a mysterious aircraft. While Captain Vandenberg leads a squadron to investigate, Torres inspects the alien, harpoon-like device stuck into one of the plane’s engines and is stunned when it suddenly activates and flies off, dragging an engine behind it on a chain. Despite Torres’ best efforts, he’s unable to warn the squadron of the greater threat in the skies around the Atlantic, so he commandeers a battered old fighter plane (the titular “bullet”) and goes to warn them. Though they take out the opposing squadron, Vandy’s planes are suddenly attacked by a decloaking Yautja craft, whose one-eyed pilot easily rips apart Vandy’s planes. With his wing burning, Torres makes a desperate climb to fix the damage while the remaining planes provide cover fire. Despite their bravery and aerial skill, the pilots are no match for the Predator’s technology, with one shredded by an energy net. After sorting out his plane, Torres regroups with Vandy and correctly theorises that the Predator can only see heat, so they make a desperate gamble and lure the ship as high as they can. With the alien ship closing in, Vandy bravely sacrifices himself to buy Torres the time to swing behind the blinded ship and take out one of its engines. Enraged, the alien pilot pursues Torres through the city streets, struggling to get a lock on and being drawn into a Naval skirmish. After the cannon fire heavily damages the alien ship, Torres tricks the Predator into firing, blowing his parachute and turning its massive harpoon against it to finally bring the craft down, though Torres is abducted after the war while working in his father’s garage.  

The Nitty-Gritty:
Predator: Killer of Killers is a fitting homage to everything that makes the Predator franchise so good, with Benjamin Wallfisch offering a fresh take on Alan Silvestri’s classic “Predator” theme, infusing it with a darker edge befitting of his horror roots, and the Yautja technology is very similar to previous films. Each segment follows radically different main characters, with Ursa being a venge-seeing Viking warrior, Kenji wishing to get a little payback against his brother, and Torres dreaming of being a heroic wartime pilot. While they’re all from very different backgrounds and have very different skills, with Ursa attacking first and asking questions later, Kenji largely laying down his sword, and Torres desperately trying to keep the peace and escape, they share a unique bond in their shared experiences with different Yautja. These Predators were as different as the protagonists are from each other, of course, with the Warlord being a bulky fighter, Kenji’s adversary favouring stealth, and the pilot attacking from a space craft. All three were ultimately outwitted by their foes turning their technology against them, however, with even the pilot’s systems and numerous armaments proving useless without a clear target. Ursa’s story is one of violence and vengeance, with her soul being consumed by both for years, while Kenji has no desire to fight any more and Torres just wants them to join forces against a common foe. Ursa is driven to a suicidal madness by the end, wishing only to die in glorious combat to reunite with her son in Valhalla, and even Kenji is completely at peace with meeting his end to be reunited with Kiyoshi. Torres’ infectious demeanour ultimately wins both over and they learn to take up arms once more against their shared enemy, with the ultimate message being that human tenacity, adaptability, and co-ordination is what makes us such a compelling target for this warrior species.

Predator: Killer of Killers employs a stylised, jerky, comic book-esque animation style that’s very similar to the Spider-Verse movies (Various, 2023 to present) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Rowe, 2023). If this animation style isn’t for you, you may struggle with the film but I think it worked really well. It’s not as frenetic and overstylised those movies, but it accentuates the violence and action with a comic book-style aesthetic that I find really appealing. The character models also reminded me of the exaggerated models used in TMNT (Munroe, 2007), though they’re far more varied, nuanced, and detailed here. For the most part, human characters are rendered in a stylish but ultimately realistic way, being proportionate to their size, with only Kenji and Kiyoshi seeming to defy gravity in their agile nature. The Yautja, however, are the extreme opposite, presented as towering, monstrous beasts who defy explanation and live up to their description as “devils”. The Warlord Predator, for example, is a massive brute far beyond any hunter we’ve seen before and the pilot is a grizzled, battle-scarred veteran who reminded me of Commander Kruge (Christopher Lloyd). The stealthier Predator who attacks the Kamakamis is probably the closest to a regular Yautja in the film and even he boasts chain-like weapons and a more samurai-styled appearance. The Grendel King, however, takes the award for most elaborate and intimidating Predator design, sporting full-on tusks, elongated dreadlocks that appear to be Xenonorph tails, and showcasing a ferocity far beyond his peers. There’s some fun new Yautja technology on show here, including miniature explosive devices, the Warlord’s concussive arm device, and the pilot’s energy net. Predator: Killer of Killers gives us a taste of the Predator ship’s combat skills, which is very refreshing, with the pilot utilising a devastating harpoon weapon that essentially frames the dog fights as old school Naval battles. There’s also some gruesome gore on display here, with characters being sliced in half, heads and limbs being lopped off, and blood splattering everywhere, which was glorious to see to sell how vicious both the Predators and their prey are.

