The Predator Fan Reviews

[Kakarotte]

Saw the movie today. Left me really disappointed, easily the worst of the franchise for me, and this is from someone who loved Predators. Some of the major issues for me:

1. Whenever there were kills, the gore was too brief, barely able to perceive what happened. An extended cut might fix this.
2. The comedy trash talk among the loonies was a bit too much, spread throughout the movie.
3. The music was horrible, in many scenes it was like the Jurassic Park's cheerful music which didn't suit at all.
4. Missed opportunity to expand on the predator mythology, would have liked for once to mention the name 'Yautja'. They already did the 'translation' thing, so they could have easily expanded upon the predator lore. Instead we got a stupid running joke on why they are called predator.
5. Anyone, literally anyone can accidentally activate a predator gear or weapon, all the time and immediately. It was ridiculous, worst offender for me.
6. The super intelligent 'know-it-all' kid.
7. The ending scene. Hated the Ironman-ish armor thing.

[Russ840]

Just back from the cinema.

I like it.

First though. I hate the very last scene. This seems to be universally hated. I will never watch that scene again.

Loved the characters. Wish we got something me more of Shawn Keyes though.

Trager was the best sort of c**t. Loved him.

It still baffles me as to why these films can never get the creature to look as realistic and as alive as the original. Apart from that, I loved the Fugitive. Shame he was taken off the table so soon but this would probably not be too much of an issue prior to the reshoots. The other predators would have filled the void.  Upgrade was cool but the Slightly digitigrade legs did not do it for me. I get it. I just thought they looked naff.

I don't mind the lore additions.  At the end of the day most of the additions are just assumptions by the characters anyway.

I could have done without the comedy dog element but liked the dogs generally in spite of the uninspired design.

The dialogue was not up to Shane Black's usual standard which was a shame.

I enjoyed the score. The cues to the original musics were nice.

Definitely a better movie here with some editing and what not.

If I was to rank the movies I'd say

Predator,  10/10. One of my 5 fav movies. So this is the gold standard in my marking.

Predator 2,  8/10

The Predator & Predators joint at 6/10. They both do differ t things I like but I can't pick one over the other so put them together.

[MU-TH-UR 6000]

Just came back from it.

I was having a blast from the cheer ridiculousness of it all. All the Predator bits were pretty badass and I enjoyed some of the additions to the lore and some extra depth to the aliens. The Loonies had great chemistry and even if some jokes didn't land, the majority did and made us care for them.

Music was used in terrible ways, reminded me a lot of Prometheus and Covenant with their choppy editing and music being used at every single second. Very obnoxious and as a consequence, I left not liking what I heard. As I mentioned the editing was pretty choppy at parts but bearable...

...until...

We reached the barn sequence. The movie took a massive downfall here. The humor was gone, character interactions that felt genuine were gone, ridiculous plot coincidences abound, the CGI looked unpolished and the movie just crammed the first Predator movie on those last 20mins that were largely forgettable. I am not surprised the reshoots started here, I felt like I was watching a soulless movie that became generic pretty quickly. I wish the movie continued that descent into madness feel it had. I was giddy with excitment then just left feeling "ehh". The infamous last scene just felt like a desperate fart of creativity leaving a swollen corpse full of ideas that never exploded into the gory mess I expected. I really hope they actually shot those ridiculous ideas they had for the third act, cause at least they feel like they belong to the genre deconstruction Shane was going for.

[D88M]

Spoiler

f**k me this was awful.

The humour was so forced in places and just. Kept. Going. The movie derailed two important scenes for pussy jokes. Not cute tags at the end of scenes; major diatribes in the middle of the plot trying to get moving. What the everloving f**k.

Treating aspergers as a super power is bad enough, but actually saying that being on the spectrum is "the next stage in evolution" -- and doubling down on that by having the Assassin target the kid for his autistic spinal fluid is just ... who the f**k cleared this? Honestly?

My biggest issue is that it doesn't feel like a Predator movie, it feels like a Marvel film with gore and a bad guy that looks like a Predator. They could've had Deadpool in the lead and it would've fit right the f**k in. The Iron Man (really War Machine -- should cannons, grey colour, it's War Machine) suit at the end really didn't help.

