The Predator (2018)
★½ — The Predator (2018)
The Predator franchise has a particular place in the history of blockbuster science fiction. John McTiernan's 1987 original, with Arnold Schwarzenegger sweating through the Central American jungle, is rightly regarded as one of the better genre films of its decade: lean, mean, and economically structured around a single, brilliantly realised threat. The series that followed it had a mixed record at best, lurching through sequels, crossovers, and reboots with varying degrees of success, but 2018 felt like a genuine opportunity for a reset. The tagline promised evolution. Audiences were cautiously hopeful.
That cautious hope rested largely on the shoulders of Shane Black, a writer and director with a knack for fast, irreverent genre filmmaking. Black had previous form in big-budget science fiction action with Iron Man 3, and his sharp, wisecracking sensibility was arguably even better expressed in The Nice Guys, a film that showed what he could do when the studio pressure eased off a little. He also has a personal connection to the original Predator, having appeared in it as a cast member, which made his appointment feel less like a commercial calculation and more like someone who genuinely understood what the first film got right. Working with 20th Century Fox, Davis Entertainment, and TSG Entertainment, Black co-wrote the script with Fred Dekker and assembled a cast that, on paper at least, suggested something with a bit more texture than a straightforward creature feature. Boyd Holbrook leads as a soldier who witnesses a Predator landing and is promptly deemed a liability by the government agencies who want the whole thing buried. Trevante Rhodes and Keegan-Michael Key are among the ragtag group of misfit ex-soldiers he falls in with, while Sterling K. Brown brings a certain cool menace to the antagonist side of the equation, and Jacob Tremblay plays the young boy whose inadvertent involvement sets the whole chain of events in motion. The premise, a child accidentally drawing the universe's most formidable hunters back to Earth, leaving a disparate, disorganised bunch of outcasts as the only viable line of defence, has solid foundations. Polished but unremarkable trailers suggested something loud and fast, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It is a Predator film, after all.
What on earth happened here? This should’ve been a triumphant return for the franchise, Shane Black at the helm (who was in the original, no less), a decent budget, and the promise of mixing old-school brutality with slick modern action. Instead, we got a bizarre, tonally confused mess that feels like it was rewritten mid-shoot… which, to be fair, it probably was. The jokes fall flat, the characters are paper-thin (and try way too hard to be quirky), and the actual Predator lore is butchered. Super Predators? Predadogs? Autism as the next step in evolution?? Come on. It’s loud, it’s nonsensical, and it spends more time trying to set up some weird Predator Avengers sequel than it does delivering actual suspense or horror. The original had mystery, tension, and grit. This has a lab scene, a suit, and a punchline. One or two decent kills stop it from being a total write-off, but honestly. It’s a disaster.
And that, really, is what stings about it. I can forgive a lot in a Friday-night action film, a few plot holes, a dodgy third act, even some clunky dialogue. What I can't quite get past is the feeling that nobody involved managed to agree on what film they were actually making. If you want something in a similar genre bracket that does hold together, or at least makes a proper commitment to its own tone, it might be worth checking out what I made of Fire in the Sky or, for something that gets the balance of action and atmosphere right in a very different register, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The Predator isn't unwatchable, but it is a reminder that having the right ingredients is meaningless if no one in the kitchen can agree on the recipe.
Rating: ★½ | Year: 2018 | Watched: 2025-04-09
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for The Predator (2018) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
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Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Hulu
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Shane Black: Iron Man 3 (2013) · The Nice Guys (2016)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More science fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Fantastic Planet (1973) · Nightmare City (1980) · The Long Walk (2025)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
