The Predator (reboot)

silverharp

A great fun bad movie. I took junior to see it last night and it was a blast, several genuine lol scenes, the movie just flew by. If you wanted an actual Predator movie youd be disappointed though , no tension and no sense that the characters are scared by the whole thing, that was a big part of the first movie.
For it being in their screen 1, there was less than 2 dozen people in the Odeon at the Point, which even for them must be poor

Chris_Heilong

It actually was not bad, I was expecting it to be terrible based on reviews I had seen but the first half was actually great and I was thinking this was the 2nd best predator movie so far, the last half of the move goes into silly territory but overall it was a very entertaining movie.

Mr E

I enjoyed it, I was entertained, I laughed a lot and I feel like I got my money's worth.

Job done.

El Duda

The Predator - 5.7/10

I was well aware of the negativity surrounding this film so expectations were adjusted accordingly. It is all over the place in so many ways. It never establishes or settles on a tone. The plotting has more holes than Swiss cheese. Some of the performances don't seem to be consistent, it's like the actors forgot what film they're in. But the most glaring thing for me was just how messy the editing is and its strange struggle for structure.

This is a Shane Black script so as you'd expect, there is lots of sharp, funny snappy dialogue... but nowhere near enough. My biggest problem with the script was that sometimes it seems to be paying homage to the original, and at other times it seems to be actively mocking its predecessors. There is a complete lack of respect to the mythology and I have no idea how they ever though bringing back Predator Dogs was a good idea.

Usually when a film like this has had re-shoots, you can make an educated guess as to which scenes were reshot. In Justice League and Suicide Squad they're very obvious. It's almost impossible to do that here as it is needlessly chaotic with shoddily edited setpieces.

It was entertaining enough in terms of practical effects and R-Rated gore, definitely a step up from AVP 1 & 2 at least. Shane Black's script has just enough for me to watch this again one day, but being honest this is just another cumbersome piece of crap.

Agent Coulson

That was just boring!

dreamers75

If the 1st Predator was here to give Humanity the IronMan Predator Killer suit, why did he kill every human he basically came across?

Until the other dude showed up he was intent on??????????

Banjaxed82

Who was the blink or you'll miss it death?

Reggie.

Banjaxed82 wrote: »

Who was the blink or you'll miss it death?

The black fella over the government team.

Banjaxed82

Reggie. wrote: »

The black fella over the government team.

The guy

who went into the engine??

Sure how the fook could you miss that??

brianregan09

No not Nebraska the bad guy

dreamers75

Banjaxed82 wrote: »

Who was the blink or you'll miss it death?

The girl told his weapon to fire and he killed himself.

Reggie.

dreamers75 wrote: »

The girl told his weapon to fire and he killed himself.

Was that why it went off? Didn't know why it fired

Banjaxed82

I'm more confused now than when I was watching the film.

dreamers75

Yeah think there is a scene missing where maybe the kid explains how everything works because after the barn they all seem adept at using the alien tech.

Which may explain why the predator go after who they go for.

Dunno seemed disjointed and doesnt really make sense if A wanted humanity to have the "cargo" why murder everyone he came across.

p to the e

Seems a lot of my gripes and questions are similar to what is being said already.

1.

I couldn't figure out why the creature that wanted to save humanity kept killing everyone.

2.

I was wondering what happened Sterling K Brown's character when my friend told me he got killed. It really was blink and miss it.

3.

And Olivia Munn is a biologist who out of nowhere is trained in weapons and combat training. Where the hell did she get those fingerless gloves?

4.

Did I miss something about why the alien dog started following them? I'm guessing it's something to do with the pitbull that was hanging around.

5.

Why did Ralfie Allen suddenly become Irish? Why couldn't he just have been British?

Apart from the Swiss cheese of plot holes I did actually enjoy it. There's some laugh out loud moments and doesn't seem to take itself too seriously.

Overall I'd give it 6/10

silverharp

p to the e wrote: »

Seems a lot of my gripes and questions are similar to what is being said already.[/SPOILER]


3.

And Olivia Munn is a biologist who out of nowhere is trained in weapons and combat training. Where the hell did she get those fingerless gloves?

its kind of common in Hollywood films now that all 5ft nothing hot scientist women can out Schwarzenegger Schwarzenegger even with no prior training, I'd like to think it was ironic but I doubt it.

p to the e wrote: »

5.

Why did Ralfie Allen suddenly become Irish? Why couldn't he just have been British?

there was a character who was referred to as "lucky charms" so it was just an Irish character, didn't see the point of it , it didn't seem to matter.

Chris_Heilong

dreamers75 wrote: »

Yeah think there is a scene missing where maybe the kid explains how everything works because after the barn they all seem adept at using the alien tech.

Which may explain why the predator go after who they go for.

