Movie Review: The Predator (Fox)

Spoiler-free, for your pleasure.

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The Predator was a funny film! I wasn’t really wasn’t prepared for that going in. When you think of these 80s action franchises you will notice how much more serious they get as they continue with each sequel/prequel, raising the stakes with each passing iteration. It was nice to see The Predator take a step back and have a bit of fun with the characters. Unfortunately, the top-notch dialogue in the film isn’t enough to carry the film.

A creative mistake was taken in the use of CGI. Every time they cut to a digital character you just get sucked right out of the film because it is not convincing. It’s not as bad as Sharknado-level effects, but it is distracting enough to affect how I could enjoy the film. It’s really too bad because the practical ‘man-in-suit’ scenes are great. I just wish they had gone that direction in The Predator for more effects scenes.

I am a huge fan of The Predator’s screenwriter, Shane Black. He has a heck of a resume. Most recently, you will know Black’s writing from Iron Man 3. If you remember Robert Downey Jr’s narration in that film then you will really enjoy one of Black’s other genius screenplay ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ starring RDJ and Val Kilmer. Black also wrote Monster Squad, Last Action Hero, and even the original Lethal Weapon film. I would say Shane Black knows a thing or two about writing for 80s franchises.

The cast was very well balanced featuring Boyd Holbrook (who you will remember as Wolvie’s metal-armed nemesis in Logan) as a witness of a Predator attack. In a way, this might be how Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch might have been treated after surviving the first film. You might be tempted to think of this film as a direct sequel to the 1987 Predator (note: no “The”) film but the appearance of Jake Busey (Starship Troopers, Contact) as the son of his real-life Dad Gary Busey’s (Lethal Weapon, Point Break) character from Predator 2 throws off this timeline I just created. I actually let out a little cheer when he showed up on the screen for the throwback, but the character is never utilized to his fullest potential.

Side note: are we going to enter into a world of sequels where actor’s offspring play their character’s children? Who wouldn’t want to see Colin Hanks in a sequel to his dad Tom’s film “Castaway”. We could call it “Another Castaway”. Then we can get Kevin Smith’s daughter Harley to play in “Jay and Silent Bobbie Strike Again” or Jaden Smith as the son of J in the ‘Children of the Men in Black’ from his dad Will’s resume.

Final thoughts: The Predator is an okay film, making up for poor CGI with good acting, funny dialogue, and great practical effects. It earns it’s R rating with lots of gore and language so it certainly will attract an audience that way.

The Predator: Come for the action, stay for the laughter.

The Predator opens nationwide on Friday, September 14th