The Predator

Year of Release:  2018
Director:  Shane Black
Screenplay:  Fred Dekker and Shane Black, based on characters created by Jim Thomas and John Thomas
Starring:  Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Sterling K. Brown
Running Time:  107 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, action

An alien spaceship crash-lands in Mexico.  The "Predator" creature inside attacks US Army Ranger sniper Quinn McKenna (Holbrook) and his team, killing them all but McKenna, who succeeds in incapacitating the creature.  So he can prove it's existence, McKenna takes the alien's facemask and wrist gauntlets and mails them off to the US.  A Special Forces team retrieve the unconscious creature and ship it off to a secret research base in the USA.  In order to discredit McKenna and cover-up the existence of the creature, he is sentenced to indefinite imprisonment.  The alien mask and gauntlet are delivered to the home of McKenna's estranged wife (Yvonne Strahovski) and their young, autistic son Rory (Tremblay), who manages to activate the mask.  In the research institute, the alien revives and, after messily breaking out, sets out on a violent search for it's missing property.  It also becomes apparent that there is more than one alien on the hunt.

This is the fourth film in the Predator franchise (sixth if you count the Alien vs. Predator films), and is probably the worst of the lot.  While the original Predator was a stripped down action film, this film has a convoluted story that feels more like a grab-bag of ideas.  The actors do their best with what they're given but large cast of characters are mostly defined by just one character trait or quirk, which means that they never really register, and are largely unlikable particularly the boorish, bullying McKenna.  The action frequently grinds to a halt for attempts at humour and winking references to the first two films, although personally I didn't laugh once.  Shane Black, who worked on the script to the first Predator (1987) and has a brief acting role in that film, has done much better as both a director and a writer.  Almost all of the characters can apparently work out alien technology after a few seconds of fiddling about with it, and is saddled with a ludicrous ending, which sets up sequels.  In the film's defense, some of the action is well-staged, particularly in the later part of the film,  and, aside from some ropey CGI, the special effects are fine.      

Meet The Predator