Dunno seemed disjointed and doesnt really make sense if A wanted humanity to have the "cargo" why murder everyone he came across.

Because he is a predator, he wants to save humanity, not individuals.

Frank Bullitt

Saw this at the weekend and really didnt enjoy it.

Reducing the Predator to then introduce a massive one that is the true version or whatever it was...I rewatched the original to redeem the whole thing, and then Logan because Holbrook is a great in that, not so much in this.

3/10

artvanderlay

Just saw it last night. Absolute muck. I'm actually in shock and angry that it was so bad. Hollywood is just utter **** these days.

silverharp

artvanderlay wrote: »

Just saw it last night. Absolute muck. I'm actually in shock and angry that it was so bad. Hollywood is just utter **** these days.

after the movie I summed it up by saying to junior it was like a bunch of teenage sh1t posters hacked the agreed script. He was wondering how it ever got signed off as good to go.

Gwynplaine

I enjoyed it. Some ridiculous parts in the second half of the film. It was much better than the Adrian Brody Predator movie.

Spon Farmer

It could have done with being more violent but it was fun film with great action. The characters were all fun and it satisfied a desire I have had for a long time -

for an energy shield to maim people.

A couple of things that Traeger said didn't make sense -

that the creatures had been on Earth in '87 and '92 and the visit were becoming more frequent but they'd only been here twice. That the predators had an interest in hunting as much as possible before humanity becomes extinct and then taking the planet but where did he get this information (EDIT: They can translate the language - did they get this from the Predator armour? I had assumed they could operate any of the captured tech which is why it was in a case and not being used to build weapons.) And how did he know the fugitive Predator was bringing something to help humanity?

dreamers75

in 92 they gave Glover a gun from 1882 iirc

Also didnt get why they used the translator as a far superior species they should have mastered the language by now.

Spon Farmer

dreamers75 wrote: »

Yeah think there is a scene missing where maybe the kid explains how everything works because after the barn they all seem adept at using the alien tech.

Which may explain why the predator go after who they go for.

Dunno seemed disjointed and doesnt really make sense if A wanted humanity to have the "cargo" why murder everyone he came across.

Who is the "all" - only a couple of the characters use alien tech.

The scene is not missing -

in the jungle after the hunt begins Traeger asked Rory how he used the helmet's weapons and Rory told him he didn't, the helmet reacted to the attack. This happens with McKenna at the start too and Traeger uses his weapon the same way.

There is no disjoint in fugitive Predator's actions either.

He woke up and was being held prisoner. He killed to escape so he could complete his mission. McKenna and the Loonies had no problem killing other humans to defend themselves and to get there mission done - same thing.

The issue with the cargo is how Traeger knew there was a cargo to begin with or that the cargo was for humanity. Which it might not have been anyway. The fugitive Predator may have intended to use the Predator Killer himself.

homerun_homer

Wow! What an absolute hodge podge of a movie. It's clear as day that this is a splice of different scripts/cuts of the movie to make one complete mess of nonsense. The characters don't cut the mustard and are just annoying more than anything. Alfie Allen's accent... WTF? He had his own accent, then it was sounding sketchy and Oirish, then someone calls him "lucky charms" and then it appears his accent is supposed to be Irish.

Then Sterling K. Brown's government bad guy who was just a complete a$$hole and unnecessarily antagonistic. There is an alien situation going on and he just wants to go around getting the lads killed because reasons. There are more human killing human deaths in this than predator killing humans.

The CGI is brutal. Most of the kills are in the trailers, and just as much a blink and you miss them as they are presented there. Flash cut violence was not the "R rating" violence that Shane Black had been touting this up to be. What was wrong with the cloaked predator effects from the original. That look is cool and effective. The CG cloaked predator (and uncloaked super-predator) was awful. The old PC games had better graphics.

I feel like this film is inexcusable for how bad it has turned out. I don't think anyone was rushing to get this out for a particular date, Shane Black had ample time to perfect a shooting script that worked, yet here we are. It is complete nonsense. Don't get me started on Aspergers being like the next step in human evolution, like the x gene in X-Men.

I feel bad for Jacob Tremblay, he's a great little actor and this gave off a stink of early Daniel Radcliffe in the first Harry Potter, but worse again.

A few bits:

I did not notice who got killed, let along that it was Sterling K Brown's character. Which then made me ask "how?"
Olivia Munn catching up with the predator ship at the end was a complete piss take.
Also funny that she could keep up running speed with the predator when running underneath him.
What happened to Jacob Tremblay's mom after the Predator ransacked her house and killed everyone. No cut away to show her after that.
The ending with the new Predator tech for humans has just gone and killed the franchise for me. I want my predator films as man vs predator, not man with predator tech vs predator. Where's the fun in that?
The cheesy call backs to the original were woeful. "Get to the choppas" etc

This film makes Predators look like a masterpiece. Where was the sequel to that obvious sequel baiting film?

