Review | THE PREDATOR

By Jose Jara

THE PREDATOR
Delivers Action and Plenty of Comedy
By: Daniel Guzman

The Predator, the newest installment to the sci-fi action film franchise is once again hitting theaters everywhere. Loyal fans to this franchise will be filling the theater seats on its opening weekend in order to watch their favorite alien hunter do what it does best, hunt humans, specifically scientist/ government/military men. Director Shane Black, who was the first prey to this alien species back in the original 1987 film has decided to go a different route this time around in regards to the reaction the film should deliver to its audience. There was plenty of gasps from the audience when it came to the gory killing that the Predator dished out, but the overall noise throughout the theater was laughter coming from the audience, including my own.

Watching the preview to this film weeks before, you think that I would have had an inkling of this movie trying to shell out not only massive spent ammo, but barrels of laughs by casting funny man, Keegan-Michael Key. The comedic talent wasn’t just riding on the shoulders of Keegan, but was a shared task amongst the casted out military crew comprised of actors: Thomas Jane, Augusto Aguilera, Trevante Rhodes, and Alfie Allen. This military ensemble was named by lead actor, Boyd Holbrook, as “The Loonies.” Boyd, who doesn’t have to flex his funny bone, but instead has the mission of landing the heroic action sequences plays more of the anchor to this band of military misfits. To complete this crew, we are graced with the presence of actress Olivia Munn, who portrays the role of a DNA expert scientist who is somehow naturally gifted at firing any military weapon for the very first time with no problem whatsoever.

If you are dying to know the plot of this story here is my cliff note version of it: The Predator who has been infused by his own kind with human DNA escapes near death by crash landing on Earth. A gargantuan sized Predator is out hunting The Predator, and a special forces sniper, Quinn Mckenna (Boyd Holbrook), stumbles on to this alien life form during a secret military mission he was assigned to. Once the secret government that has known of these alien hunters since the 80’s is informed of this crash landing, as well as the fact that Quinn knows of their existence, it’s this secret government’s job to kill off this sniper as well as other disposable ex-military misfits (The Loonies). Fortunately for Quinn and his Loonies, The Predator cat and mouse hunt between each other causes enough disturbance for these Loonies to not be the biggest concern for this secret government. The rest of the story I leave for you to discover.

The Predator caught me off guard when it came to making comedy a key factor for large chunks of the film. The good thing about this was that the cast most definitely delivered some good R-rated laughs. The action as always has its best moments when The Predator filets humans like there is nothing easier for it to do. The blood and gore are typical to what would be expected from this franchise. What it did lack though was a sense of horror that the original Predator easily captured. This is much harder to execute given this long-standing franchise having its iconic character be a Hollywood staple that audiences often come to cheer on, and not be against. Director Black didn’t fail by doing this, since it’s clear that his intention was not to scare, yet to entertain. Entertaining is a good word for The Predator film, as long as you’re fine with its preposterous story, unbelievable action, predictable outcome, and cliché one liners, you won’t be disappointed.