“Final Battle” reveals that Ursa, Kenji, and Torres were placed into suspended animation after being abducted. Thanks to the language barrier and his cell mates being largely anti-social, Torres struggles to communicate with the two, though they’re soon brought to a gladiatorial arena on a scorching hot alien world. There, they encounter another elder Predator that Ursa dubs the “Grendel King” who, thanks to the translation collars fitting around their necks, commands them to fight to the death for the honour of facing him in tribal combat. The three are furnished with fitting weapons, with Torres gifted Captain Raphael Adolini’s (Bennett Taylor) pistol, and are threatened with having their heads exploded by their collars if they refuse to fight. Naturally, Ursa attacks first, determined to prove herself the “killer of killers”, but Kenji defends Torres and refuses to fight, urging the others to join forces against their captors. While Torres struggles to load Adolini’s pistol and Kenji desperately defends himself against Ursa’s savage attack, the Grendel King unleashes a massive alien beast that promptly swallows Torres whole! Enraged after seeing Anders’ likeness in Torres, Ursa attacks the creature alongside Kenji on the outside while Torres desperately stabs it with a Predator’s severed gauntlet arm from the inside. Together, they successfully kill the creature, much to the Grendel King’s amusement, but the suicidal Ursa only agrees to join forces with them upon seeing Torres alive. Having disabled their collars and commandeered a Yautja hoverbike, Torres flies his new allies to the Grendel King, who overpowers them with little effort, suffering only superficial wounds as Torres tries to figure out the Yautja ship’s controls. Just as the Grendel King is preparing to finish off his foes, Torres activates the ship, sending the brutish Predator flying. However, as they limp to safety, Kenji’s right arm is severed by the vengeful alien’s spear and the ship is anchored by a harpoon cable. Thus, Ursa slides down the chain to destroy the launcher, allowing herself to be recaptured so they can escape but eschewing her father’s ways by demanding they not avenge her. Though she mocks the Grendel King’s efforts, he orders his forces to pursue the escapees and has Ursa returned to suspended animation, where she’s stored alongside thousands of others…including Naru (Amber Midthunder).

The Summary:
Predator: Killer of Killers was another pleasant surprise after the fun return to form the franchise enjoyed with Prey. I’ll admit that I was a bit dubious at first by the idea of an animated anthology movie, but I enjoyed the framing device of these three characters triumphing over separate Predators and being brought together to earn the right to fight the Grendel King. This was a new wrinkle in the Predator lore that adds new layers to Predators, which already revealed that the Yautja abduct the best of the best (or worst of the worst) to hunt for sport. The animation style might not be for everyone, but I think it did a great job of presenting these visually arresting Yautja as incredible, monstrous beings that are so far beyond our understanding. Put simply, Predator: Killer of Killers makes the Yautja scary again as we see them absolutely decimate anyone who gets in their way, ripping them to pieces and deftly wielding incredible alien technology repurposed into practical weaponry. It thus takes a very special individual to overcome them, and our three main characters certainly fit that bill as they use their individual strengths to endure and overcome the alien threat, largely by turning their strengths and technology against them. I really enjoyed that we got three different time periods for the Predators to play around in, showing how the distinctly different hunters approach their unique environments and prey, and the ways the main characters react to and tackle them. Framing each segment as a character driven piece that happens to feature an alien hunter was a great choice as it allows you to connect with each character and for them to stand out against each other, with the finale showing how their vastly different personalities clash but ultimately result in victory once they come together. Even if you don’t like the animation and can’t connect with the characters, there’s some fantastic Predator action here. Each one is distinct and uses different tactics and weaponry and we get a glimpse into a different aspect of their society and overall lore. Honestly, I wouldn’t be against seeing a couple more films like this to explore this aspect of Yautja society and tie up a few loose ends in the franchise, and Predator: Killer or Killers just reinforced how much potential there is for more stories in this world.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Predator: Killer of Killers? Which of the characters and segments was your favourite? What did you think to the animation style and the visual design of the new Predators? Are you a fan of the Yautja name or do you prefer the species to go unnamed? What did you think to the gore and how each character overcame their alien foe? Would you like to see more anthology films like this for the franchise? Which of the Predator films is your favourite and how did you celebrate Predator Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on Predator: Killer of Killers, feel free to leave a comment below, check out my other Predator reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest future Predator content.

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: 5 August 2022
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Distributor: 20^th Century Studios / Disney+
Budget: $65 million
Stars: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Bennett Taylor, Michelle Thrush, and Dane DiLiegro

The Plot:
In 1719, on the Great Plains, Comanche warrior Naru (Midthunder) finds herself fighting to protect her people not only from French fur traders destroying the buffalo they rely on for survival but also from a vicious, humanoid alien (DiLiegro) that hunts humans for sport!

The Background:
Predator (McTiernan, 1987) quickly evolved from a high-budget B-movie that had Jean-Claude Van Damme running around a jungle in a bug suit into a box office hit heralded as one of the best of its genre. After a troubled development, Predator 2 (Hopkins, 1990) failed to match the first film’s box office despite positive reviews and it would be twenty years before Predators (Antal, 2010) ignored the sequels and crossovers and proved a minor hit. Sadly, this meant that hopes for a direct sequel were quashed when the studio opted for a soft re-quel; unfortunately, despite the return of Predator writer Shane Black and a respectable box office gross, The Predator (ibid, 2018) divided critics and any hopes of a sequel were put on hold after 20^th Century Fox was purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2017. It wasn’t long before development of a fifth entry (initially titled “Skulls”) got underway, however; director Dan Trachtenberg and screenwriter Patrick Aison’s pitch of a prequel that returned to the franchise’s roots was approved and the filmmakers even considered having the film’s characters speaking exclusively in Comanche. Trachtenberg specifically cast Dan DiLiegro as the iconic hunter as he wanted a leaner, more agile version of the Predator; the creature’s entire design was revamped, though DiLiegro still had to suffer in an uncomfortable suit throughout the shoot. Four weeks of weapons, team-building, and communications training saw star Amber Midthunder gain prowess in axe throwing, and filming attracted much attention and support from the Native American community and the film was praised for its historical accuracy in depicting Comanche society. Prey was released exclusively on streaming services, becoming the most-watched premiere on Hulu in the United States at the time, and was widely regarded as being the greatest Predator sequel yet. Critics praised the tension and atmosphere, its strong and capable heroine, and the thrilling balance of action, emotion, and gore; its success effectively reinvigorated the franchise and left the door open for further films.

