Got to see Shane Black’s The Predator and I have to say that its yet again a step in a different direction while connecting to the past movies.

Twentieth Century FoxÕs ÒThe Predator.Ó

Synopsis:

When a young boy accidentally triggers the universe’s most lethal hunters’ return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.

The film stars Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, Niall Matter, Mike Dopud and Brian A. Prince.

Without spoiling the film, we see a cops and robbers game between two predators with a mysterious item that changes the game for the franchise moving forward.

I liked how the film found a way to connect the first and second Predator movie with a reasonable angle. Appreciate that those two movies also got the necessary nod without having to forcibly sneak in a cameo.

Boyd Holbrook is a loveable character here as he plays former sniper Quinn McKenna who is thrust into the conflict after his encounter with the Predator in his last mission. The dude slips unstable on and off like a glove but he shines the most when he’s being a dad. Too bad though because him and his onscreen son have little chemistry together.

Olivia Munn is a badass once more in this picture and I’m glad that she never became the damsel-in-distress here. She even finds herself kicking (or should we say killing) her attackers like a goddamn action heroine. This was better written for her than her role as Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse. For that we love her more. And I feel sorry how things panned out between her, Fox, her cast mates and that sexual felon she had a scene with.

For this The Predator review I have have to give a huge clap to the supporting characters. Not only are they great with how they threw lines and stuck to their quirks and crazy backstories, they also represent diversity in a story. Although that one bit I leave to you dear readers to judge for yourself when you see the film. But I don’t doubt that that was a step in the right direction for an action movie.

This movie is also fun and loaded with character humor as well as dark humor. There will be some jokes that may pass you by the first time so a second viewing is in order.

Be wary also as the flick has an R-13 rating here in Philippine cinema because of the violence, gore and language. Cant have none of the kiddies see all this bloodshed and scar them; although I recall seeing Predator and Predator 2 at a young age and turned out fine (I think?)

That ending is one that deserves a separate post. Its that promising and juicy that you want to play a certain Capcom sidescroller from yonder just to really appreciate what they want to do in the next few years.

So was The Predator an “ugly motherfucker”?

Or was it a beautiful motherfucker?

The Predator Review – Verdict

8/10

I had a blast watching The Predator and while it took awhile for Shane Black to reboot this franchise, I loved how it turned up. The movie is action-packed, a bit lagging at times, hilarious in other sequences and overall bloody. If you want your mix of action and suspense, then I highly recommend this film. It’s not a perfect movie but it does deliver what you need for fun movie viewing session.

PRO

• Super Predator is awesome
• Dog Predators
• Keegan-Michael Key needs more projects like to counterbalance Jordan Peele’s work in horror genre
• Olivia Munn still pretty and getting there action movie-wise
• The build-up for sequels and world-building is wonderful

CONS

• Lacks exposition
• Predictable moments from time-to-time
• They just love to do throwbacks and callbacks to past films which is pretty boring
• The cinema where we watched the film was horrible. The 3D glasses where either not clean enough or the screen was too dim.

Special thanks to 20th Century Fox Philippines for the advance screening passes tonight!