"Do you know what my job description is? I look up and I catch what falls out of the sky."
It seemed as if the idea of a new instalment of the ‘Predator’
franchise with Shane Black in the writer/director’s chair was a perfect
concept. Black is one of the best at high concept action that blends the volatile
and interesting psyche of unique characters with high stakes narratives that
unfold with humour, tension and depth. I immediately conjured up images of
something akin to ‘The Nice Guys’ or ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ with a Predator
thrown into the mix. Black even had a small role in the 1987 original to
complete the circular perfection of him being put in charge.
From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of
suburbia, the hunt comes home. The universe's most lethal hunters are stronger,
smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves
with DNA from other species. When a boy accidentally triggers their return to
Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and an evolutionary biologist can
prevent the end of the human race.
So as I said, there was every reason to expect ‘The Predator’
to be the long overdue return to form for the franchise and finally bring us an
instalment that could rival the Schwarzenegger action classic. However it
brings me no joy to say that ‘The Predator’ is a colossal disappointment, easily
Black’s weakest film as a director and verging on the incoherent at times. It
amounts a mess of stylistic flourishes that, while interesting, are not allowed
to evolve into anything meaningful combined with studio mandated additions in
an effort to drive a more serious tone that ultimately falls flat.
If you were to describe the amount of ground covered by ‘The
Predator’ you would then be surprised to hear that the film comes in at a
somewhat short 95 minute runtime. This
was likely the result of 20th Century Fox looking to cut and capitalise
on an increasingly bizarre movie that was very clearly not what they sought to
achieve with this franchise. As they did with David Fincher’s ‘Alien 3’ and
Josh Trank’s ‘Fant4stic’, Fox have disturbed a film that contains vague
allusions to what its director originally wanted but then descends into a
generic and faceless mess.
That being said, I worry that Black’s original vision might
not have been all that compelling in the first place. Though it’s possible his
full version did indeed add depth, substance and development to every thematic
arc he introduces there’s such a large amount on offer in ‘The Predator’ that I
can’t imagine him addressing every one of these and still having a cohesive
movie. There are enough plot threads and high concept arcs to sustain an entire
franchise within this script, but instead ‘The Predator’ opts to introduce them
all without ever endowing them with any kind of arc or significant impact on
the narrative.
The same goes for the characters, though the assembled cast
are all impressive and they each have the semblance of an intriguing character
arc to begin with, none of them are allowed to develop in a way that feels
earned or properly paced. At best a character will get a rushed and
unfulfilling resolution to their arc, at worse they are dropped altogether. The
bright spots are the moments in which they are simply trading dialogue, as it
lets Black showcase his trademark snappy and confrontational conversations. As
well as that it’s hard not to love the gory anarchistic glee in which the film
displays it’s biggest action set pieces, as well as the fitting 80s flavoured
soundtrack. Outside of that however, there is much to be desired.
Speaking of casting I want to take a minute to at least address
the controversy surrounding Black’s casting of registered sex offender Steven
Wilder for a minor role. I take issue with calling it a “controversy” because
that implies there is a debate to be had, when the simple fact is that Wilder
should not have been cast, Black should have known better and was very much in
the wrong, while Olivia Munn is most definitely not in the wrong for demanding
that the scenes featuring Wilder be cut.
The fact that a controversy of that scale was more of an
afterthought in addressing where ‘The Predator’ made a misstep speaks a lot. Black
does at least alleviate the issues by emplying his usual tongue in cheek, self-referential
style of comedy to lighten the film’s tone. But in another sense that also
clashes heavily with the tonal requirements when the film then demands to be
taken seriously on a narrative level. Black can’t quite reconcile the two tones
as he has done on other occasions.
On a scripting level perhaps one could overlook the
cognitive discconance within the narrative of ‘The Predator’ but any hope the
film had ay being cohesive is torn to shreds by the editing. The cuts are sloppy
and unsubtle, with no attempt to convey a sense of pace of rhythm on a
momentary or scene to scene basis. Any singular moment, when taken out of
context, might hold up. But when trying to place it within the greater
framework of the story and action beats the result is exhausting.
‘The Predator’ is a mess of a movie. Despite some
entertaining moments there are too few compelling beats in the action or story
to make it anything other than a huge disappointment.
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