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The Predator Review – Spoiler Free

By Bryan Weatherall | September 17, 2018

The Predator Review – Spoiler Free

The Predator is a film which comes directed by Shane Black who some may know as the director of Iron Man 3 (2013) or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). The film stars Olivia Munn, Yvonne Strahovski, Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Sterling K. Brown, and Alfie Allen. The Predator is the newest film in the Predator franchise which originally started back in 1987. The Predator is an action, adventure and horror film which is about a dangerous and lethal alien that comes to Earth looking for some lost property.

Before going in to see The Predator at the cinema last week, I found myself quite excited about what I might be in for. I’ve been a big fan of the original Predator film for a long time and have always enjoyed the franchise, even though we all know that some films in there weren’t that great. So going in to see this, I was optimistic that I was in for some fun. What I was expecting from this film, was the same thing I was expecting in similar monster movies this year such as Jurassic World or The Meg. I wanted to see people get eaten, sliced up or tossed around in the most gruesome way possible. I’m happy to say that coming out of this film at the cinema, I got exactly what I wanted and more. The Predator is one of the most gruesome and over the top violent action films of 2018.

So most would likely be going in to see this film for the action sequences. Does The Predator deliver on these? I think in many ways it does deliver on action. While it does take quite a bit to get going, as after the initial action sequence it’s quite a few minutes before something happens again. But once it gets going, things really start to explode or get ripped apart. There are people cut in half, blown up, sliced, stabbed, thrown about and bitten. It’s all great stuff. The thing that Shane Black did well in The Predator was that the tone of the film never went to the side of being too serious. Even though you’re watching gruesome and gory things on screen, it’s entertaining and fun to see. It’s a strength of the film that it was able to do that on screen.

But while the tone being not so serious to counter the action and gore side of the film is a strength. In some ways this comedic tone to the characters is somewhat of a weakness when it comes to the plot. When looking at the characters in this film and the way they developed, their journeys and even how things concluded, it’s all mostly one big joke. Either you’ll like the humour in this film as I did, or be completely offended as some of it isn’t really politically correct compared to other action films humour in 2018.

The actors are all quite fun. I always enjoy watching Olivia Munn whether she’s on TV in The Newsroom or in some of her recent film performances. In The Predator she does well and I’m hoping we get to see her in more action films in the future. I also really enjoyed Boyd Holbrook in this one who had a difficult physical role to play and I think a difficult character to pull off in the right way for this type of film experience. But every actor in the film came across as entertaining and I have no issue with anyone.

Overall if you’re wondering if you should see The Predator at the cinema this weekend because you want to see an action film and want a bit of gore too. Then this film is the one for you this weekend. Both Olivia Munn and Boyd Holbrook are the standouts in this film and both deliver entertaining performances. I am hoping to see more from them at the cinema in the future. Where the film has some weaknesses is in the plot and the character development, but who really expects that to be good in a film like this? The humour may be great for some, but not for others. I feel that the film is either one that you might either really like or really hate. But I have to say that I had quite a bit of fun with this film last week and had a great night. That’s not to say I’ll watch it over and over when it’s on home release, but for a one night action slasher, it’s worth seeing on the big screen.