The Predator – 2/5 – Movie Reviews by Ry!
The Predator – 2/5 – Arriving to September usually means a low point at the theaters. For all its worth, you want to enjoy anything you watch on the big screen. When you get this to this month, it is the time where you experience a plethora of mostly subpar films (with a few minor exceptions). The Predator is a sequel/reimaging of an 80s action classic. With a chance to provide some good pure entertainment, the results are lesser than expected. With a group of cliché misfits, terrible dialogue and an incomprehensible plot, The Predator becomes another throwaway film.
Premise: As the Predators return to Earth, there internal conflicts spreads. Along the way, a group of misfits must find a reason for their arrival, and stop them at all cost.
For a list of actors/actresses, please refer to the film’s IMDb page. From the main to the supporting roles, they all do their best to provide colorful like personalities with one-dimensional figures. From known people like Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn and Thomas James to new comers like Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes and Sterling K. Brown, they all have distinct charisma that creates a certain fun-like charm. Each character has likability, but the overall aspect makes them dry within their own development. The chemistry is generally entertaining, but the archetypal styling is driven by horrendous dialogue. This manifests the awkward cartoonish personas, driving along moments of cheesy and intolerable situations. It becomes cumbersome to see each of them get wasted in these roles. This conflict creates a paradox where the clumsy mannerisms, predictable monologues and overtly melodramatic moments stand out. This leads to some unbearable situations for the audience.
From the beginning, it is apparent that there is no strong adherence to storytelling, character development or application of a conjoined experience. Once introduced to the characters and ‘purpose’ of the alien arrival, it turns into a sandbox of action/sci-fi tropes linked by terrible exposition. The unorthodox methods play well within genres like dark comedies or satirical dramas, but using it for this concept shines a light on a lazy script that attempt at ‘redefining’ a core experience. What you have is a clashing of scenes that mimic one type of genre (action, comedy, drama, etc.), with no real transition. You have a topical ‘set piece’ that becomes tied to something ‘important’, but eventually gets overshadow by eccentric character antics or flawed set pieces. Things are left unexplained, creating webs of loose plot threads that leads to a convoluted mess. What you can gather is there is a group of survivors generally trying to survive an alien hunter. Trying to take a chance is admirable, but when there is already a set of ‘rules’ within a property, it takes away from the experience. Once the group is faced with the ‘final boss’ scenario, it leads to a dilemma of the existing lore. This crossroads could have pushed forward some fun new elements, but the attempt lacks coherence. This causes the lackluster appeal of one-liners, over-the-top actions and ultimate confrontations. When you finally get to the epilogue, it is a bait and switch modeling where it is obvious the scriptwriter(s) had no idea how to conclude this film.
The visuals are standard for this type of film. With a common setting of small towns, woods and the action set pieces, it feels all like second-hand production to better action films. The score is non-existent.
The Predator is a reimaging that could have lead into something great, but becomes a lackluster experience. Littered with many problems, you will not find a lot of fun here. Maybe check it out if you’re fan, but I recommend skipping this for something else at the theaters.