geek'd
The Predator is not a great movie. It’s not horrible if you’re a fan, but this is not a rebirth of the series in any way. Long on action and short on common sense, The Predator does offer up some new insights into the backstory as to why the aliens come to earth and introduces us to some other exciting possibilities moving forward. But it all feels a little rushed, jumbled and less than satisfactory. The inconsistency of the edit in The Predator is it’s ultimate downfall. The casting, plot and overall story are quite good. The choppy editing, incoherent, rapid-fire dialogue that distracts more than delivers information and the inclusion of unnecessary story lines work too hard and are too successful in their failures for this to be considered a highlight addition to the franchise. Some viewers may wonder if this movie needs to exist at all. As a life-long fan of this series, I’m always happy to see what they’re going to do next, so the ending was a welcome surprise. I hope for the sake of one of the most iconic alien designs created that they go back to what made this series a hit in the first place. Simple concepts, great action and an enemy that made you THINK to survive, rather than just shoot bullets at it. I think The Predator tried to do too much, and blew it’s chances of being an epic on par with the first.
Overall grade: C
