It was a good listen. I'm not as Predator-centric as some people. I like the character. The first predator movie always seemed a bit thin to me, and recently re-watching it reinforced that. Compared to contemporaries such as The Terminator or Aliens, there's not much there. And of course, the predator's nuclear gauntlet should have blown the chopper right out of the sky. But that's Hollywood.
I preferred the early going of P2. I think the idea of the Predator going hunting on drug dealers and thugs in an urban environment makes sense. I like the chaos it causes. The Predator becomes a dispenser of justice, too. Unlike A3, where you're supposed to somehow feel for the miscreants or something, you can watch the proceedings with relish. It's interesting and it works in context. The setup of Danny Glover as a policeman investigating the situation also works. It does go off the rails a bit toward the end, but that's how it goes sometimes. And we got to see an Alien skull in the predators' trophy collection.
I think Dark Horse did a lot for the Predators, fleshing them out as a species and putting them in context with the Alien universe. The AVP movie obviously owes quite a lot to Dark Horse. And I don't have a problem with that movie, especially the Director's Cut. The movie gains from the 100-years-ago intro, and I think the disc version plays better than the theatrical release.
AVPR was seriously flawed, but that was down to the directors making a blatant slasher flick with Aliens and a Predator. It was sloppy and the directors took a lot of shortcuts. It was a sort of vapid popcorn movie. And of course, the promos for it spoiled everything. I liked the brief visit to the Predator world and it was a nice nod at the end with the government agents handing the Predator cannon over to "Ms Yutani." I rarely feel the urge to re-watch that movie.
I enjoyed Predators. I thought the setup was interesting and the movie played well enough. Like Ridgetop, I thought it would have a sequel. But that never happened.
For the new movie, I have the same position as for Covenant. I expect it to be a disaster. So, anything short of a disaster will be okay. Maybe that's not fair? I think Shane Black as a director is not so different from Zack Snyder. They try to do ambitious things, and those things don't always work. But they're competent film makers. So, even if you don't completely buy what they're selling, you know it's not for their lack of trying. At the very least, I think we can expect The Predator to be a fairly entertaining movie. We'll see.
Again, good job on the podcast.