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[BadBurger]

It was entertaining for me, but not how I'm sure it was intended. In the first 5 minutes I was treated to a Leia slide and a parkour tree jump. Why do directors still think these things are still cool, especially when done multiple times. The next scene has the camera centered on her circling as she walks through the village. It works perfectly because that is what this movie is, all about her. With the exception of her brother, the entire cast is pretty one dimensional. Everything they do is in service of showing how underestimated she is... sigh. Still the first half is tolerable and in the end it's an ok check your brain at the door movie. Is a good Predator movie? Hello no, it doesn't deserve to be in the same discussion of the first two movies. I'm fine throwing it in with the rest as it's equally forgettable. Well except the woke discussions will keep it relevant much longer that it deserves to be.

So is this film woke. Not overtly. Thankfully the setting prevents slap in the face contemporary references and winks associated with those type of films. But the common themes and tropes of woke writing are a steady drum beat from the beginning and slowly builds to a solo by Animal from the Muppets by the end. All I can say while it is everything I expected from a film like this, it was still dumb fun.

I think you're missing how they went out of their way to convey Comanche society. The other characters who typically appeared alongside her brother (but it should be mentioned her own mother as well) weren't just there for her, they were living examples of Comanche ideals and values.

Also, the shot of her as she leaves the village was poignant in ways some may have missed. She is awoken in her tent to join the rest of the women in their typical foraging and crafting duties - you can even see her grab her medicine woman bag to collect I assume herbs and mushrooms and what not. But she looks on at the other women, all walking away from what she recognizes is a threat to her people, and sees a woman with a baby on her back. Her emotive response, to me, said "not yet". Not that she rejected her duties or her place in society at that moment, but that she just wasn't ready to submit yet. She wanted to complete her hunt, to prove herself, first and then would be whatever the tribe needed her to be. It wasn't until after her brother, then warchief, sacrificed himself for her that she seemed to embrace the warrior life for good.

And I hate to discuss "woke" stuff, because the term is overused so much these days as to make it virtually meaningless (I've yet to see someone actually articulate what it even means within their society and why it is bad), but nothing explored in this movie was either progressive nor original. In regards to this movie and discussion, there have been works of literature examining the agency of women and those that bucked trends - fictional and non fictional figures alike - since early times from all over the world, onto the Victorian era, and right on to today. In fact as I try to search for ways in my head to sympathize with those who consider this "woke", it's probably the worst example I can think of from the past decade. Just the wrong tree to be barking up.

Just my opinion anyways.

 

[Alx]

With all the positive feedback I had some hope, but I came out disappointed. It's a decent monster flick, but you could replace the Predator with any other bloodthirsty killer and it wouldn't be any different. Nice settings though. Missed opportunity in

Spoiler

not having a link between the Comanche rites of passage and the Predator own hunting rules. As a matter of fact we barely see any cultural aspect of the Predator, he's just killing any other predator as soon as he sees one. There's not even the usual cool moment "ok you're brave enough to face me one on one, let me drop my gear and fight"

Also American directors, please spend a few bucks to hire real (human) translators, all the French lines in the movie are terrible (don't give me "it's XVIIIth century/local way of speaking", it's obviously translated word for word from English sentences).

 

[Tieno]

Also American directors, please spend a few bucks to hire real (human) translators, all the French lines in the movie are terrible (don't give me "it's XVIIIth century/local way of speaking", it's obviously translated word for word from English sentences).

I was wondering what was up with this, also the french accent sounded very weird to me, is it canadian french?

 

[Alx]

I was wondering what was up with this, also the french accent sounded very weird to me, is it canadian french?

I think there may have been a couple of French Canadians in minor roles (who must have wept when they read their lines), but most had an anglo-saxon accent. (which is a shame too, I mean it's not like your settings are in continental Europe, using Canadian actors would have been perfect for those scenes)

 

[Xenon]

I think you're missing how they went out of their way to convey Comanche society. The other characters who typically appeared alongside her brother (but it should be mentioned her own mother as well) weren't just there for her, they were living examples of Comanche ideals and values.

Also, the shot of her as she leaves the village was poignant in ways some may have missed. She is awoken in her tent to join the rest of the women in their typical foraging and crafting duties - you can even see her grab her medicine woman bag to collect I assume herbs and mushrooms and what not. But she looks on at the other women, all walking away from what she recognizes is a threat to her people, and sees a woman with a baby on her back. Her emotive response, to me, said "not yet". Not that she rejected her duties or her place in society at that moment, but that she just wasn't ready to submit yet. She wanted to complete her hunt, to prove herself, first and then would be whatever the tribe needed her to be. It wasn't until after her brother, then warchief, sacrificed himself for her that she seemed to embrace the warrior life for good.