The Assassin was pointless. He could've just been another Predator and it wouldn't have changed anything. Being bullet proof because of your skin and bullet proof because you're wearing armour is functionally the same to the plot. He added nothing of any real interest.

I liked McKenna and Nebraska. I thought Thomas Jane did a really good job until the last act.

But the constant forced humour, uneven plotting, limp third act and God-f**king-awful ending really spoil this film. I won't be surprised if this bombs at the box office. It's a dud.

[close]

Now this is the review that i wanted to read, the movie never felt like a Predator film, now all the studios want to make a new Avengers. I am not watching it on theaters even if it is the last Predator movie we get before disney ruins everything. My gut feeling was right all along.

[blood.]

I think two questions can best sum up the problems with this movie. Why? and Why not? Both weren't conscious question but more emotions felt throughout the film. Why is the predator giving very human hand gestures? Why is that joke supposed to be funny? Why doesn't the predator do what it did earlier? Why is this a struggle when earlier it wasn't? Why doesn'tthis happen? Why are we doing this? etc etc. Trying to be vague to not spoil anything but I think my point is made.

These why or why not emotions completely negate anything positive in the movie imo, the redeeming quality - the gore, is so fast and brief that really there might be 30 seconds ro a minute of it sprinkled throughout.


I tried to turn my brain off but just couldn't.

[SiL]

It suffered a lot from "Brutally slaughter the red shirts immediately but throw the main guy around a lot" syndrome towards the end.

[Yautja_Warrior]

Just got back. Lots to process and probably need to see it a few more times but honestly...... I had an absolute blast with it.

Hearing about all the issues from the production / reshoots and some of the reviews, I went in with an open mind but expecting the worst but the worst never happened.

I'm actually pretty confused, did I see the same movie as the critics ? Because I've seen far, far worse movies than this. Even the so called messy 3rd act flows far better than I expected it to. There is some choppy editing but nowhere near as bas as I thought it would be.

The cast are f**king great, they bounce off each other so well and are very funny, especially Thomas Jane, Keegan Michael Key and Sterling K Brown.

The Predators were both awesome too. Some interesting new lore and they both kicked ass, the big bastard was way better than I thought it would be too and very brutal.

The pacing is full speed ahead and works in the movies favour most of the time, it could have done with some scenes slowing down to extend on a few things but it doesn't dwell on things, so anything that doesn't work is soon over and it's on to the next scene.

It's not perfect of course, far from it and there are definitely a few things that don't work brilliantly, like a few scenes with the kid, although he isn't totally terrible either, just a few scenes didn't work for me. The very end sequence is so crazy and some will hate it but I didn't actually mind it too much.

It's over the top and silly but nowhere near as bad as some people are saying. Perfect popcorn movie, if you want to switch your brain off for a few hours and have a few beers and a laugh.

Overall I really liked it and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. I'd give it a 7/10.

Some critics are way off the mark with this one.

[blood.]

It suffered a lot from "Brutally slaughter the red shirts immediately but throw the main guy around a lot" syndrome towards the end.

Yep I was thinking "throwminator" at the end

[DerelictShip]

Just got back from seeing it, thought the movie was fun. Such a different tone and approach for a Predator movie, but it actually worked! (Well most of it)

Pros:
Keeps your attention all the way through
Thought the humor worked out perfectly, the theatre was cracking up!

Spoiler

Actually felt bad when fugitive dies, such a badass Predator we got!

[close]

Honestly there is a ton more, but my best way to put it was everyone was pleased with what they saw, when I was leaving the theatre I heard so many compliments and someone saying "Whens part two" or "Whens the next one"
Not sure why RT has been so harsh (maybe due to the sex offender scandal) But jeesh one helluva movie!!!

