“The Predator” does not live up to the famed franchise

Courtesy+of+The+Predator+official+website+

Courtesy of “The Predator” official website

By Jarrod Khoo

“The Predator,” directed by Shane Black, is overall a mediocre addition to a franchise that arguably didn’t need it. The film fails to expand upon the franchise in any meaningful way and instead relies on the same old tropes and cliches that plague the action movie industry.

The numbers don’t lie either. The Predator” was budgeted $88 million, but has only managed to take in $69.9 million. While it’s likely that the movie will break even due to the franchise’s popularity, that’s not exactly a promising sign for any future sequels.

Another flaw is the film’s inability to focus solely on the namesake alien hunter, instead choosing to focus on a conceited jerk named Traeger (Sterling K. Brown). While Brown’s acting is terrific and proves that he should play more villains, his role in the film seems meaningless and only distracts the audience from the main reason why they bother to show up.

Furthermore, the editing in some parts of the film seem rushed and haphazard, but by no means poor. While even the greatest films occasionally include a few unrealistic leaps of logic, “The Predator” is littered with such non sequiturs. Individually, none of these flaws are deal-breaking, but when placed in rapid succession often skip key details and leave the audience confused.

The most significant of these is how the main characters nearly always manage to conveniently commandeer a vehicle, including an RV and a helicopter, with no explanation as to how. Some parts of the action also seem to defy physics and real science, such as an alien spaceship needing an air intake for an engine (despite there being no air in space), these minute details would only irk the most devoted of fans and not general viewers.

However, the film is not a complete failure and does have its golden moments. Black (who did play a supporting role in the original 1987 Predator) makes sure to include an ample supply of comedic elements, breaking up tense moments and avoiding what could have been a homogenous and unchanging dramatic tone.

Fred Dekker, cowriter, is also sure to not waste any time, as the film opens with two Predator ships engaged in combat. The action and fighting sequences are also bloody, chaotic, and exactly what you would expect from a Predator movie. The way Black jumps from one scene to another is not entirely perfect, but at least manages to ensure that the audience is never bored. While The Predator does include more than its fair share of flaws, it at least serves as a decent popcorn flick that is almost worth the price of a ticket.