I’ve already drawn the teasing of my colleagues for not being steeped in the Predator franchise. I have only seen the original one time and have not seen any other sequels until now (besides a bit of AVP in my childhood).
That said, I can’t imagine fans of the franchise will be displeased with Predator: Killer of Killers, which eschews any attempt to overthink its premise and simply asks: What if a Predator fought a Viking or a samurai or a WWII pilot, or all of the above?
The emphasis is on the action, and the action really shines as we see the best of our human warriors over time take on Predators which vary in shape and size: our Viking hero takes on a beast of a Predator while the Samurai takes on a slimmer, more agile variant. The pilot faces his Predator in a dogfight, so the build isn’t necessarily important.
This movie would have worked simply as a fun anthology of short battles, but the finale does bring all three of these stories together in a way that may be reminiscent of Marvel’s What If…? series. I found the finale to be entertaining, and it worked for me, with the most interesting bit being the interplay of a Viking and a samurai and how those two cultures differ in the pursuit of honor.
But yeah, these stories themselves are not particularly complex or interesting, but they are serviceable to lead us into the fights, which are bloody, gory, nonstop fun with great choreography and visual flair. It’s nice to see animation being taken advantage of with adults squarely in mind. I hope that this glorious action helps the long march toward animation being seen as the premium format it is for delivering exciting visuals for adults just as much as children.
I have yet to see Prey, but given the reactions to that film and now Dan Trachtenberg‘s success with this directorial feat, I am excited to go see Predator: Badlands in theaters as Trachtenberg becomes the guiding force for this franchise that, up til now, never really found its footing after the original hit.