The Review:
Prey kind of came out of nowhere for me; I suspected that Disney would want to profit from their acquisition of 20^th Century Fox’s properties but it seemed as though the franchise was sadly dead in the water after the disastrous effort that was The Predator. As someone who thoroughly enjoyed Predators, I had been hoping for some kind of follow-up to that film’s cliff-hanger and, instead, we got this weird mish-mash of a bunch of elements from the previous three films and a controversial depiction of autism as some kind of superpower. I enjoyed the effects, some of the characters and humour, and a few aspects of The Predator but it still dropped the ball and I was convinced that the next step at trying to kick-start the franchise would be to lure back either Arnold Schwarzenegger or Danny Glover (or both) and drop us back in the jungle again. For me, each Predator film should try something different; I might not be a fan of AVP: Alien vs. Predator (Anderson, 2004) but at least it was unique in its snow setting, its three Predators, and the clash between alien species so I was intrigued by the idea of a prequel. Dropping the highly advanced and adaptable alien hunter into an era where automatic weapons and modern technology weren’t really a thing is a great way to recapture the raw nature of the first film, especially the final act where Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (Schwarzenegger) is left to rely on his “Boy Scout shit” to survive, and I’d love to see the Predator picking soldiers off the battlefield in No Man’s Land, stalking cowboys in the Old West, or lurking in the misty shadows of Plague-era London almost as much as I’d enjoy visiting their home world or a film set further into the future. Plus, a smaller budget lacking in big-name actors meant more focus on the creature, the battle for survival, and had the potential for a higher reward in terms of box office and reception; low risk and high reward is a model that’s worked pretty well for other genre films and I was pleased to see it pay off in Prey‘s reception.

Prey revolves around a Comanche tribe, back before the then-modern world absolutely ravaged their lands with industry and Christianity. Our main character, Naru, is something of an outcast in her tribe; tradition demands that she follow her calling as a healer but, in secret, she trains to be a warrior like her brother, Taabe (Beavers). Alongside her faithful canine companion Sarii (Coco), Naru works on her tomahawk-throwing skills out in the forests and showcases a considerable talent with accuracy and proficiency but also at hunting, as she’s able to sneak up on a deer undetected. When the deer is startled, Naru demonstrates her impressive cardio and parkour-like skills, racing through the forest, hopping over and under trees with a deftness and determination, and also her talent for medicine after Sarii’s tail is caught in an iron trap that puzzles her in its design. Later, Naru fashions a weapon unique to her by tying her tomahawk to a length of hand-made roping, not unlike a roped kunai, and demonstrates her grace under pressure when she falls into a swamp-like bog and is able to haul herself to safety rather than giving in to panic. While out in the forest, Naru catches sight of the Predator’s cloaked ship breaching Earth’s atmosphere and interpets it as a Thunderbird, a sign that she needs to prove herself. Despite showing talent in many areas, Naru’s motivation for wanting to hunt is simply: nobody in the tribe believes she’s capable of it (even her mother, Aruka (Thrush) questions her desire) and she’s determined to prove them wrong. Taaba, who paints himself up in half-ghost face, is a great hunter; when Naru was young and being taken to gather herbs, he was learning the skills that allow him to shoot an eagle out of the sky with barely a glance. His relationship with Naru is a complex and surprisingly realistic one; they wind each other up like most siblings but, while she believes she’s ready to prove herself, Taabe has his doubts. He knows, from first-hand experience, the difference between picking off prey that’s either unaware or incapable of defending itself and taking on something that actively hunts its quarry.

Still, when Taabe joins the search party to rescue Huupi (Tymon Carter) from a mountain lion, he vouches for Naru’s tracking and medicinal skills, though it’s not enough to completely win over the prejudice of his fellow hunters, particularly Wasape (Stormee Kipp). Even after she tends to Huupi’s wounds, Wasape gives her grief and their antagonism boils over into an intense brawl when he’s sent to retrieve her and is met with defiance and tales of a mupitsl, a monster from her tribe’s children’s stories, lurking in the forest. Paaka (Corvin Mack) has equal disregard for Naru, believing she’s too afraid to be of use and, like Wasape and Naru’s other doubters, he meets a gruesome end as a result of his condescending nature. Unfortunately, Naru misses out on her big moment thanks to a distraction from the Predator; when Taabe returns to the village with the lion’s beheaded carcass, he’s named the tribe’s War Chief and, fully confident that he can tackle whatever other threats are out there when the time comes, leaves Naru heartbroken when he voices his own distrust in her abilities, regardless of her clear hunting skill. Determined to prove herself, Naru shirks her duties and heads out beyond the ridge with Sarii, finding more of the Predator’s tracks (and even some of its distinctive luminous blood), a herd of rotting, skinned bison, and a grizzly bear. Forced to take shelter when her weapons fail her, this affords Naru her first gruesome glance of the true alien menace lurking on her lands, a creature she cannot understand and so believes to be the fictional mupitsl come to life. Bound and helpless, it’s all Naru can do to free herself from her bonds when the Predator attacks Wasape and his fellow hunters, but her experience proves invaluable at seeing what the creature is capable of and spotting the warning signs of its bolt gun.

