Plot
US Army Ranger Quinn McKenna survives an attack by a Predator, that kills his entire team. He sends part of it to his family home, where his estranged wife, Emily and autistic son Rory, live.
To silence Quinn, he is then sent off to an insane asylum, by government agent Will Traeger. Traeger has also captured the Predator, and calls in biologist Casey Bracket to study it. When the Predator escapes a research facility, Quinn (who is freed in an attack on his bus by the Predator) and Bracket come together – and head to his home to stop it from getting its gear back.
Direction
Directed, and co written by action film aficionado Shane Black, who played Hawkins in the original film way back in 1987. His banter dialogue is on point here – especially with some great moments between Rory and Traeger.
Special note, Danny Glover – who was in Predator 2, was also in Black’s Lethal Weapon legacy series.
Cast
Boyd Holbrook plays Quinn. Nothing inheriantly wrong with his performance, but like Adrian Brody’s performance in ‘Predators’ he lacks the believability as a “military” lead.
Sterling K Brown plays Traeger. He brings a level of humour in the role of the human antagonist. He has a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ death scene, which is rather disappointing.
Olivia Munn plays Bracket. She too is fine, but she really brings little to the film.
Yvonne Stahovski and Jacob Tremblay play Emily and Rory. I hated the autism portrayal – as Rory is a bullied kid (in a special needs school), whose disability goes from severe to – neurotypical at the drop of a hat. Also, Emily is one of the worst parents on film – who continuously doesn’t know where her son is. Ughh!
The ‘group’ that Quinn is part of, includes Trevante Rhodes as Nebraska, Keegan-Michael Key as Coyle, Thomas Jane as Baxley, Alfie Allen as Lynch and Augusto Aguilera as Nettles.
Jake Busey, plays a scientist named Sean Keyes… he looks a lot like the character Peter Keyes who was played by Gary Busey in Predator 2….
Breakdown
Starting quickly, with a Predator crash landing on earth, and quickly dispatching a military group. We then meet Quinn, who is our ‘hero’. He has managed to take some of the Predators equipment (mask and bracelet) as well as the invisibility ball that he swallows… for some reason. He later gives it to Rory, but it never goes further than this.
Quinn is of course estranged from his wife and child, as he is always away from work. They are brought into the mix, as Quinn sends the Predator equipment to his house (and becuase he is such a bad husband, he never paid the PO Box, so they deliver it to his home, where his son finds them and plays with them).
The Predator is captured by government agent Traeger (Sterling K Brown taking a villainous role in the midst of playing the nice guy in This is Us). Predator escapes, and goes off to get his gear back – and this brings everyone together to go save them, and take down Predator.
There is a horrendous portrayal of autism, as Rory is introduced as having a clearly severe case of it (screaming at loud noises – and being left alone in a school class???) He then .. has to walk home alone, and is often left to his own devices all the time. Mum Emily is also shown to be a terrible parent, often not even knowing where he is (when he’s gone trick or treating). Sorry Shane, but you messed up this writing.
He does have some fun writing at times, like the ‘loonies’, the predator acting like a human (giving a thumbs up) and the moments between Rory and Traeger (reverse psychology).
I enjoyed the reference to Predators 1&2 (they even got the years right) and the casting of Jake Busey as a character named Keyes was a clever addition too.
The third act, where the ‘hunter’ Predator arrives is fairly solid, and even as the supporting cast start to die off (Traeger’s is a disappointing end) you never really feel like the heroes are going to lose.
Overall
So so ‘stand alone’ sequel – but the end result is a mess.
The characters we spend time with are bland, and sometimes just unlikeable, or not fleshed out enough.
This was one of the worst portrayals of autism I’ve ever seen too…
Black’s direction and screenplay is fine, but not enough to give it more than this score.
2/5
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