Reggie.

homerun_homer wrote: »

Wow! What an absolute hodge podge of a movie. It's clear as day that this is a splice of different scripts/cuts of the movie to make one complete mess of nonsense. The characters don't cut the mustard and are just annoying more than anything. Alfie Allen's accent... WTF? He had his own accent, then it was sounding sketchy and Oirish, then someone calls him "lucky charms" and then it appears his accent is supposed to be Irish.

Then Sterling K. Brown's government bad guy who was just a complete a$$hole and unnecessarily antagonistic. There is an alien situation going on and he just wants to go around getting the lads killed because reasons. There are more human killing human deaths in this than predator killing humans.

The CGI is brutal. Most of the kills are in the trailers, and just as much a blink and you miss them as they are presented there. Flash cut violence was not the "R rating" violence that Shane Black had been touting this up to be. What was wrong with the cloaked predator effects from the original. That look is cool and effective. The CG cloaked predator (and uncloaked super-predator) was awful. The old PC games had better graphics.

I feel like this film is inexcusable for how bad it has turned out. I don't think anyone was rushing to get this out for a particular date, Shane Black had ample time to perfect a shooting script that worked, yet here we are. It is complete nonsense. Don't get me started on Aspergers being like the next step in human evolution, like the x gene in X-Men.

I feel bad for Jacob Tremblay, he's a great little actor and this gave off a stink of early Daniel Radcliffe in the first Harry Potter, but worse again.

A few bits:

I did not notice who got killed, let along that it was Sterling K Brown's character. Which then made me ask "how?"
Olivia Munn catching up with the predator ship at the end was a complete piss take.
Also funny that she could keep up running speed with the predator when running underneath him.
What happened to Jacob Tremblay's mom after the Predator ransacked her house and killed everyone. No cut away to show her after that.
The ending with the new Predator tech for humans has just gone and killed the franchise for me. I want my predator films as man vs predator, not man with predator tech vs predator. Where's the fun in that?
The cheesy call backs to the original were woeful. "Get to the choppas" etc

This film makes Predators look like a masterpiece. Where was the sequel to that obvious sequel baiting film?

Fully agree with all points

silverharp

an amusing ripping apart of the movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJhq450Fjl4

Warper

I went along not expecting much tbh as i saw the trailer and thought wow that looks bad, i actually thought it was 50 cent in the trailer, thankfully he wasnt in it

Anyways i was pleasantly surprised by this, its quite good in a silly kinda way, rolls along nicely, lots of action and blood, few humorous jokes thrown in and you know the film doesnt take itself too seriously so ya go see it

Mitch Connor

It is very clear that the story we got was retrofitted. The ending reshoots are obvious. The story makes no sense based on the actions of the predator. The massive leaps in logic to progress the plot in clunky moments clearly reshoots bludgeoned in.

I thought the first half was OK, last act went insane.

AMKC

Went a seen it today. What a mess. I did not feel anything for any of the characters and it was neither funny or scary. When a character got killed I was just like a well you were boring anyway. The only good part in it was the ships and the shield CGI was cool that was it.
I give it 3 out of 10. Really wanted to like it but it was terrible.

j.s. pill II

What an absolute steaming turd of a movie.


I decided that I would never watch Terminator Genisys, lest it tarnish my memories of the preceding Terminator films. I really should have applied the same logic to this one.

bogmanfan

Hugely disappointing given Black's recent output. This is garbage from beginning to end. Terrible characters, bad acting, gaping plot holes and rubbish effects. Was like something you'd see on SyFy channel.

stateofflux

Awful Movie.

It looked like a mix between the A-team & ET. with complete disregard for what the earlier Predator movies had established.

it tried to be funny but it failed on most counts.

plot was jumping all over the camp with incredulous incoherence.

tried to have serious moments but i didnt give a stuff about the wafer thin characters.

This movie was aimed at a young teenage market.

Predator dog with dreads playing fetch?.... gimme a break

Sin City

Saw it yesterday

Was alright, a few cringe moments, viusally stunning but story and characters were terrible . Its like AVP with a budget. Will probably watch it again ,

mrmorgan

saw it today, thought it was great fun

homerun_homer

Did anyone else laugh when at the end it just transitioned to them opening up the little handkerchief of bits and bobs of all the gang to remember them by? I'm not looking for too much realism in a Predator movie but to hang on to them throughout fighting and to keep a foil unicorn in perfect shape:pac:

TerrorFirmer

First of all, I definitely don't believe in giving movie a free pass just because it's entertaining. A bad movie is just a bad movie and should be called out as such.....but a flawed movie isn't necessarily a bad movie and is my opinion The Predator is definitely deeply flawed but not half bad in spite of it.

