"This movie is never meant to be Shakespeare or Gone with Wind! The original was B-movie! What more did you expect?"
This is poor excuse to defend the film. No one is saying that Predator films should be like that. They are talking about objective and technical and narrative flaws.
I may have to watch the movie again, but from what I remember...
So why did Fugitive attack humans if its intention was to help humans fight Predator invasion by giving Predator tech?
The female scientist could've used bit more introductory screen time. Her introduction was felt short and rushed.
So the movie gives brief character development on each ex-soldiers. They kinda get time to be friendly with each other. But that's still not very convincing reason that they decided to stick to McKenna on his mission, especially in such short time. What reason did they have to work with him instead of running away? How were they convinced that Predators were threat? Just because they saw Predator running on buildings? I wasn't convinced. At least in Predators, people were given good reason to stick to each other because they were on an alien planet. It was for their survival. It also showed transition of how they gradually got closer.
Predator dogs.... okay... they kept fighting dogs until one of them died. (I was also wondering why Predator dogs just didn't ignore bullets and attack them instead of just tanking bullets for a while?) Then, they keept shooting at the last dog until one of the guys put a bullet at back of its head... Although it was alive, they were like "Hey, now it's pacified. Let's just leave it alone!" Wait what? Does putting a bullet at back of its head somehow pacifies it instead of killing? Did bullet somehow magically transform Predator dog to be friendly? Accidental brain surgery? I am still confused how the dog became friendly to humans. Later, it totally betrayed its master. There was no transition here. It was big WTF moment.
Whole Mckenna's kid potential and genius felt too much of coincidence. I mean sure... they kinda foreshadowed kid's talent when he remembered exact chess piece positions. Initially, I thought Predator was only after kid because he was wearing the gauntlet. But later, it felt like the reason for kidnap suddenly changed. I felt Upgrade was totally lucky to find exact speciemen for gene upgrade. Again, there wasn't enough transition here.
So why did McKenna and his crews try to stop Stargazers(or that black scientist and his soldiers. Sorry. I forgot his name) from accessing Predator ship? I don't think any reason was given. It wasn't like McKenna's son was going to be murdered. It was totally needless bloodshed. In the end, McKenna and his son ended up working with them minus the black scientist.
Was Predator Killer Shane Black's idea or Fox's? I think that could explain shoddy editing and reshoot.
I am all for new style and idea... if they are executed well. It's like writing an essay. A professor will give your essay bad score if your structure and grammar are poor. I actually didn't mind humor in this movie. I took it as new style for this new entry.
None of previous Predator film had this kind of issue. People are not asking about deep meaning or life lesson or philosophy or oscar performance.
They are asking for basic structure. The first film built Dutch and his team over half of the films. Reason was simple, but convincing. Transition was smooth and perfect. The film gradually switch the mood. Most if not all of actions were reasonable. Same with Predator 2 and Predators.
I hope people understand this.