And I hate to discuss "woke" stuff, because the term is overused so much these days as to make it virtually meaningless (I've yet to see someone actually articulate what it even means within their society and why it is bad), but nothing explored in this movie was either progressive nor original. In regards to this movie and discussion, there have been works of literature examining the agency of women and those that bucked trends - fictional and non fictional figures alike - since early times from all over the world, onto the Victorian era, and right on to today. In fact as I try to search for ways in my head to sympathize with those who consider this "woke", it's probably the worst example I can think of from the past decade. Just the wrong tree to be barking up.

Just my opinion anyways.

I agree, I hate discussing the woke stuff as almost as much as watching it. But the funny thing is, I love how respect for other cultures is important right up until it conflicts with progressive values, then it's ok to show how regressive and demeaning the men can be in the village. Sure it's ok to tell that story of a woman/girl rising above expectations. The problem is the girl who supposedly is good at her tasks, knows medicine, and hunts goes all Jason Bourne in the 3rd act. She doesn't rise above, she knows and we're shown that she is already above from the beginning.

Spoiler

The topper for me was at the end she is fucking smiling. Sure sieze the moment but she could have remembered that her brother last held that stick the day before. I mean hell he even told her in the end it was her plan that got him his big kill and sacrificed himself to let her get the kill. Its all about her.

I'm not going to sift for subtle details about her feelings when it's pretty clear every single one is about her. This is what makes it "woke" It's not a girl being the lead, it's a badly written girl as the lead. It's not about dealing with biases due to gender of the time, it's about taking current biases about gender and protecting onto a past society with a judgemental lens. Woman weren't prevented from hunting, Im sure if it was needed they did. But back then procreation was not as easy and women were essential to the tribes survival and continuation. Throwing a 4th wave feminist into that setting is as disrespectful to that culture as any colonialism takes of the culture. It's judgemental historical fiction with a clear progressive political message. ie its woke

 

[TonyK]

Yesterday my wife and I saw it and we can't understand how so many people like the movie. Maybe it's because we have an age (48 yo) but it was impossible for us to believe: first, that a teen could face a predator, and two, that that teen was an Indian American from 300 years ago. I mean, all young characters and specially the main one, act like any teen from a Spiderman movie. Everything seems fake and unreal. Dialogs are so bad, and acting so poor. Predator killing people is fine as usual, but I can't understand where the prise came except if viewers are under 25.

 

[FunkMiller]

So how do the Predators get the flintlock?

Did you watch the credits? Those cave drawings tell the story of the whole film… with an extra picture at the end about something that happens next.

 

[Ammogeddon]

I really enjoyed it, definitely puts the Predator franchise back in a good position. Probably won’t take long for some twat to ruin it all again though.

I liked the Predator 2 reference with the flintlock gun. If this is canon then the predators are going to have to get that back off the Comanches before it’s given to Danny Glover.

 

[BadBurger]

I agree, I hate discussing the woke stuff as almost as much as watching it. But the funny thing is, I love how respect for other cultures is important right up until it conflicts with progressive values, then it's ok to show how regressive and demeaning the men can be in the village. Sure it's ok to tell that story of a woman/girl rising above expectations. The problem is the girl who supposedly is good at her tasks, knows medicine, and hunts goes all Jason Bourne in the 3rd act. She doesn't rise above, she knows and we're shown that she is already above from the beginning.

Spoiler

The topper for me was at the end she is fucking smiling. Sure sieze the moment but she could have remembered that he last held that stick the day before. I mean hell he even told her in the end it was her plan that got him his big kill and sacrificed himself to let her get the kill. Its all about her.

I'm not going to sift for subtle details about her feelings when it's pretty clear every single one is about her. This is what makes it "woke" It's not a girl being the lead, it's a badly written girl as the lead. It's not about dealing with biases due to gender of the time, it's about taking current biases about gender and protecting onto a past society with a judgemental lens. Woman weren't prevented from hunting, Im sure if it was needed they did. But back then procreation was not as easy and women were essential to the tribes survival and continuation. Throwing a 4th wave feminist into that setting is as disrespectful to that culture as any colonialism takes of the culture. It's judgemental historical fiction with a clear progressive political message. ie its woke

I'd point out that everything she did was in defense and benefit of her people. She gave off a lot more Ellen Ripley, or Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind vibes to me than she did Teela from Netflix for example.

But thank you for your genuinely thoughtful examinations and reflections rather than resorting to vagueries and transparent trolling like some others resorted to in this thread.

