The Predator

Shane Black upgrades everything imaginable, sets a fast pace and, especially with Dolby Atmos, successfully fulfills the requirements of a hit action movie (it’s taken up a level by the high-powered climax). What does not work, however, are the characters – there are quite a lot of them, not one of which is likable or interesting (Jacob Tremblay’s boy had “Spielbergian” potential but failed to fulfill it). The attempts at humor and coolness don’t work; moreover, they’re here at the expense of the atmosphere and tension for which I love the first installment and don’t mind the second. This one is a more action-packed and imaginative, but not much smarter Paul W.S. Anderson’s Alien vs. Predator. (09/20/2018)

The best film in the last thirty years with the Predator in the main or a supporting role. Which is weak praise and a truly dismal business card for the series' sequels and spin-offs, since there are inconsistencies in almost every scene. For every good line, there is at least one awkward one, and every great action scene is followed by a WTF moment (all thanks to Thomas Jane and the overly used dogs). While the casting of Boyd Holbrook and Sterling K. Brown is on point, Olivia Munn's unfortunate presence is a disappointment, as I cannot believe her as a doctor even for a moment. Similarly, Jacob Tremblay, who never fails, seems to have stepped out of a different movie. But beware, this is unstoppable and relentless entertainment, and after almost falling asleep eight years ago while watching Predators, this is a big step forward, though unfortunately with a sad lack of care. Shane Black must have known how many fans look up to him as the savior of the entire franchise, and his sometimes self-parodic approach must have surely shocked many of them. (09/13/2018)

Holy shit, who would have guessed how totally fucked up this was going to be? Shane Black as director? That is an absolute win. So, what did go wrong? Maybe the fact that Shane made a bit of a joke out of the Predator. The Predator is rough. It is like if you put a group of the toughest soldiers into Vietnamese jungle and asked them to smash their way through the worst shit. They will go and do it, similarly like Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was shooting the machine gun into the jungle not knowing what was happening around him. However, the fundamentals there were clear. Not to drive fear to the absurd but drive fear to the reality and add a bunch of tough lines that will be legendary even in a third generation. But here? The main theme of Predators is an autistic child and the whole thing revolves around a bunch of weirdos who do not take themselves seriously at all and turn this film into a complete farce. I get that it was meant that way, but I have to say it doesn’t fit Predator at all. Had I not known the original Predator, I would’ve been more or less satisfied. For example, Keegan Michael Key is a great comedian, but does a comedian belong into the Predator? I don’t fucking think so. Pardon my French, but this film does not deserve a more delicate review. (05/07/2019)

I wish it was an homage to the classic, a witty, self-absorbed genre film, or at least a guilty pleasure for a Predator geek, but it’s none of that. A wannabe comedy, stupid action movie where one situation out of a hundred is funny, with a story written by someone who is either from high school and loves the Predator universe or a professional screenwriter who hates the universe and was under the influence of narcotics. Moreover, the solid bloodbath is ruined by unnecessary and not very accomplished CGI. Only put it on if the hunting toys, the killer instinct of the villain and the music from the original film were something memorable for you. (12/19/2018)

As if the Predator got into the hands of Carpenter in the mode of Big Trouble in Little China / Escape from XY. Yes, it's a truly B-rate nonsense. Yes, it's stuck time. Yes, it has little in common with the Predator. But it's extremely fun; sometimes intentionally (it typically uses one-liners in a Black style) and sometimes not (it does not hold together and does not make the slightest sense). Which doesn´t mind because whether it's silly, degraded, B-rate in terms of one-liners, it's just fun at all times. I this movie had been made a decade earlier, it would have been a cult movie today. So, the worse Predator, the better the B-movie. And it´s a damn good B-movie. (09/12/2018)