Although it appears as though the Predator is responsible for slaughtering the buffalo herd (skinning creatures is its modus operandi, after all), this is actually the work of a brutish group of French voyageurs. Compared to the Comanche, the voyageurs are almost Viking-like savages; they growl and bark in an unintelligible French dialect and wield far more advanced weaponry, including rifles and gunpowder. After she’s taken captive by them, Naru is approached by Raphael Adolini (Taylor), an Italian man who acts as a translator between the two groups and who both speculates on the nature of the Predator and reveals that the voyageurs have encountered the creature before. When she refuses to talk, their leader, “Big Beard” (Mike Paterson), wounds Taabe with a cut across his torso and the two are strung up as bait for the Predator. Although we see a fleeting shot of it within the first ten minutes or so, we don’t actually see it unobscured until about fifty minutes in, with much of the first act being built around echoing the slowly mounting tension regarding the creature to reflect the confusion and superstition felt by the Comanche. There’s a particularly simple, yet striking, sequence that showcases both the Predator’s looming menace and the film’s themes of predatory hierarchy; an ant unknowingly crawls over the cloaked Predator’s leg before being eaten by a rat, which is then struck by a snake, which in turn is slaughtered by the Predator’s wrist blades, with all of this framed to show just how close the alien was to Taabe and the others without them realising it. As is tradition with every new Predator movie, this Predator is both familiar but decidedly different, perhaps more than any Predator before and not just by virtue of being bigger and tougher. This Predator sports decidedly outdated technology, including a skull-like mask more bone than mechanical, a laser-guided bolt gun rather than the traditional plasma cannon, and few of the more technologically advanced weaponry of its brethren. Whether this is by design or by choice, it means this Predator is much more about getting up close and personal with its prey, stalking them with its thermal vision and favouring both hand-to-hand combat and its wrist blades rather than smoke and mirrors. Yet, despite all of this, the Predator still only kills prey it deems worthy; it has no interest in helpless bait and leaves Naru be when she’s caught in an animal trap since she’s no longer a threat or capable of putting up a decent fight. Additionally, in a twist on the usual formula of Predator protagonists using mud to obscure their body heat, Prey sees Naru’s medicinal knowledge to accomplish the same result.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Right from the start, Prey is a very different kind of Predator movie; being set in the wide-open flatlands and dense forests of the Great Plains, the movie eschews the stifling jungles and anarchy of the city streets for a more open and, dare I say it, cinematic presentation. Through its visuals and its haunting melody, the film has more in common with the likes of Dances with Wolves (Costner, 1990) and spends a great deal of time establishing the society, lore, and lifestyle of the Comanche tribe. While I’m no expert in Native Americans, I found the film to really benefit from this approach and its attention to detail; we get sporadic uses of their native tongue and the voyageurs speak exclusively in a guttural French (without subtitles), the Comanche are painted up individually to represent their personalities, their clothing consists of simple robes, their village is made up of tepees, they adorn themselves with feathers and necklaces, and their weapons are hand-made. Crude, yes, but these are simple, primitive times and folk, yet their bows, arrows, tomahawks, and hunting skills are no less formidable and they’re fully capable of sustaining themselves through traditional hunting prowess and restraint. Consequently, they don’t indiscriminately hunt simply for sport or the thrill of it, but to survive, meaning that the presence of French voyageurs greatly disrupts their ecosystem as they haphazardly slaughter the local buffalo.

This Predator isn’t just about the wholesale slaughter of human beings; given when the film takes place and the many instances of primitive weaponry seen in the film, it’s possible that humanity hasn’t yet caught the attention of the alien hunters. Observing the local wildlife, this Predator stalks all prey, not just humans; it tracks a ravenous wolf, gutting and mutilating it to add another trophy to its belt. This Predator’s preference to fight up close with its prey makes it far more aggressive and susceptible to injury; the Predator wrestles with the grizzly bear with its bare hands, its wounds only fuelling its aggression, and seems to take great pride in showcasing its superior strength over the wild animal, holding it aloft to be drenched in its blood in a fantastically gory and striking shot. Having witnessed Wasape and Naru brawl and assessing the weaponry of the tribe, the Predator strikes, killing Wasape with its bolt gun and slicing off limbs, heads, and impaling Taabe’s kinsmen with its separatable combistick. Although it lacks the explosive impact of the traditional plasma cannon, the Predator’s bolt gun allows for some fun and bloody kills; it still uses the iconic red targeting system, but fires three arrow-like projectiles on a predetermined path. There are quite a few drawbacks to this primitive version of the plasma cannon; for one, it allows some leeway for its victims to potentially survive, and the targeting system comes back to bite the Predator in the finale but it’s an interesting way of showing how the Predator’s technology evolved over time and almost puts it on more equally ground with the primitive tribespeople. Although the French boast more advanced weaponry than the Comanche (and attempt to capture and kill the creature with traps of their own), the Predator’s superior strength and weaponry sees them all reduced to bloody corpses; the Predator sports its constricting net trap, electroshock bolas, a retractable bulletproof shield that also doubles as a razor sharp projectile, leaves its gauntlet behind as an explosive surprise, and even uses the humans’ own weapons against them by throwing a foothold trap right at a voyager’s head! Not to be outdone, Naru doesn’t abandon Sarii, even in the face of the Predator’s near-supernatural menace, when she’s held captive by the voyageurs, mercilessly killing them all with her roped tomahawk to get her to safety.

With the French brutalised by the Predator, the mutilated Adolini begs Naru to help him and teaches her how to load and use his flintlock pistol; although she’s able to stem his bleeding and mask his body heat and he tries playing dead, he ends up dead anyway when the Predator steps on his body and stabs him when he screams. Taabe then rides in on horseback to attack the Predator with its own weapons; with his speed and skill with a bow, Taabe is able to land several shots on the Predator all while Naru struggles to load Adolini’s pistol in a strikingly effective commentary on the clunky inefficiency of then-modern technology compared to her tribe’s more direct methods. Unfortunately, Taabe is unable to kill or even mortally wound the Predator and Naru is forced to watch her brother be slaughtered right before her eyes. The last one standing, Naru takes a moment to expel her grief and anguish and then mounts her final stand against this seemingly unstoppable monster; ambushing the shellshocked Big Beard, she severs one of his legs and leaves him Andolini’s unloaded pistol to make him an easy target for the Predator as payback for him hurting her brother, then makes use of her herbs to mask her body heat and take the Predator by surprise. A bullet to the back of its head might only be a flesh wound to the alien hunter, but it’s enough to again expose its horrific visage (which is also a far cry from the usual Predator appearance) and allow her to steal its helmet, driving the creature into a vengeful frenzy. Naru prepares an elaborate trap around the bog using carved wooden spikes, not unlike Dutch’s later tactics, and places the helmet in full view to lure her prey in. While physically outmatched by the far larger and stronger creature, Naru’s speed, wiles, and determination see her strike with a wild tenacity, using herself as bait to draw the Predator closer on her own terms, a tactic that allows her to allow use its weapons against it and severe its right arm. While Wasape mocked Naru using her “leash” for her weapon, it proves vital in trapping the Predator in the quagmire of the bog; goading the creature using both Taabe’s and Dutch’s words, Naru tricks the Predator into firing its bolt gun at her, which sees its projectiles kill it instead. Exhausted and injured, Naru returns to her village with the Predator’s severed head and its blood splashed across her face like war paint; having proved herself beyond measure, she’s named as the new War Chief, but tribal paintings allude to the inevitable return of the alien hunters, if only to claim Adolini’s pistol…

