My Review of The Predator (2018) · 5:18pm Oct 15th, 2023
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today. This afternoon, I will be reviewing “The Predator” from 2018, the fourth installment of the Predator franchise. The only reason why I’m skipping the third film is that it is genuinely a great movie—ten times better than this insult they call a movie.
Hence why I am reviewing this now; with that being said, I just have to say that it is absolutely amazing how they managed to screw the overall concept, idea, and lore behind the Predator and make him something so unappealing and stupid.
This movie is about a group of soldiers affected by PTSD and a scientist who must fight against a group of Predators who have plans for mankind. And this is supposedly set between the events of the second and third movies.
Honestly, there is very little I can give this movie praise for. Everything I enjoyed about the first three movies are severely lacking in this whole mess. It failed to deliver every aspect it needed to have: great action, good characters, appealing Predator designs, an interesting plot, visual effects, well-written dialogue, and so forth. But Shane Black decided to focus more on the spectacle, flashy action, and shit comedy rather than on properly expanding the universe of the Predator.
There’s nothing new in this story. It tried to maintain the horror aspect of the 1987 film, implement the brutal nature we’ve seen in the 1990 film, and create a ragtag band of soldiers/people of interest just like we’ve already seen in the 2010 film. They mixed all these elements together, and it felt hollow and meaningless. There’s no flavor or excitement in this movie. The only thing new in this installment is the concept of a Predator improving himself with human DNA…and it’s just laughably dumb, in my opinion.
The action felt shallow, empty, and over-the-top. It all felt like visual noise that needed to be done right before we get head-butted by unnecessary jokes and dumb dialogue.
Speaking of which, I fucking hate how embarrassingly comedic this is. It tried way too hard to be funny which ended up undermining the seriousness of the threats our “heroes” are supposed to deal with. Why is the dialogue spoken like it was written by a middle schooler? “Oh, let’s just call him the Predator! It’s just sounds cooler! Lol!” What?? Is this supposed to be a fanfic or something? I’m sorry, as a fanfic writer, I apologize for that. A well-written fanfic can be so much better than whatever the hell this is.
And let me just say this about this band of soldiers we’re supposed to care about: none of them were that interesting or good, really. They were cringeworthy, cardboard characters that were made to either be comedy relief or cannon fodder. Keegan-Michael Key was the worst of the bunch due to his annoying acting and dialogue. I don’t hate the guy, but he’s rather mediocre compared to the other actors I like.
Also…what…on earth…were the writers thinking? They had the audacity to weaponize autism for the sake of the plot? That kid was nice and all, but why use him as a minor plot device to advance the story? To me, it feels unethical and offensive to make a move like that because (as an autistic myself) it feels kinda degrading with the thought that autism can be a weapon for someone else to use instead of being treated as special needs. This is how I look at it, and you can feel free to disagree. But COME ON, SHANE BLACK!! REALLY?!
Anyway, the antagonistic Predator looks so ugly, weird, and boring. Why did he need to look like that? The previous Predators looked so much better than this guy, why make him so disgusting?? Every scene he was in felt like I wanted to cringe internally because of his atrocious design.
Not to mention the fact that he easily killed off the classic Predator so he could have his time to shine throughout the remaining of the movie. Producers, what do you have against the classic design? It’s basically the same issue with the Spinosaurus anticlimactically killing the T-Rex in “Jurassic Park 3”.
Overall, this movie didn’t need to exist, and it is—without a doubt—the worst installment of the franchise. This gets an unshaken, unapologetic 1/10. It gets a 1 because the other actors kinda did their best, but it wasn’t enough to save this pile of crap. It’s a shame really because I hoped it would be good despite what folks have been saying about it. Turns out they were right.
Peace.
A lot of good ideas, but wasted potential.