I did expect a little more from Shane Black though, all the same. It's messy at times and just doesn't hang right at all in numerous spots. They say re-shoots hurt this film - and as clear as day, the first half of the film is much, much stronger than the second.

The humor worked fine I thought, bit of a departure for any film set in the Predator/Alien universe admittedly..... essentially it's a Marvel film tone-wise (so it may be alien or incredibly familiar depending on your viewing habits) with much higher levels of violence, . On that point, violence can't make or entirely save a film, but this certainly would've been much worse if it was a PG-13 film ala Alien v Predator and there was some good brutality on display here.

I definitely understand peoples disappointment but it truly isn't that bad and some of the hyperbole is a bit much. Someone a few pages back said the CGI was like an old PC game, another that it was like a SyFy movie....can't say I agree with that at all, on the contrary I thought visually it was very decent.

On the whole....I'd say it's plain as day yards better than AVP and AVP: Requiem, and also than the recent Alien Covenant, and better than Predator 2 which I always felt was hugely over-rated in many quarters. I honestly couldn't compare it to Predators at this time as I haven't seen that since 2010 and can barely remember it, but I know I liked it, so I'd say they're probably much of a muchness.

All in all I'd say it's easily a 6.5/10. Very flawed but gets a lot right and very entertaining with a great 80s/90s vibe to it in spots. I would be happy to watch a sequel.

silverharp

have cinemas lightened up on age restrictions or were they even strict in the first place?, I just realised the last 2 movies I took junior to were 16's, Predator being one but he is only just gone 14 and he wouldn't look old for his age.

Reggie.

silverharp wrote: »

have cinemas lightened up on age restrictions or were they even strict in the first place?, I just realised the last 2 movies I took junior to were 16's, Predator being one but he is only just gone 14 and he wouldn't look old for his age.

Once money passes hands then I think they aren't too worried

Gamb!t

I was some what prepared for disappointment when I saw the trailer but generally shocked how poor the movie was and struggled to get through the full thing without looking to see how much of the 1hr 45 mins was left.

I don't know if its actually any better than AVP 2 it was so bad and that says a lot.

Mrcaramelchoc

How can you be given a budget to make a movie and monumentally screw it into the ground.it deserves all the bad reviews it has gotten.
Awful movie.

Also the tourettes guy?he should have been shot in the head at the start.
An alien dog with dread locks? Really?

artvanderlay

Agreed.Total and utter ****e. I can barely remember it! That's me done with the Predator franchise, unless by some miracle John McTiernan, The Thomas Brothers, and Arnie come back to it!

helimachoptor

Jesus that was awful

ILikeBoats

Utter garbage

gambithh

Seen it last night and horrified.Shane black should hold his head in shame!
Huge fan of Predator and also predator 2,( predators was ok)

The part when the predator kills the soldiers in the back of the truck and hold the severed hand with the thumbs up out so the driver believed all is ok was shockingly bad.

Both K9 and predator dog sub plot were lost on me.
The end was a pure mess.

Wedwood

There's not enough material to justify a series of movies. First movie was original (if you overlook its a riff on Aliens), second movie was basically same premise, just moved to urban setting. After that, there's nothing new or original to add other than this forgettable straight to video standard.

mloc123

Watched it today... not great.

I would love to know what the original plot that tested so poorly was that what we ended up with was better.

absolutely horrendous film, even those AVP films are much better.

Ray Bloody Purchase

Crap beyond belief. So disjointed and bolted together.

_Kaiser_

Watched it tonight and while it starts out fairly well, it quickly deteriorates.

- too much forced humour and completely forgettable characters

- no tension or even real reaction to the events that are happening.. It's like giant alien hunters are an everyday occurrence and like Transformers nothing to worry about if you have some US-issue assault rifles and Black Ops guys

- many of the action sequences are a disjointed mess with events and locations just being a fast-cut blur as we rush to the next one

- The now standard female scientist/civilian who it turns out is a total bad ass and combat expert too

- I didn't realise there were re-shoots until I caught up with this thread but there were several times alright when I was pulled out of the movie with a "eh? What happened there?" moment

- the screaming SEQUEL flag at the end. If they wanted to do a sequel then I wouldn't have minded a proper sequel to Predators which is the far better mismatched group of misfits fight alien warriors movie here. I actually enjoyed Predators quite a lot

Basically while I wasn't expecting to be blown away and can usually just switch off my brain and enjoy the popcorn, the film lost me pretty early on and it was very hard to get back into it because of the glaring editing problems, misplaced humour, and bad characters

3/10 - mostly for the strong opening 20 minutes or so, but wouldn't bother rewatching