There’s
a new Predator film out.
Finally!
See
down below for a spoiler free review.
More
importantly, this serves as an introduction to a long delayed tour of the whole
franchise.
Predator Index:
The Predator with spoilers (spoiler
free review below)
For
Fox’s science fiction monsters, the Predator has always been the unfavored
child.
The
Yautja (named in expanded materials outside the films) are far less popular,
profitable and prolific than their Xenomorph “cousins” from the Alien franchise.
I
prefer the Predators though. To use a
comic book analogy (because it’s me) Aliens are more like the original
appearance of Doomsday: a specific set of scary powers and abilities without real depth, to be used an obstacle to the hero.
Predators
are more like Bane. Yes he’s designed to fight the hero, but he was fleshed out
as a character first (based on Doc Savage) and has had evolutions as new creative teams guided
his destiny.
Aliens
are, by design, faceless scary monsters; Predators have personality, and a cool and interesting tool
box of lethal accessories to play with!
One
thing I truly appreciate about Predator cinema stories is, even though the release
dates are few and far between, the filmmakers have always gone out of their way
to make sure the Yautja are presented as being part of the same World each time. New items and revelations grow out of what
has come before.
This year's film reteams the guys who brought the world The Monster Squad. (YAY!) Fred Dekker also worked in another
franchise I like more than its more popular associate, when he wrote and directed
Robocop 3. While Shane Black is known to Yautja
enthusiasts as Hawkins in (and a silent script doctor on) the first Predator.
It’s
not only the names of the bullies in this movie that reveal the Monster Squad past of its creators. Like that film, there is a mix of real horror
monster action with dark humor spaced throughout.
Anyone
who says the original Predator didn’t
have a lot of humor must have missed all the subtle (and much of the no subtle)
parts of it. There will be more of those thoughts in that film’s post, but it isn't a coincidence that John McTiernan went on to direct Last Action Hero.
Predators
remain formidable and terrifying foes, and their lethality is showcased by a
combination of high end computer graphics, and the practical effect focused
world of Tom Woodruff Jr., Alec Gillis and the rest of the gang at Amalgamated Dynamics. They've nicely transitioned from being "the Alien guys" to "the Predator guys." It doesn't hurt that they're another link to Monster Squad.
The
film delivers a fitting representation of the Predator franchise.
There’s
an equal amount of both levels of references.
Many lines, moments and characters are call backs, usually
with an entertaining twist (and occasionally poking fun at some of the more ridiculous
ideas), of the previous installments. The
in story continuity references to past events and logical progressions from them are
equally present.
“Logical
progressions” may be too strong a description for stories about invisible
beweaponed big game hunters from space. Work with me, people.
Audio
references, a strong suit of the franchise, continue to be used. Musical cues, and more importantly organic
and technological sound effects create links through the series making the
current installment sound correct.
The
cast also matches the gangs seen in previous outings. They’re an excessively
over the top group of unique in their own style and competency combatants, which
are entertaining to follow through their battles with the creatures and other opponents. There’s also a sufficient amount of “Cannon
Fodder” unpleasant personnel, and authority figures who foolishly underestimate the threat around to keep the carnage levels high.
That
last item is important. The original movie
could hang its plasma caster on suspense for much of of the time, with the multi stage
reveal of the Predator yielding several payoffs. Now we all know what a Predator is, what it
looks like, and what it can do…and we want to see it in action as much as
possible.
This
film lays out a decent mix of previously seen weapons and tactics, with new
items, ideas and Yautja society reveals.
Thanks to improved effects technology (and probably the success of Deadpool) we get more visuals of the
results of those Yautja weapons and tactics. Woo hoo!
It's
a giant pile of bombastic and gore filled mayhem, chock full of goofy yet
highly deadly human opponents, with commanding leaders demonstrating that it's not just our weapons, but the the human mind that makes us their most dangerous (soft) prey. There are enough science fiction elements to
elevate it above a standard “deadly monster” film, and it both showcases what
we’ve seen before, while enhancing and adding to the overall Yautja mythology.
In
other words: it's a Predator film!
My
daughter and I cheered the whole way through. (That’s my girl! I'm so proud.)
Anyone
else who’s followed an enjoyed the franchise as its bumped along shifting from
creator to creator over the years will likely do the same.
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