By Kaylee Brewster
MOVIE REVIEW
“The Predator” doesn’t bring anything new or spectacular to the “Predator” franchise, but the screen is too splattered with blood to notice.
However, loads of appendage-ripping, throat-slitting, bullets-blazing gore is expected when you’re facing the universe’s most advanced hunter, as military sniper Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) finds out.
When McKenna witnesses an alien crash-landing and subsequent slaughter of his team by the alien, he keeps some of the alien gear as evidence. However, the U.S. military wants to keep the extra-terrestrial encounter under wraps, so McKenna is sent away with a bunch of unstable soldiers for “group therapy.”
McKenna thinks he has outsmarted his superiors by sending the alien tech to his home, but his son Rory (Jacob Tremblay) finds it and activates it, which puts a target on his son. With the help of his new found “team” of crazy men and scientist Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn), they decide to save the kid, kill the alien and protect the world.
From beginning to end, “The Predator” is fairly standard alien-chasing movie fare. There’s nothing surprising, other than where the monster will show up in the next scene. Storywise, the film offers nothing new to the evil-alien genre, and the final act drags on for much longer than it needs to.
Although the ragtag crew McKenna finds has some predictable elements — they all have nicknames and weird personality quirks to make them stand out — the group provides some fun and light-hearted moments. Their back-and-forth banter is the strongest and most enjoyable part of the film. The characters are likable enough that you don’t want them to die, which is important when facing a maniacal monster.
“The Predator” doesn’t shy away from the violent tendencies of the kill-for-sport alien. The action goes all out to be as bloody and over-the-top as possible. However, it backfires. Instead of “ewws” and “ughs,” the violence feels so campy it’s just “meh.”
This feeling sums up “The Predator.” Unless you’re a fan of the franchise, there’s not much the film has to offer. If you are a fan and you’re not looking for a decent story, just more of the same, “The Predator” should satisfy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAJ2LVVgqVo
