Details from IMDB:
Predator: Killer of Killers
Three of the fiercest warriors in human history become prey to the ultimate killer of killers.
Initial Thoughts:
My wife and a friend went to the new Knives Out movie today, I wasn’t in the mood to go to the theatre (and “Wake Up Dead Man” will be on Netflix soon) so I decided to watch this as I know Trachtenberg does a great job with any Predator movie. Plus it is on a streaming service I pay for and I often go for movies with shorter runtimes (this is less than 1.5 hours). Hard to talk about this movie without SPOILERS, so you’ve been warned.
Main Points:
This is a fun idea for a movie, Predators are hunting great warriors throughout history but when these people surprisingly win (they are all clever and well-skilled) they are taken captive (put in suspended animation) and then made to fight on a planet full of Predators as entertainment/a hunt. The animation here is very good to excellent, there are some really beautiful scenes in every time period. I also loved how it is divided into different weapons, Shield, Sword and Gun. There is a lot of violence here and some coarse language, certainly not for kids, ages 19+.
It is a little odd that the Yautja, Predator race which has never been said onscreen before, would only go to earth and get humans, what about the rest of the galaxy? I think some variety would have been a little better. Of the three stories I enjoyed “Sword” the most, I loved how barely anyone speaks and most of the communication is done through facial expressions. I also thought that the action scenes were excellent, with it being animated there was no holding back on the gore, people get beheaded a lot! Stay tuned for a quick post-credit scene (which you probably know about) but I thought was a great touch to tie this in with other Predator movies.
Final Thoughts:
Trachtenberg is certainly on a roll! I really enjoyed this and give it a solid 8 out of 10, would highly recommend it to any Predator fan, just not those under 19. I hope we get to see more of these characters as we are left on a cliffhanger, not finding out what happens would be really annoying! I thought the run time of less than 1.5 hours was perfect, always best to leave the audience wanting more. As mentioned some variety with the warriors (and occasionally some not so great animation) are my only notes. Check this out for a unique take on the Predator, you’ll be glad you did.