The Predator
starring Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Sterling K. Brown and Olivia Munn
written by Fred Dekker and Shane Black
directed by Shane Black
Rating: ♦♦♦◊◊
I thought this was a remake of Predator (1987). But instead, it’s an instalment in the Predator series. Predator (1987, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, directed by John McTiernan); Predator 2 (1990, staring Danny Glover, directed by Stephen Hopkins); and, Predators (2010, starring Adrien Brody, directed by Nimrod Antal). I thought it was good, and I loved seeing Olivia Munn. There’s something about Munn’s personality. She delivers a mixture of flirty sexuality and comedy. She’s attractive the same way that Jeff Goldblum is attractive for the way quirky comedy is permanently attached to his personality in everything he does. The plot is fairly predictable, but the plot and characters are more developed than I remember from previous films, making it a better story. I’m annoyed by the way the writers worm global warming into the plot. It reveals how movies are actually a reflection of the distractions of the times and cultures that produced them. Years ago it was Nazis. Then it was Russian Communists. Then it was alien invasion and alien abduction. Now it’s global warming. Give me a break! We’re not very intelligent. Or, maybe because in reality there are only seven distinct story plots, those plots necessarily continually have to be recycled to appeal to new generations.
I only watched it twice, but I could watch it again.