Cons:
Unfinished look on Upgrade in some scenes
Predators being invisible without their helmets
Hybridization seemed pointless (they are Predators, why need us?)
Also you can notice some head scratching moments

Spoiler

Predator dog sticking around until the end

[close]

Spoiler

Fugitive shooting a gun during the breakout scene

[close]

AND OF COURSE

Spoiler

The Predator killer suit, so f***ing stupid!? I see why everyone thought it sucks the air right out of the theatre

[close]

4/5

[PredBabe]

I'm still collating after this one but I do feel confident saying that it was "okay" and giving it a 3/5. Taking it for what it is, it's an entertaining sci-fi flick and though it feels completely different from previous instalments, it was also expected and not unwelcome. There is some genuinely enjoyable moments and things that I love about this movie. Personally I walked out of the theater feeling less letdown than how I felt after watching Predators. I say this because I actually warmed up to the characters in this movie and loved that the predators featured were given more personality.

Moving onto the more spoiler-y details:

Spoiler

I loved seeing the Predator language played up on and also enjoyed seeing the beginning chase scene. Though it felt like something out of Star Trek, it was still badass and works for the lore. Also had a good laugh when Fugitive uses that soldier's arm for a signal.

Moving on to some complaints:

It's that damn third act that really jacks this movie up. The final fight against the Upgrade is so underwhelming. Like that's how they finish him? It frustrates me as I think about it more and more.
My biggest gripe is that Fugitive is completely underused and killed off (way too early). Of course I already knew this happened before going to see it and thought I had braced myself for it, but Fugitive is criminally underused and leaves me still bitching and wishing more came from this predator character. Had they made it so that Fugitive survives, at least till the end, it could have really aided in the final fight against the Upgrade as well as the entire third act.

Some more gripes:

The Stargazer/Escape scenes, though some of my favorite parts, left me wanting a bit more to be shown/established as the lab breakout plays out too quickly.

Everything that takes place during the school needed to be rewritten/reimagined- including the pred dogs. 

They should have left out the whole "global warming" crap. Really there is already a lot going on with the DNA splicing concept that they should have kept it more 'simple-stupid'. Just have it so that only certain clans take part in this and its just because they like to enhance into that bigger, stronger hunter instead of "humans are going extinct soon so better drink up".

Then of course there's the notorious Iron-Pred suit. Perhaps a different design could have helped it but I gotta say I'm not crazy about the superhero route they were pushing with that end scene.

[close]

 
For now I would rank the series as such:

Predator

Predator 2

The Predator (it's a close contender to Predator 2 though)

Predators


It's most certainly not the worst but also not the best. I do plan on seeing this movie again pretty soon and look forward to buying the DVD.

[The Old One]

I agree with you Predbabe.

[Wysps]

My biggest gripe is that Fugitive is completely underused and killed off (way too early). Of course I already knew this happened before going to see it and thought I had braced myself for it, but Fugitive is criminally underused and leaves me still bitching and wishing more came from this predator character. Had they made it so that Fugitive survives, at least till the end, it could have really aided in the final fight against the Upgrade as well as the entire third act.

That seems to be the major consensus from what I've read these past few days.  Like, they could have just kept the Fugitive as the main baddie or had him stay throughout the film until the end, and that alone would have helped to elevate the movie.  Missed opportunity 

[The Old One]

I believe regardless of that there's a superior film here lurking below the surface, butchered in editing.

[von]

that ending: it's almost the same idea with General Grievous (he's cool tho) BUT placed in the original SW trilogy. at the end of Empire Strikes Back, Palpatine tells Vader he has created a weapon to kill all Jedi and out pops General Grievous!! fml!!

[PredBabe]

My biggest gripe is that Fugitive is completely underused and killed off (way too early). Of course I already knew this happened before going to see it and thought I had braced myself for it, but Fugitive is criminally underused and leaves me still bitching and wishing more came from this predator character. Had they made it so that Fugitive survives, at least till the end, it could have really aided in the final fight against the Upgrade as well as the entire third act.

That seems to be the major consensus from what I've read these past few days.  Like, they could have just kept the Fugitive as the main baddie or had him stay throughout the film until the end, and that alone would have helped to elevate the movie.  Missed opportunity 

Yeah that was their biggest mistake for this movie. He had a cool antihero vibe going on but was still ruthless.

Spoiler

When he has Nettles by the hair and uses his hand gesture for the Loonies to put down their weapons. )

[close]

I believe regardless of that there's a superior film here lurking below the surface, butchered in editing.

I think so too... There was a good 30 minutes worth of things cut if I'm not mistaken!