The Predator Review - A Wild Sci-Fi Thrill Ride of Epic Proportions

The Predator, from Twentieth Century Fox and TSG Entertainment, brings to the screen a savant child, a unit of unfit veterans, a secret government agency, and an heroic battle as aliens arrive to harvest DNA from the most advanced warriors.

Directed by Shane Black, The Predator stars Jacob Tremblay, Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key, Sterling K. Brown, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Auguto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, Mike Dopud, Niall Matter, Javier Lacroix, James Salisbury, Duncan Fraser, Gerry Chalk, and Brian A. Prince as The Predator.

The film begins with an epic intergalactic chase through atmospheres still unknown, when a portal opens and one of the alien craft attempting to escape maneuvers through the space doorway. The craft, damaged in the fight, is hurdling to earth, gliding across the skies, with one engine blown and a trail of thick black smoke sending out a clear beacon.


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Simultaneously, in the mountains of Mexico, a pair of eyes peer out from the cover of trees, shrubs and darkness, as he whispers his coordinates, we see through his scope, he appears to be military or at least an assassin.

His mission kill the drug lords and recover the hostages. Not waiting, he takes the shot just as the alien craft nearing ground level streaks overhead and with a loud crash and explosion the entire mission has changed.

Our assassin Quinn McKenna, played by Boyd Holbrook, leaves his in play mission and runs to the scene to find the shattered craft.

Examining the wreckage for survivors or proof of life he finds some green trail of liquid, and what looks like soldiers gear, a face-mask shield, and an portable arm band weapon launcher. Taking the items for evidence, he says, as no one will believe this, he continues his hunt for the alien who turns the tables and begins to hunt him.

The alien who is physically vulnerable to extreme automatic weapon and other high powered assaults, is able to fade into shadowed or total invisibility, after taking out the two other point soldiers, he is hit in the fire fight and falls to the ground. The blood of one of the soldiers drips from the trees outlining the alien who is in invisibility mode.

The breech in airspace causes notification at a cloaked Department of Defense office and Traeger, played by Sterling K. Brown, an Alien tracker is sent to find whatever was on that ship, contain the scene and kill anyone who may have information or made contact. His mission is simple, seek, kill, destroy.

The Alien tracker Traeger believes in surrounding himself with all the experts necessary taking their information and killing them off. This time he contacts Dr. Casey Bracket, played by Olivia Munn, who is so excited over the possibility of a sighting that she willingly goes, no questions asked, with the G-Men team.

McKenna makes it to Mexico and mails the evidence to his ex-wife Emily, played by Yvonne Strahovski. His son, Rory McKenna, played by Jacob Tremblay, a computer genius and savant opens the package and find the operating system. 

Challenged, by an advanced computer code and Alien language he manipulates the system and as it is Halloween decides he is going as a space alien.  

Meanwhile, McKenna is captured by Treager and brought in for a debriefing. Midway through the psych eval, he realizes the government needs a scapegoat and he is it. Soon he is arrested and put on transport to take him to his new home.

This is where we meet five others, Nebraska Williams, played by Trevante Rhodes, Coyle, played by Keegan-Michale Key, Baxley, played by Thomas Jane, Nettles, played by Augusto Aguilera, and Lynch, played by Alfie Allen, all brave, a bit wacky, somewhat off kilter, the unwelcome, we trained for battle, and now deemed to crazy to remain in society all wondering what the newest member to their group has done to earn the one way ticket to loony-ville.

It is at this point that The Predator kicks it up a notch.

I have to say, I have a low tolerance for slasher, horror, films and expected to be a bit squeamish during this film and it wasn't that way at all.

Even for those who have a low tolerance for sci-fi bloody gore films, The Predator is quickly engaging, the plot thoroughly captivates and is plausibly established from the beginning. As we are dealing with Aliens, the story surrounding the men, the battle, and the reactions to the Aliens is authentic.


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Jacob Tremblay, who has delivered big performance in each of his roles, handles this role with ease. He turns in a believable performance and handles the demands of the sci-fi epic battle story line.

The Predator is an ensemble performance, and in order for the premise to work all the members of the troupe must bring the genuineness and they do. It is really a well done horror film

Granted there is a lot of bloody scenes, traditional high powered automatic weapons splatter, stabbing/slashing wounds of all kinds and even so the blood and gore is rarely the main focus in the scene, it moves fast through it, and clearly not gratuitous. The high body count and bloody battles whether fought here or on other lands are casualties of war and expected.

The Predator grabs the attention at the beginning and holds on through the ending.

With the expected haunted house style pop-ups, jumping, hunting alien dogs, the epic battles for supremacy, expect a wild sci-fi thrill ride with heightened moments of suspense, amazing special effects and of course humanize those considered disposal.

The Predator opens September 14, 2018. See it. It is an interstellar battle of epic proportions.

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