The Predator

The new movie in the Predator franchise, The Predator directed by Shane Black is more like an action drama rather than a spine-chilling alien thriller. Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was such a huge popcorn entertainer as it had everything along with this venomous antagonist in the form of a predator. When it comes to the 2018 edition, the fear for the alien creature is pretty less which makes it a passable yet not so intriguing action flick.

Quinn McKenna, an army ranger discovers the visit of the predators when he and his team met with an accident during a mission. He tries to collect pieces of evidence for this discovery which eventually posts a threat to the life of his son Rory. Quinn along with another bunch of prisoners decides to go after the Predator in order to save Rory and the movie talks about how they manage to do it along with a biologist Casey Bracket.

The silliness in the story was one key thing the sequels of the Predator had in common which made almost all of them underwhelming. Shane Black has managed to give a certain level of respectability to the story by placing it within a particular time frame.  But the coolness and crispness you feel in the beginning portions start to fade away gradually making it that typical Predator movie. While the predator was ruthlessly killing everyone else who came anywhere near it, I found it really amusing why it was simply fooling around with Quinn without making it uneasy for him. And the way the movie ends made me feel that Shane Black wants to do more of Iron Man like movies.

Boyd Holbrook has the ruggedness to be Quinn McKenna. In a rather one dimensional depiction of an army officer character all he had to do was to maintain a certain attitude and he was effective in that. Olivia Munn delivers an earnest performance as Casey and it was perhaps her character that was giving a humane touch to the narrative. “Wonder” boy Jacob Tremblay was nice as nerdy Rory. Moonlight fame Trevante Rhodes gets a forgettable character. Keegan- Michael Key, Sterling K Brown, and Thomas Jane etc. are the other prominent names here.

Like I said, Shane Black has managed to give a sophisticated outlook to the movie. But it is in the last half of the screenplay where wit and cool are no longer a tool to engage the viewer Black fails to keep things lively. Things become predictable and moreover, I wasn’t really feeling the fear it was supposed to deliver. The sacrifice and the tactics look familiar and there aren’t any great emotional layers to make the characters endearing by any means. Visual effects have certainly enhanced the detailing of The Predator, but the “You are one ugly motherf*cker” kind of spooky feel went missing. The idea of an evolved Predator was a good one on paper as it sort of addresses the growth of the franchise. But when it got translated to screen from paper, that excitement of a new idea was not there.

The witty conversations and certain action bits can definitely help you in sitting through this 109 minutes long action flick. But due to the predictable and slightly messed up script in the last 30-50 minutes, The Predator becomes a passable forgettable film.

Rating: 2.5/5