The Predator

1.5/4

Starring: Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, Trevante Rhods, Yvonne Strahovski, Jacob Tremblay

Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Language Throughout, and Crude Sexual References

There's only one good thing about "The Predator," a desperate attempt by a studio to keep an old franchise alive if there every was one.  That is Boyd Holbrook.  The Kentucky native has been on the list of up-and-coming actors since his career debuted a decade ago with his appearance in "Milk."  I first noticed him a few years back when I saw him in "A Walk Among the Tombstones," and his performance in the largely forgettable "Logan" showed that he had the presence and talent to make it as a movie star.  I suppose it's a compliment that he sticks out for the right reasons in a big budget would-be franchise starter, but not really.  Aside from Holbrook, this is just a noisy, bloody, incoherent waste of time.

Badass sniper Quinn McKenna (Holbrook) makes a startling discovery while on a routine mission: he finds a Predator.  It's an alien that can turn invisible, read heat signatures, and exists to hunt its pretty for sport.  After his team is knocked off, Quinn correctly intuits that the government will make up a story to hang him out to dry in order to keep the Predator's existence a secret.  As a bargaining chip, he sends the alien's armor to his home.  But when his autistic son Rory (Tremblay) finds it and gets it to work, he and his ex-wife Emily (Strahovski) are in danger.  So Quinn breaks out of a prison bus and with the help of a pretty scientist (Munn) and a gang of "colorful" prisoners, he sets off to save Rory and the world.

At least I think that's how it goes.  Plot coherence clearly isn't on director Shane Black's agenda.  He's all about blood, special effects, gun fights and blowing stuff up.  In a "Predator" movie, those elements are to be expected.  But it would have been nice to see a narrative to hang them on.  It doesn't have to be deep or sophisticated, but enough to carry us from beginning to end.  Pity that doesn't happen.

Despite having a cast of talented character actors, including the likes of Olivia Munn, Jake Busey, Alfie Allen and Thomas Jane, Holbrook is essentially tasked with holding this movie up on his own.  Had he had a decent script to work with, he probably could have done it.  But this co-stars are not up to snuff.  Olivia Munn and Yvonne Strahovski are cast solely for their looks.  Jacob Tremblay is saddled with a character whose sole defining characteristic is his autism, which is handled in such a way that borders on disrespectful.  As for his "colorful" crew?  They're boring and or annoying (with Keegan-Michael Key in the cast, you know it's going to be a trial).

There's no other way to say this: "The Predator" is a waste of time.  It's a desperate attempt to keep an old franchise in the public consciousness and a soulless cash grab.  The ending sets up a sequel, but my God, am I going to pray that it doesn't happen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Desert Flower

2/4 Starring: Liya Kebede, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson Rated R for Some Violent Content, A Scene of Sexuality and Language The problem with "Desert Flower" is not that Waris Dirie's story isn't suited for the cinematic treatment or that the actress playing her isn't acceptable.  The problem is that director Sherry Hormann doesn't do a good job of telling it.  This is a poorly focused film that can't decide what it wants to be about or what it wants to say. As is the case with many a true story, the life of Waris Dirie is too amazing to be made up by a Hollywood screenwriter.  This woman fled an arranged marriage as a child, spent years as a servant to a Somali diplomat in England, survived on the streets, and was discovered by a fashion photographer while working as a janitor.  Then she became a supermodel and UN Ambassador in the fight against female genital mutilation. Waris experienced a lot in her life.  Telling it all in a...
Read more

The Road

3.5/4 Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron Rated R for Some Violence, Disturbing Images and Language "The Road" has to be the most downbeat, depressing and cynical movie I've ever seen.  That's not meant as a criticism, but a fact.  This is a tough movie to get through, but not a chore.  Those who venture in will find their time well spent, albeit not in a necessarily pleasant way.  Then again, if a movie is based off a novel by Cormac McCarthy, "pleasant" isn't a word one would hope to be used to describe it. The film takes place after the world has ended.  How it happened is not explained because it doesn't matter.  But any hope of the Earth recovering from what happened has long since gone.  A man (Mortensen) and his son (Smit-McPhee) are travelling together, trying to "get to the coast."  There are few people left, although considering what many are doing with the goal of survival, that's a good thing...
Read more

My Left Foot

 2/4 Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Fiona Shaw, Alison Whelan Rated R (probably for Language and Brief Violence) "My Left Foot" feels like one of those movies designed to win Oscars and nothing else.  In fact, it did win two Oscars for the immortal Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker, but apart from their strong work, there's not much else to remember about this movie.  It's well-acted, but all in all it's pretty dull. Christy Brown (Day-Lewis) is getting recognized for his work in order to raise money for the disabled.  Despite being a talented artist and writer, Christy is not the ideal candidate for the job.  He's an alcoholic jerk who makes no secret of his lust for women nor is he above using his disability to manipulate people into doing what he wants.  Interspersed with his attempts to seduce a woman tasked with looking after him while he awaits his entrance are vignettes from his childhood.  Most notably how his mothe...
Read more