I was never a huge fan of Predator, but most of this lack of affection derived from the fact I was born to late to really enjoy the testosterone-soaked brutal action movie it was during the heyday of testosterone-soaked brutal action movies. I did eventually go back and re-visit both the original and that 1990 sequel before seeing 2010's Predators though (which I remember liking more than I expected). That being said, I never bothered with any of the AVP titles given they came out in '04 and 07' which was before I had any interest in either franchise. Personal history aside, this latest attempt to re-boot the Predator franchise comes from writer/director Shane Black (Iron Man 3, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) who starred in the original 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger-vehicle before going on to write massive hits like Lethal Weapon and Last Action Hero before and eventually moving into directing his own films. 20th Century Fox is clearly hoping that the hiring of Black contributes to the nostalgia factor it is also counting on to pull fans back in for a new film in a franchise that is now thirty-plus years old. And while having never personally been a huge fan of these movies it's not hard to understand the appeal and I look forward to seeing what a unique voice like Black brings to this kind of movie. Black's last film, 2016's The Nice Guys, was a fantastic little slice of a seventies buddy action/comedy, but it only made $62.7 million worldwide on a $50 million budget despite starring "names" like Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. The Nice Guys is the kind of movie that would have flourished in the nineties when the movie star on the poster was everything, but in a world dominated by IP's and familiar brands it makes sense the studio would have Black return to his roots and try his hand at something proven that could use a little bit of fresh inspiration. As far as the trailer goes, this looks like what one would expect as far as a summer sci-fi movie goes, but I expect the film itself to be a lot less typical than what this first piece of promotional material suggests as the Predator films have a history of being rated-R and filled with a little more blood and guts than your standard PG-13 summer blockbuster. The Predator stars Jacob Tremblay, Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Alfie Allen, Thomas Jane, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, and opens on September 14th, 2018.
Synopsis: From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black’s explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, 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 young boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.
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