BY: ALEX BOZZI
Shane Black attempts to pay homage to the original Predator with the fourth installment of this franchise classic, but is it a modern take on a beloved action thriller or a last farewell? Unfortunately, it may be the latter.
Shane Black has been up close and personal with predators before. He was mauled to death by one in the original Predator as the geeky character Hawkins. This time, however, he takes up place behind the camera as the writer and director.
Instead of targeting muscled bodybuilders in the jungle, our favorite sadistic alien killing machine is after a decorated military sniper and his son in the suburbs who has come to possess some futuristic predator technology. From here the sniper, played by Boyd Holbrook, and a team of unfit and slightly insane soldiers, take up arms to defend the child from the bloodthirsty predator who just wants his stuff back. On their journey, they are eventually joined by a biology teacher, played by Olivia Munn, who happens to study aliens and wants to take samples to see their abilities.
The way these characters are developed is the biggest missed potential in the movie. The ragtag group is filled with funny people that may be better suited for a comedy than an action movie. Even though they may seem out of place they are still lovable and fun to watch, especially Keegan-Michael Key’s character. Unfortunately, they are never really developed enough to the point where you care about what happens to them.
The film is full of plot holes that will constantly have you scratching your head and thinking why they would do this or how is that even possible. A lot of the story doesn’t really make sense, especially in the scope of the entire franchise. However, the underlying idea of a predator on the loose in the suburbs is a nice take on what we have seen before.
The amount of comedy in this movie is really confusing. Every scene seems to have some cheesy line or gag that feels forced and awkward. These jokes were funny at first, but they get old really quickly and just didn’t work. It would make more sense if the entire franchise was like this, but it’s not. Maybe if the movie were marketed specifically as a light-hearted version of the classic, then maybe it would work out.
The only way to really get enjoyment out of this movie is to go into it thinking that it’s not supposed to be serious and hoping it is only a one-off film. If they decide to make another movie after this they will need to review their strategies, but I can’t really see them turning this story into a sequel.
On its own, it isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s definitely the worst Predator film in the series. It does have some genuinely funny moments and an interesting predator design. These things don’t quite make up for the lack of a convincing plot and boring main characters. Overall, I can appreciate what Shane Black was trying to do but it just isn’t in the same league as its predecessors.
Editor’s Note: Shane Black photo from Flickr by Gage Skidmore under copyright CC BY-SA 2.0. Still Shot Predator photo from Flickrby SanFranAnnie under copyright CC BY-SA 2.0. Cut-out photo and scoring by Alex Bozzi.
