A Reel Preview: Everything You Need to Know About THE PREDATOR

In 1987, the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led, John McTiernan-directed PREDATOR arrived on screens as a clever, and thrilling mash-up of sci-fi, horror, and men-on-a-mission genres. The film spawned one of the most iconic cinematic creatures of all time, and unfortunately, a handful of lousy sequels and spinoffs. Here in 2018, one of the former cast-members of the ’87 film returns to the franchise as director, and his new entry, titled THE PREDATOR, arrives in theatres this week. Here is a preview, and everything you need to know about it.

What is this about? – Set many years after the events of the first film, THE PREDATOR has a group of mercenaries defending a small town from an invading group of Predators, which are accidently summoned to Earth by a young boy.

Who is behind the camera? – THE PREDATOR is written and directed by Shane Black, who starred in the ’87 film as the doomed soldier Hawkins. Black has written films such as LETHAL WEAPON (1987), and LETHAL WEAPON 2 (1989), and has written and directed KISS KISS BANG BANG (2005), IRON MAN 3 (2013), and THE NICE GUYS (2016).

Who is in front of the camera? – Arnie is long gone, and this cast is a young group of new and moderate stars. It includes Boyd Holbrook (LOGAN), Trevante Rhoses (MOONLIGHT), Jacob Tremblay, Olivia Munn, Thomas Jane, and Sterling K. Brown.

Random Facts – THE PREDATOR takes place in the present day, following the events of PREDATOR, and PREDATOR 2 (1990), but before the events of the 2010 stinkbomb PREDATORS * Actor Jake Busey’s character is the son of the character played by his father Gary Busey, in PREDATOR 2. * This film is the sixth time the Predator creature has appeared in a theatrical release * Actor Edward James Olmos was cast, but his scenes were cut * This is the shortest movie in the PREDATOR franchise at 81 minutes *

What to expect – PREDATOR is a franchise that has the same problem as series such as JURASSIC PARK; one great movie followed by a bunch of duds that just re-tread the same ground. With that in mind, the first challenge for Shane Black is to come up with a storyline that justifies more Predators lurking around Earth and hacking up bodies…otherwise it’s same-old, same-old. Black has a solid reputation for witty dialogue and for injecting his films with a surprise or two, so we can expect some snappy character banter along with at least one good twist. Having a young kid in the film is an odd choice for an R-rated monster movie, but as Black proved in IRON MAN 3, he has a knack for not letting kid characters be annoying or superfluous. The lack of a real star in the lead is a concern, so this may have a focus towards a team-movie. There are a lot of questions, but at the very least it’ll be good to see the big killer on the screen again.

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THE PREDATOR opens in full on September 14^th, with limited showings on the 13^th. It is being released in standard and IMAX formats.