The Predator (2018)

(MA15+) ★★★

Director: Shane Black.

Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Sterling K. Brown, Brian A. Prince, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera, Yvonne Strahovski, Jake Busey.

School bullies weren't what they used to be.

Does anyone remember 2010's Predators? It was pretty decent and a worthy sequel to the 1987 original - forget Predator 2 and those Alien Vs Predator crossovers.

If you don't remember it, that's fine, you're not alone. In fact, this film doesn't really remember it either. The Predator doesn't go out of its way to wipe Predators off the franchise's map, but it's more focused on being a direct follow-up to the films of 1987 and 1990.

The starting point this time around is the crash-landing of a Predator in Mexico - an incident witnessed by sniper Quinn McKenna. After inadvertently defeating the creature, McKenna manages to pilfer and send home some tech from the alien's ship, right before the government picks him up for a spot of interrogation.

For writer/director Black, this is a homecoming. He co-starred in the original - a gig he got because of his screenwriting prowess (the producers wanted him on set in the Mexican jungle in case any rewrites were needed, so it was a 2-for-1 deal), and you get the sense he has been harbouring a desire to dip into the world of Predators since 1987. There's an obvious love of the material here that seeps into proceedings, even in the weaker moments.

The testosterone-heavy antics, the machine gun frenzy, the blood-and-guts gore, and the dark humour perfectly capture the tone of the original. It's all somewhat softened by the presence of Munn's alien biology expert Dr Casey Bracket, but, to be fair, she does her fair share of shooting and stabbing - it's more that she stops it from being a total sausagefest.

But given Black has probably had 30 years to think about this film, the script should be smoother. It hits its stride when McKenna hooks up with "The Loonies" - a ragtag team of dysfunctional soldiers who serve as the film's heroes - but its unnecessary convolutions and diversions struggle to hold the story together.

Outside of its script hiccups, the film does a good job of rolling from firefight to firefight, with the ending a strong point and the pace rarely wavering. None of its set pieces are hugely memorable (although a finale atop a spaceship works pretty well), but it's all fine in the moment. 

The cast is okay, with The Loonies a standout. Holbrook is adequate without being exceptional, but Rhodes, Key, and Jane are the highlights. Youngster Tremblay, again acting better than his age suggests, is also good in a role that's as welcome as it is frustrating. Munn's character suffers from bad writing early on, but she finds a groove later into the piece.

The best elements are the humour and the film's ability to capture the vibe of the original. Saved by its Loonies and its laughs, The Predator is hoping to be the start of a whole new Predator saga. That's definitely wishful thinking, but in and of itself, it's not a bad throwback to some late-'80s-style action.