Predator Review

        I’ve been waiting to talk about this film for a while. The 80s was a hotbed for the horror genre. You had many hits and franchise starters that have fueled the decade with multiple hits and schlocks. The big heavies were the Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises as they had multiple sequels, due in part with their low budget that made it easier to film. You had the ones that are beloved in the decade such as Poltergeist, The Thing and Aliens, some of the premier stuff from horror directors and a future Oscar winner. Another intergalactic species made it’s first appearance but took a different approach than its xenomorph cousin. 

1. The Hunted

        It always goes back to cartoons that I watched in my youth. This time it was Dexter’s Laboratory in one of the segments where Dexter’s pet monkey is hunted by a lion-esque alien with an Australian accent. Rewatching, it’s clear that they took some elements of the movie to the cartoon and of course it stuck with me since I was a huge fan of the show. Anyways, I’ve been waiting to talk about Predator but I wanted to differentiate my look into the 80s by including the films that are up there in quality. 

        To me, this film is wedged between being an 80s action film with horror elements and I feel that it’s the perfect combination and appropriate considering the decades influx of the genre. As well as having Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film since it was his decade where he became popular and an action icon for Hollywood. While it’s not all guns blazing, I really like what the film is going for as far as making the threat real even for Arnold to overcome. 

        The movie is straightforward to follow. No corporate intrigue or slimy characters but just soldiers being tasked with a rescue mission in the jungles of Central America. Until they are slowly picked off one by one by a threat that they can’t see and having advanced weaponry. While I’ll talk about the star of the film, I’ll start with the human stars that perfectly reflect the machismo and muscle of the time. I feel that in one way this film is like a spiritual sequel to Arnold’s other film Commando. 

        Same aesthetic in a way, but one where Arnold uses his might and weaponry to defeat the enemies in that film. In this film, it’s more of an ensemble film with Schwarzeneggar, Carl Weathers and Bill Duke being the main stars of U.S. Special Forces conducting a search and rescue. You have the moments when inside the helicopter where the camaraderie between the men is interesting since they have a background. I would’ve liked to see more of Jesse Ventura, but he’s just one of the stars that spouts a catchphrase that’ll be used in the future. 

        The action is pretty good since the men come in with weaponry and ammo that would make the NRA blush. It’s a one sided fight since we see Arnold’s Dutch and company swarm and pin the guerilla fighters. All of it is executed with the gunfire, explosions and when we see how seemingly powerful the characters are. With the action taking place, I’m surprised how the perspective and story shift from that point to the creature that’s looking down on them.

        While I’ll talk about the alien in the next tab, I just love how the movie does the genre switcheroo. Starting off with the action makes us forget that it’s supposed to be a horror film due to how we see the characters be confident and seemingly prepared. After is when we see how hilariously underprepared, they are when the men are picked off in gruesome ways. In some aspect, I feel that it’s a cycle of how we see the action play out. From the soldiers to attacking the guerillas, to this one alien killing the soldiers one by one. It has a prey and well predator motif to it where the film isn’t a mindless action slop.

        Lastly, I really like how the film has a muscle and intelligence angle that is going on. We get the obligatory muscle shots when Dutch and Dillon embrace when they test their strength. As well as how the men are nearly shirtless due to the jungle being humid. They are more cerebral as they try to outsmart the Predator but failing when they don’t know where it is exactly. The final act when Dutch uses both his strength and smarts to fight the creature is just perfect. In a way, it shows off how human intelligence can outsmart anything that isn’t from here. 

2. Predator

        The Predator is one of the most unique and technologically advanced alien that’s seen in movies. Well, that is when we see it since a good chunk of the movie is that he’s cloaked in invisibility. I like to imagine that we do see it and that it’s relegated to the branches of the trees since we see what it sees via heat vision. I want to imagine just how much of a task it was to shoot the camera with it and how bulky it was since it’s creative to show off how this is a different alien than what audiences expect. 

        What makes this alien different is that it’s not an invader or leading an invasion. For these kinds of films, you have to start out with one to show just how formidable they are and only imagine what an army would like. This thing is literally an intergalactic big game hunter. To the point where we see just what exactly it hunts which is humans since it’s established that it will attack whenever it is threatened. We see the types of weapons that he uses and it’s gruesome when we see it kill Dutch’s men. And collecting the skulls of the victims as trophies. 

        I like the tech that is used aside from the heat vision. You got blasters and the double knife that can pick up anything that it kills. The invisibility makes him formidable since it has that Jaws effect where we don’t know where it is but it’s somewhere within the jungle just scoping out the prey. More so that it’s not just a mindless hunter, but one where there’s intelligence with how it wants to approach the targets. We see that it tends to its wounds and even using the dead’s voices to get its next trophy. 

        As far as horror mascots are concerned, I feel that the Predator is more of an action icon than horror. Don’t get me wrong where I think this film is horror where the humans are helpless against this thing and that their weapons barely wound it. I feel that the feel of having the humans be helpless is carried over from Aliens. Where the characters come in guns blazing until they are smacked around by something that is stronger than them. Having it in the jungle is reminiscent of the post Vietnam struggles that James Cameron’s film had going for. 

3. Legacy

        While the reception was mixed for the time, more reviewers warmed up to it and declare it one of the decade’s best action films and Arnold’s best. With the potential that the first film had, it spawned a media franchise ranging from comic books, video games and the obligatory sequels. The knock on them for awhile is that they weren’t as good as the first entry. Having it lean on action while lacking the suspense made it seem like the filmmakers missed the point of what the first one successful. 

        During the gaps between the sequel and the third entry, the Predator dueled with its 20th Century cousin in many media. As I stated with my Alien reviews, the two entries weren’t that good since it aimed for a broadened PG-13 approach and dismal R rating with it’s literal darkened approach and violence. It seemed to also take notes from its cousin by naming the third entry Predators. That film is my first exposure to the franchise proper, while it was okay with what it was going for. 

        This decade is when there’s an influx in Predator due to Disney buying 20th Century Fox and adopting their property. With the help of director Dan Trachtenberg is when the franchise finally got over the hump. His first film of the franchise Prey is one of the best in the franchise, considering that it’s literally number two as far as quality. And this year is when two films helmed by him appeared in both streaming and theatrical release. Judging by his execution it would make sense to have him lead the crossover franchise, time will tell if his next release will succeed. 

4. Overall 

        Predator is the reflection of the 80s and one of the best action films and underrated in horror.