The Summary:
For a movie that’s so visually and narratively removed from the Predator franchise, Prey does a wonderful job of getting back to the basics and roots of the series. Setting the film hundreds of years in the past and focusing on a primitive, but highly skilled and spiritual Comanche tribe, was a fantastic way of reframing the Predator narrative into a fresh and original presentation while still paying homage to the themes of horror and survival that made the first film as memorable as its abundance of machismo. Naru is a very strong and determined young woman, easily the equal of her more celebrated male rivals, and really comes across as a formidable opponent for the Predator thanks to her adaptability, intelligence, and ability to see what others miss. While I’m a sucker for well-armed protagonists getting picked off by a superior force because they rely too much on their weaponry, I really enjoyed the higher stakes on offer in Prey as everyone is using such limited and primitive weaponry. Even the French, with their cumbersome rifles and gunpowder, are no match for this, probably the most brutal and aggressive Predator that isn’t bulked up on steroids. This Feral Predator is a hands-on kinda guy, slaughtering whatever creatures take its fancy and sporting some unique, if primitive, technology alongside its more familiar toys. I can see why so many people praised Prey for being the best film in the franchise for some time; it’s definitely better than The Predator, and I’m really excited for the possibilities of other Predator films exploring other time periods, and overall this was a highly enjoyable horror that told an entertaining coming-of-age story and showed that there’s still life in this under-rated franchise yet.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Prey? How do you think it compares to other films in the franchise? What did you think to Naru’s character, the obstacles she overcame and her solutions to those problems? Would you have liked to see more from the Comanche tribe and their society? What did you think to the Feral Predator, its different technology and its more aggressive personality? What time periods or situations would you like to see the Predator dropped into in the future? Which of the Predator sequels and merchandise was your favourite and did you celebrate Predator Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on Prey, feel free to leave a comment below or drop your thoughts on my social media.

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: 9 July 2010
Director: Nimród Antal
Distributor: 20^th Century Fox
Budget: $40 million
Stars: Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Derek Mears, and Laurence Fishburne

The Plot:
Former United States Special Operations Forces veteran Royce (Brody) is just one of a handful of soldiers, criminals, and mercenaries forced to work together when they are suddenly deposited on an alien world that acts as a game reserve for two warring tribes of extraterrestrial killers.

The Background:
Predator (McTiernan, 1987) may have started life as the ridiculous concept of pitting Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) against an alien foe, but it quickly evolved from a B-movie with a budget that had Jean-Claude Van Damme running around a jungle in a big bug suit into a box office hit regarded as one of the best of its genre. After a long period of development, a sequel was finally produced, though star Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to return and Predator 2 (Hopkins, 1990) failed to match its predecessor’s box office despite positive reviews. Although the Predator franchise was well represented in comic books, novels, and videogames thanks to the efforts of Dark Horse Comics, it would be twenty years before a new movie was produced. However, producer Robert Rodriguez had actually pitched an idea for a third Predator film back in 1994, only to be rejected as his idea was too costly for the studio; although Rodriguez was surprised when the studio dusted off his script and contacted him about producing it some fifteen years later, he set about getting the wheels in motion for his new film, which aimed to ignore the sequels and crossovers that had followed the original classic. Although Schwarzenegger again declined to be a part of the project, Rodriguez and director Nimród Antal put together an ensemble cast that audiences would journey alongside, and drafted KNB EFX’s Howard Berger to design the creatures’ new suits, which were purposely designed to be faithful to Stan Winston’s original creature designs. With a $127.2 million box office gross, Predators was a minor hit that received mixed to average reviews; some praised it as a solid follow-up to the original while others criticised the characters as mere cannon fodder. Disappointingly, this meant that Predators became another under-rated entry in the franchise and hopes for a direct sequel were quashed when the studio again opted for a soft re-quel to the first film in 2018.

The Review:
I remember being really excited when Predators was announced. Although it took me some time to appreciate Predator 2, I was a big fan of the series and never quite understood why it hadn’t received the same amount of love as the Alien franchise (Various, 1979 to present) when it came to live-action films. Hell, I even enjoyed AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem (The Brothers Strause, 2007) simply because it meant seeing the Predator on the big screen and in a central role, so my anticipation was quite high for this re-quel, which hits a lot of the same beats as the influential first film while taking the franchise in an interesting direction. We see these call-backs to Predator throughout the film (one of their unfortunate victims lays traps that are almost exactly the same as those set by Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (Schwarzenegger) in the first film, and the first film’s events are explicitly referenced at one point) but they’re actually thrust right at the viewer’s face right from the beginning when the familiar title font flies onto the screen alongside Alan Silvestri’s iconic Predator theme, which composer John Debney samples and draws heavily from for the remainder of the movie.

