The Predator
I finally had the opportunity to watch my first film in 4DX! I’m a gigantic fan of Predator (the monster more so than the entire series). I love the original, its one of two films that define my childhood. I’ve seen it so many times. I heard reviews for Shane Black’s The Predator weren’t so hot. Amidst the controversy of the sex offender cast in the film, I heard that this film was also generally bad. Now having seen it, I’d say I found it to be decent despite it being one of the lower ranked films in the series.
The film is about a Predator alien that comes to Earth to retrieve gear that was stolen from him. A crew of former soldiers and a scientist attempt to take the alien down. However, during confrontation they realize that there is another bigger and more advanced Predator on the planet as well and he starts to hunt them down. The film stars Boyd Holbrook , Jacob Tremblay, and Olivia Munn. Directed by Shane Black, who of course was in the original Predator film. This is crazy, but this is the first time I’m realizing how hot Olivia Munn is, wow.
The film is slow moving at times especially in the first act. It spends a lot of time with the characters and attempts to develop them. Its not always interesting when that’s done here is one of the examples where that was the case. I’d say the film delivers on its action sequences. There is blood, gore and guts and its all welcome. The suit for the Predator looks nice but the CGI is jarring at times. Especially for the predator dogs and the Mega Predator. Parts of the film have humor which is kind of what I expected with Shane Black, it works sometimes and fails at other points. Some of the films acting is hammy but it is what it is. There were obvious references to earlier films in the franchise, which I honestly could have done without.
I did like that the films score was very reminiscent of the original film, that was a welcome callback. The monster’s mystique remains intact which I liked. I wouldn’t mind a sequel to the film but it needs to be a lot better. I think this was a passion project for Shane Black but it obviously could have been better, which makes me wonder what the film looked like before reshoots. I will say this though, this film series seems to be in a better place than Alien because Covenent basically killed that series. Overall, not necessary at all but an enjoyable theatrical experience, most likely made better through a 4DX experience.
6/10
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