 

[Haemi]

I really enjoyed it, definitely puts the Predator franchise back in a good position. Probably won’t take long for some twat to ruin it all again though.

I liked the Predator 2 reference with the flintlock gun. If this is canon then the predators are going to have to get that back off the Comanches before it’s given to Danny Glover.

Watch the credits.

Spoiler

The predator ship shows up right after she gets the staff

 

[Nobody_Important]

A good Predator film from the 21st century?

No fucking way. I might need to see this.

 

[INC]

looked like the berserker predator , similar to the one in predators 2010

IE......wank.

Even the way it walked and stood looked shit. It had no presence at all to me, just a dumb meat suit.

Watch the original predator, the way Kevin Peter Hall moved, and and embodied the predator is what sold it. This one had none of that. And ultimately what killed it for me. The only shots that made the predator look and feel like the 80s predator, were the back shots of it de-cloaking......and they're were done literally for promo shots

 

[Airbus Jr]

With all the positive feedback I had some hope, but I came out disappointed. It's a decent monster flick, but you could replace the Predator with any other bloodthirsty killer and it wouldn't be any different.

Nope

Any other person would get overwhelmed in that situation (against armed mob)

Also 1 vs 1 close range fight with grizzly bear

Yeah no human can win that

 

[FunkMiller]

A good Predator film from the 21st century?

No fucking way. I might need to see this.

It's worth it. It has its fair share of flaws... most notably what they've had to do to the Predator to make any of it remotely believable.

But... the story is lean, well executed, well paced, and doesn't suffer with any bloat whatsoever. The performances from the main actors are universally solid. There are some bloody great kills. Some of the cinematography is breath-taking, and there's a pleasingly old school feel to the whole thing.

It's still nowhere near the heights of the original movie, but it can stand toe to toe with number 2 and Predators fine, and it shits from a great height over everything else that's had the Predator in it.

 

[dr_octagon]

Lambo Call Rissien: You already remade and rebooted Predators, a new Disney film was not a condition.

Lourd Vaydor: I am altering the deal. Prey I don't alter it any further.

Lambo: More like father lol
Vaydor: What?
Lambo: What?

 

[Urban]

I found it ok

7/10

 

[Solarstrike]

Spectacular. The IP really needed a reboot and this was it so whoever made that decision, it's a good sign for other IP's such as "Alien" (give it a rest Ridley Scott!). Tons of new ideas can arise now for future iterations. And they should all be titled differently

 

[Surf Ninja]

I think the reason it went to streaming instead of theaters is because all the CGI animals looked like they were copy-pasted from Assassin's Creed III on 360.

 

[Stuart360]

So how do the Predators get the flintlock?

There is a little easter egg in the credits. The credits are showing what happened in the film through cave paintings, and the very last cave painting shows the girl stood in front of the clan with the Predator head, then you see them look into the sky and 3 Predator ships are decending down to the clan.
I guess the Predators decimate the clan after the end of the film lol.

EDIT. Someone already beat me to it.

 

[Badlucktroll]

They need to bring back Arnie for the ultimate showdown!

 

[Stuart360]

I think the reason it went to streaming instead of theaters is because all the CGI animals looked like they were copy-pasted from Assassin's Creed III on 360.

Bad cgi hasnt stopped Marvel fiilms going to theatre's he he.
Besides i thought the cgi was pretty good overall.

 

[ManaByte]

They need to bring back Arnie for the ultimate showdown!

They tried that twice and couldn’t get him.

 

[Stuart360]

Yesterday my wife and I saw it and we can't understand how so many people like the movie. Maybe it's because we have an age (48 yo) but it was impossible for us to believe: first, that a teen could face a predator, and two, that that teen was an Indian American from 300 years ago. I mean, all young characters and specially the main one, act like any teen from a Spiderman movie. Everything seems fake and unreal. Dialogs are so bad, and acting so poor. Predator killing people is fine as usual, but I can't understand where the prise came except if viewers are under 25.

Well i'm 41 and liked the film, i am a Predator fan though as you can probably tell from my avater.

As for the highlighted, you have to remember that by the time we reach the final fight, the Predator had been bit by a rattle snake, bit by a wolf, absolutely ravaged by a Grizzly, stabbed and shot mulitple times (including being shot in the back of the head at point blanck range), had one of its arms cut off, and had lost gallons of blood.
I think Pred was not in good condition by the end of the film. Besides the girl beats it using intellegence and cunning , not by brawn.

 

[FunkMiller]

Spectacular. The IP really needed a reboot and this was it so whoever made that decision, it's a good sign for other IP's such as "Alien" (give it a rest Ridley Scott!). Tons of new ideas can arise now for future iterations. And they should all be titled differently

Agreed. A variety of different inventive scenarios you can plug the Predator into. I myself would like to see it enter an actual war zone.