Also like the first film, Predators is very much an ensemble piece built around soldier-turned-mercenary Royce, a gruff and highly adaptable individual who is the first character we’re introduced to (but, because of his guarded nature, the last character whose name we learn). Rather than being a musclebound beefcake armed with a variety of one-liners or a jaded city cop, Royce is a much more realistic type of soldier; wiry and tough, he carries himself in a much more believable way and reacts to his unbelievable situation far more calmly than the other characters, who greet each other with hostility and even gunfire. Royce’s entire mindset seems to be centred around a philosophy of “simple, but effective”, which is reflected in his choice of weapon, an AA-12 automatic 12-gauge shotgun that delivers high-impact rounds to shred his targets. Although he is reserved about opening up to the others, he immediately takes charge of the group and tries to figure out where they are and what’s happened to them simply because he needs all of the knowledge and information he can gather to best figure out a game plan for survival…and to escape. His first instinct is to get to high ground, and he doesn’t really care whether the others follow him or not since he much prefers to work alone. Surly, perceptive (he immediately identifies each character’s background and speciality), and reluctant to bond with the others, Royce is nevertheless easily the most composed of the group and a bastion of common sense and adaptability. His character arc is learning to actually give a damn about others as he’s only teaming up with them for extra firepower, muscle, and to give his foes other targets to hit; secretive and deceitful, Royce has no qualms about using the others as bait to either draw out or better understand their enemy, readily leaves the doomed behind, and even makes a deal with the “Classic Predator” (Mears) to ensure his escape from the planet in exchange for freeing the creature.

In comparison, Isabelle (Braga) is much more compassionate; although she has her suspicions about the others upon first sight, she goes along with them simply because she has no other options available. A highly trained sniper from the Israel Defense Forces, Isabelle has “seen most” jungles and is the first to realise that they’ve been dumped in a place that is beyond their expertise simply based on the heat and the topography. While she’s the only female character within the group, she’s just as tough and capable of any of them and isn’t treated with kid gloves or ever presented as a damsel in need of rescue; she’s more than proficient in a firefight thanks to her sniper rifle but, more than any of the others, assumes the role of a peacemaker in order to emphasise that they need to work together to survive. Isabelle also brings a level of knowledge to the group that the others lack; since she’s aware of the events of the first film, she knows something of the Predator’s appearance and tactics, which gives Royce the additional information he requires to be able to prepare for the creatures and even battle the “Berserker Predator” (Derek Mears) in the finale. Isabelle is the most compassionate of the group; she believes that helping others is a sign of strength rather than weakness, which often causes her and the more cold-hearted Royce to butt heads as he’s perfectly happy sacrificing the others, putting them in danger, or leaving them behind when they’re injured or dying as long as it means he (and whoever’s left) survives a little while longer. This means she faces an uphill battle with Royce, who’s callous nature makes him almost as bad as their extraterrestrial foes, but her compassionate nature ends up biting her in the ass; when Edwin (Grace) is injured by a Predator trap, Isabelle insists on helping him, unaware of his true malicious nature, and is thus left relying on Royce, who ends up being more loyal and dependable than is first evident.

Edwin and Nikolai (Taktarov) form a friendship after the self-proclaimed doctor keeps him from being poisoned. Though a large, intimidating man who cuts a formidable figure with his high-powered M134 Minigun, Nikolai is softened by his family and his gratitude towards Edwin, who he protects as thanks for saving his life and since he (as in Edwin) seems so defenceless and out of place there. At first, Edwin seems to have been placed amongst the group as a kind of field medic to give them a fighting chance against the Predators on the alien world; his medical and botanical knowledge come in handy, but he’s crippled by fear and is largely a burden to the group since he has no combat experience. Although he seems to be just a normal man surrounded by trained (or compulsive) killers, with little in common with them (which is fantastically evident in his amusing “bitch raping” talk with Stans (Goggins)), he eventually proves to be a wily and sadistic character in disguise. The first cracks in his façade appear when he leaves Nikolai to be skewered by the “Tracker Predator” (Carey Jones) and left with no choice but to blow himself and the creature up with grenades. While you could argue that Edwin stood no chance of helping his brutish Russian buddy, he later appropriates a photo of Nikolai’s family as a means of guilt-tripping Isabelle into helping him when he’s injured by a Predator trap before revealing the true extent of his twisted nature in a surprise development in the final act. It turns out that Edwin is a devious and perverse serial killer who has been manipulating and using the others as protection and has no desire to leave since he feels at home amongst the monsters. While this serves him well, since he manages to survive for most of the film, his attempts to find a kinship with the Predators naturally fall on deaf ears and he pays for his betrayal by being left as an explosive boobytrap for the Berserker Predator.

The others are largely cannon fodder but have enough personality to stand out, even if they have smaller roles in the grand scheme of things. Unlike the soldiers from the first film, this is a rag-tag group of volatile egos and machismo; many of these guys have committed unspeakable acts, either in service of their country, a revolution, or for their own gratification, which leads to a lot of conflict within the group. While Mombasa (Mahershala Ali) and Cuchillo (Danny Trejo) don’t get too much to do beyond looking tough and being slaughtered, Mombasa provides some insight into the Predators’ ritual taking of trophies and the use of Cuchillo as bait to lure in the others is a harrowing scene that tells us a lot about the enemy’s tactics and the different morals of the other characters (Royce Mombasa, and Stans recognises it’s a trap and opt to leave him; though Isabelle disagrees, she can’t fight the facts and opts to at least deliver a mercy kill). Perhaps the most mysterious of the bunch is the soft-spoken Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien), a Yakuza Inagawa-kai enforcer who keeps his distance and masks his footsteps by removing his shoes. He stands out from the others thanks to being a largely silent character who exudes a quiet, confident danger through his piercing eyes and severed fingers; similar to Billy Sole (Sonny Landham), Hanzo embodies the honour code of the Predators and even battles one sword to sword to buy the others time, claiming a life at the cost of his own. Stans is also a standout character; when he’s first introduced, he’s in a scuffle with Mombasa, immediately emphasising that he’s a highly aggressive character. Essentially the slimy, loudmouthed shithead of the group, Stans is an unpredictable death row inmate who is confrontational, highly sceptical, and constantly criticising every decision, which only aggravates the group and causes tensions to be strained to breaking point. While the others are hesitant to trust each other, nobody trusts him, though he actually ends up showing a surprising amount of humanity (he is disgusted that Royce set them up as bait and thus caused Mombasa’s death, showing that his priorities have quickly changed since he was ready to kill the man not long before) and backbone as he takes on the Berserker Predator despite being hopelessly outmatched.

