The Predator
Director: Shane Black
Writer: Fred Dekker, Shane Black
Sequel to: Predator, Predator 2, Predators
Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, Brian A. Prince
Seen on: 23.6.2023

Content Note: ableism, saneism, misogyny, sexualized violence/rape culture

Plot:
Sniper Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) stumbles upon a Predator (Brian A. Prince) during a mission in the jungle. He manages to snag some of the alien’s gears before the government team led by Will Traeger (Sterling K. Brown) removes all evidence of the alien presence. Not knowing what else to do to keep it safe, he sends the things to himself at his PO box. But the package gets rerouted to his ex-wife’s (Yvonne Strahovski) address. And his son Rory (Jacob Tremblay) does not only go through those things but actually manages to activate them, drawing the attention of the Predators right to his home.

The Predator might be the most forgettable entry in the franchise yet. The characters are one-dimensional stereotypes, the plot doesn’t make any sense and it doesn’t manage to be tense, either. I don’t know if it is worse than Predator 2, but it is certainly blander.

The film is probably supposed to be a little nonsensical and over the top with a kind of schlocky vibe. It is something I can generally get behind but in this case too much of the schlock felt like laziness in storytelling and not a conscious choice to be a little ridiculous. There are just so many coincidences and intuitive leaps the characters make to explain things.

But even worse is the character work. The way the (two!) women in the film are written makes me wonder whether Black and Dekker ever spent time with a woman. They certainly didn’t seem to realize that women are people. But then the male characters aren’t really better rounded either. The troupe of disgraced soldiers that Quinn falls in with are one ableist and/or saneist stereotype after the other, all played for jokes, while Rory is another flavor of ableist stereotype – the autistic genius. It’s all completely cringeworthy.

It hasn’t been that long that I saw the film, and yet I already struggle to recall details about it. That’s how boring it was to me, how flavorless. A lot of this has to do with the fact that I just didn’t care for the characters, with the exception of Casey (Olivia Munn) who is done dirty by the film the entire time [and I just found out about the mess with Black casting a convicted sex offender as a character who sexually assaults Casey. Fortunately, the scene was cut]. It also doesn’t make up for it with memorable action, gore or much of anything, really.

I am pretty sure I have seen worse films, but I am even more certain that The Predator will be one of those films that I will forget that I have ever watched. The fact that it is part of a series and that I know I have watched all of the series will probably be the only thing to save me from an accidental re-watch in a few years. Thank goodness for that.

Summarizing: On to better things, namely Prey.