If you are like me, you’ll walk away from the new Predator sequel, The Predator, with one ugly, mother-f—ing question, “How long does it take for a human to pass an alien invisibility-ball?”
To be certain, there will be lots of additional questions and plenty of head-scratching about this mess of a movie, which seems like it might have been written and edited by one of the crazy characters featured in its wackadoodle narrative.
I expected a lot better from director/writer, Shane Black (The Nice Guys), and I have some serious concerns now over how he might destroy the long-anticipated Doc Savage film; but, despite a myriad of major flaws, this movie was still sort of fun to watch, in a brain-clogged-by-buttered-popcorn kind of way.
Predator aliens arrive on earth and throw down with government agents and a subversive team from the Army’s psycho-ward. Earth’s only hope is the team leader’s autistic kid, who has learned the Predator’s language.
I’m not at all comfortable with the filmmakers’ treatment of various mental illnesses in this movie, including autism, Tourette’s syndrome, PTSD and suicidal tendencies; but I guess one doesn’t go to an R-rated Predator film for its political correctness.
In this case, you won’t be going for any kind of cohesive cinematic storytelling either, as this movie is messier than a disemboweled army-type extra. Awkward acting and inane action sequences make this just one big gag – although, admittedly, some of it is quite intentionally funny.
The Predator stars Boyd Holbrook as Quinn McKenna, who first encounters the aliens and later leads the charge against them; Jacob Tremblay (Room) as McKenna’s son, Rory; Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse) as the badass scientist, Casey Bracket; and Sterling K. Brown (Black Panther) as the government bad-guy, Traeger.
If you had high-hopes for this fourth-installment in the Predator franchise, this movie has all the right pieces; they’ve just been poorly assembled. Grade: 4/10
Photos Copyright © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