Then there’s the film’s breakout character, Ronald Noland (Fishburne), a former United States Army Air Cavalry soldier who’s been stuck on the planet for so long that he’s gone a little loopy. Having killed a couple of the Predators and appropriated their technology, Ronald observes the main characters from a distance using their cloaking ability and has holed himself up in the remains of an alien spacecraft. Talking in barely a whisper and keenly aware of the Predators’ tactics and techniques, Ronald is only too aware of the lengths one has to go to in order to survive against such a well-armed foe; indeed, a great deal of his mental instability is hinted to be because he chose to run and hide rather than fight alongside whoever he was first dropped there with. Having been stuck there for a long, long time, Ronald has developed a split personality and often talks (and argues) with himself after having been driven to madness from isolation and the constant threat of danger. At first, Ronald seems welcoming and accommodating; he admonishes the group for talking too loud and unknowingly giving their position away, but takes them in despite Stans’ bad attitude; he shares his food and water and even relates some of his knowledge to them, allowing them (and us) to learn how the Predators change and adapt with each cycle and the blood feud between the different Predator variants. All too soon, however, Ronald shows his true colours and tries to kill them, which ironically proves to be his undoing as he’s unceremoniously killed off with a single headshot. Having dug in and done whatever he can to survive, Ronald has been driven to edge from approximately ten years of isolation and conflict; believing that there’s no way off the planet since the idea of piloting an alien spacecraft is ludicrous even to him, Ronald is so far gone that he’ll lure in his own kind just to steal their resources so he can survive a little longer. It’s a shame Ronald didn’t last longer as he was an intriguing character and I think he deserved more of a payoff than he got; the Predators don’t seem to be actively hunting for him, and he doesn’t get a cathartic one-on-one showdown with any of them, meaning his end is pretty unceremonious, so I would have loved to see his character explored in some kind of prequel comic or book.

Predators expands on the titular alien’s lore and society in ways that have never really been seen before on film; previously the hunters came to Earth as a kind of workman’s vacation, basking in the heat and the chaos of our world to claim trophies or using us as incubators to bred the ultimate prey. Now, we learn that the aliens also regularly abduct killers and soldiers to be placed on their game world and hunted en masse in groups of three, which fundamentally alters the previously established portrayal of these creatures as solo hunters looking for a quick thrill on an alien world. Picking only the best prey for their game hunt, the Predators stalk them from afar as normal, but also unleash alien “attack dogs” to lure them out, and have clearly been bringing humans and other species there for a long, long time based on what we learn from Edwin and Ronald. Thanks to the jungle setting and the slower pace of the first half, much of the film heavily emulates Predator, retreading the same ground but in a new, fresh way while also acknowledging the events of the first film (though not the second, despite taking weapons and lore from that film). Nowhere is this more evident than in the traps laid by one of their victims, which as I mentioned are exactly like Dutch’s and kind of give the impression that Dutch’s tactics would not serve him well in this new environment. Not only that, there are now two groups of Predators and there’s a fascinating class warfare between the species; if you’ve seen the other films, you know how tough the Predator is so seeing the Classic Predator strung up and helpless is similarly a great shorthand to how formidable these new “Super Predators” are. These larger, far more fearsome Predators exhibit an even greater level of intelligence than their predecessors; utilising drones, attack dogs, and proving that their cunning and ferocity only increase with each season. While their technology remains largely the same, based around bladed weapons and plasma cannons, Ronald notes that they tweak and improve these with each batch of prey, clearly showing that they learn from their experiences, but even the Berserker Predator still craves the thrill of the old ways and engages in unarmed combat with Royce for the finale, and proves just as susceptible to mud and smoke and mirrors when left without the advantages of its technology.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Another way in which Predators borrows from the first film is in its building of tension; while Dutch’s group were a tight-knit, well-oiled team, these guys are one bad argument away from turning on each other, which keeps a thick layer of tension throughout the film, but especially in the first half. This is only exacerbated when Mombasa senses a Predator watching them from the trees, and the continued use of the first-person heat vision and the voice emulation of the titular hunter once again effectively builds a sense of dread and horror as both the knowing and unknowing audience would be just waiting for the creatures to reveal themselves and strike. A central theme in the movie is that of distrust and the nature of humanity; the Predators are overtly alien and monstrous, both in appearance and their ritualistic methods, but humans are much more adept at hiding their monstrous nature behind metaphorical masks. Even Royce, who openly admits to having employed similar tactics to flush out or overcome his enemies, has a darkness within him that means he’s ready to leave the others behind if it means escaping the planet. He’s interested only in surviving by any means necessary, but is determined not to end up like Ronald, whose desperate need to survive has driven him to madness. Edwin masks his true nature behind a mask of cowardice and helplessness but is, in fact, the most monstrous of all the main characters, even someone as reprehensible as Stans, to the point where he callously admits to feeling more at home amongst a planet of monsters than amongst his fellow man.

Although they’re all heavily armed and formidable individuals in their own right (even Edwin, who survives due to conning the others into believing he’s something he’s not), the characters are hampered by limited resources and a hostile, literally alien environment. At first, they try to piece things together and are stunned to find they’re on another world, but their first instinct is to blast at the alien creatures that come their way, leading to a number of highly engaging firefights. The action ramps up in a deliberate pace, building alongside the tension as the characters scramble to escape Ronald’s hideout and find the Predators far more formidable than their attack dogs. Naturally, Predators is bolstered by some brutal kills and vicious bloodshed; the Tracker Predator not only nonchalantly blows Ronald’s head off, it also stabs Nikolai in the back and leaves him hanging on the end of its clawed gauntlets. Cuchillo’s eviscerated corpse is left as bait for the others, Stans ends up having his spinal column and skull wrenched from his still living body and, perhaps to make up for Billy’s offscreen death in the first film, Hanzo engages in a sacrificial swordfight with the “Falconer Predator” (Mears) that leaves them both dead. We even get some violent Predator-on-Predator action in the finale as the Classic Predator battles with the fearsome Berserker Predator in a knockdown brawl that sees the iconic creature overpowered and ultimately beheaded by its physically superior counterpart. While the Predators are limited to four in the film, each one has a distinct look, as is to be expected from these creatures; as you also might expect, the Classic Predator is the most recognisable, and looks almost exactly like his counterpart from the first film, but these Super Predators are even uglier motherfuckers under those masks, with the Berserker Predator appearing far more monstrous once it takes its helmet off. We also get a couple of other alien creatures here, as the Predators send out tusked attack dogs to give the main characters something to shoot at and Edwin is used as bait to draw out the “River Ghost”, a humanoid alien that has some similarities to the Predator’s original design.

When Edwin is maimed and left as dead weight for Royce and Isabelle, Royce callously opts to leave them both behind in a desperate bid to escape the game preserve by freeing the Classic Predator and having it fly them to safety. The Classic Predator, itching to settle the score with the Berserker Predator, honours the deal by setting the ship to autopilot back to Earth and goes one-on-one with its larger rival. Unfortunately, the Classic Predator’s no match for the Super Predator and Isabelle is stunned when Edwin drugs and paralyses her with a neurotoxin from an alien plant and coldly reveals his true nature as a sadistic murderer to her. Although Royce appears to die when the Berserker Predator destroys the spaceship, it turns out he had a change of heart and came back for them, proving he has some humanity beneath all his tough-guy swagger. He also proves to be craftier, and faster, than Edwin anticipated, stabbing and leaving the would-be doctor as a prime target to lure out the Berserker Predator. Having observed his foes throughout the film, and taken onboard everything he’s learned from them (and from Isabelle and Ronald), Royce wounds the Berserker Predator, uses fire to disorientate it, and cakes himself in wet mud to help neutralise the creature’s infrared vision. Striking hard and fast with an axe, Royce seems to have the upper hand but underestimates the capabilities of the Predator’s helmet, and he’s soon left taking a beating from the creature. Luckily, Isabelle manages to wound the Berserker Predator with a sniper shot, giving Royce the chance to recover, pummel the alien with his axe, and ultimately decapitate it to prove himself the superior of the two. Wounded, tired, and haunted by their experiences, Royce and Isabelle are left facing the prospect of a new crop of prey being dropped in for the hunt but nevertheless determined to find a way off the game planet.

The Summary:
Honestly, I can’t stress enough how much I enjoy Predators; as much as I like to see the Predators in new environments in each film, recreating the jungle theme of the first one by setting it on an alien world was a great way to evoke the spirit of that iconic movie while still providing something new for long term fans. There’s also enough breadcrumbs here to inspire newcomers to check out that first movie, but sadly (and honestly confusingly) no mention of the events of the second film despite the fact that the Predators use weapons introduced in that movie. Still, the focus is clearly on paying homage to and replicating what made the first film so great but with different circumstances and far more volatile characters; this can be seen all throughout, with the score, the narrative beats, and even the dialogue all being direct references to that first movie, but the presentation and conditions are just different enough that it never feels like a cheap knock-off or a simple remake. Adrian Brody is surprisingly convincing as a tough, gruff mercenary; Royce is an intelligent and versatile character who has great instincts and a strong urge to survive, but also finds his humanity again by the end of the film. The others are equally larger than life; even those with small roles shine in their own way by contributing some entertaining character moments or helping to spread the exposition across the film’s runtime. Ronald remains one of the most intriguing characters in the franchise; I’d love to see the degradation of his mind and spirit chronicled in a comic book some time, and I think the only way it could’ve been better is if he’d stuck around a little longer or even been a returning character. The Predators themselves naturally steal the show at every turn and their species is expanded upon nicely here, with some elements (like the differing Predator classes) bleeding into the next film. Indeed, one of the main reasons I was so disappointed by The Predator (Black, 2018) was that it didn’t tie up the cliff-hanger ending of this film; hell, I would’ve settled for Royce and Isabelle being the cargo the “Fugitive Predator” (Brian A. Prince/Kyle Strauts) was protecting in that film. Sadly, Predators seems to have been largely forgotten these days, and that’s a real shame as it’s a really good film that does a great job of putting a new twist on the classic formula and I’d love to see this concept and character revisited and expanded upon at some point down the road.

My Rating:

Fantastic

Did you enjoy Predators? How do you think it compares to both the first film and the others in the franchise? Which of the characters was your favourite, and who would you have liked to see get a bigger role? Would you have liked to see Ronald’s character explored further, and were you disappointed that Predator 2 wasn’t referenced? What did you think to the Super Predators and the way the film expanded upon the creature’s lore? Would you have liked to see a direct sequel to this film? Which of the Predator sequels and merchandise was your favourite and did you celebrate Predator Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on Predators, feel free to leave a comment below or drop your thoughts on my social media.