Though, of course, if this one is successful, that's not what they'll do. We'll get Prey 2 with Midthunder again, and it'll suck.

 

[mansoor1980]

gonna watch the 2018 predator movie

 

[Stuart360]

gonna watch the 2018 predator movie

 

[FunkMiller]

As for the highlighted, you have to remember that by the time we reach the final fight, the Predator had been bit by a rattle snake, bit by a wolf, absolutely ravaged by a Grizzy, stabbed and shot mulitple times (including being shot in the back of the ehad at point blanck range), had one of its arms cut off, and had lost gallons of blood.
I think Pred was not in good condition by the end of the film. Besides the girl beats it using intellegence and cunning , not by brawn.

They definitely tried their hardest to weaken the Predator before he got anywhere near fighting Naru. That's why the 'woke' complaining doesn't land. They pre-empted it. Clever.

 

[ManaByte]

gonna watch the 2018 predator movie

 

[mansoor1980]

already 8 mins in , i kinda dig it
shane black wrote the script after all

 

[FunkMiller]

gonna watch the 2018 predator movie

There isn't a 2018 Predator movie.

There is a ninety minute, hacked up fever dream, fuelled by Shane Black's coke habit though.

 

[ManaByte]

already 8 mins in , i kinda dig it
shane black wrote the script after all

Fuck that movie up the ass with a rusted cattle prod.

 

[mansoor1980]

intrigued so far

 

[adamsapple]

gonna watch the 2018 predator movie

 

[Stuart360]

There isn't a 2018 Predator movie.

There is a ninety minute, hacked up fever dream, fuelled by Shane Black's coke habit though.

Only watched in once and never again. Honestly one of the worst movies ever made imo. Shane Black should of known better, and done way better.

 

[ManaByte]

Only watched in once and never again. Honestly one of the worst movies ever made imo. Shane Black should of known better, and done way better.

Shane Black deserves to be married to Amber Heard for that ending.

 

[Stuart360]

So who thinks they will do a Prey 2, Prey 3, etc, and be all set in different time zones, like Inca, The crusades, Feudal Japan, etc?, Assassins Creed Style?.
I certainly can, and it could be pretty damn good.

 

[FunkMiller]

So who thinks they will do a Prey 2, Prey 3, etc, and be all set in different time zones, like Inca, The crusades, Feudal Japan, etc?, Assassins Creed Style?.
I certainly can, and it could be pretty damn good.

I reckon they should swap the concept, and have some 'roided up superhuman soldier from the future go to the Predator home world and hunt them.

Predator: How The Turntables.

 

[Airbus Jr]

So who thinks they will do a Prey 2, Prey 3, etc, and be all set in different time zones, like Inca, The crusades, Feudal Japan, etc?, Assassins Creed Style?.
I certainly can, and it could be pretty damn good.

Think they will go back to present day or could be another avp movie after this

Following up to 2018 ending where human get their hands of predator technology

Desperate times for the predators to raise their game which bring them to introduce the military unit predators ( vanguard ,stalker, hydra, blazers) if you play the game you know about the military predator theyre different than hunters unit.

 

[AfricanKing]

I'll wait for Critical Drinker's review.

Lol some people actually take him seriously

 

[Bartski]

Following up to 2018 ending where human get their hands of predator technology

how about no and let's pretend that movie never happened

 

[mansoor1980]

so the big predator is the tracker/hunter?

 

[Sub_Level]

BTW I saw both the English & Comanche dub versions, and there's quite a few script changes.

In the Comanche dub Taabe is like "that is some crazy shit!" LOL I prefer the English version.

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

Video games. I'd rather trust the critics as a whole. Even though they mostly do the 6-10 scale to suck up to devs for free games and previews (ie. I know a 6.2/10 means it's shit), I typically agree with their scores as a whole. I dont trust gamer user scores as much as they can be skewed with review bombing losers.

Movies. I'd rather trust movie watcher scores. Some reason movie critics seem very homogenous despite them all being different demographics like old/young or men/women etc.... Some reason boring dramas all get good reviews with a minimum 2/4 stars, but most horror movies, actions movies and dumb comedies can get plastered being terrible with a 0 or 1 star even though everyone you ask whose seen it says it's awesome. I can understand well known movie critics playing the high brow critic to keep up some kind of red carpet know it all attitude, who has to pretend he doesn't like fun dumb movies to protect his image, but for average joes doing reviews they all seem to do the same trend.

To me, a good barometer how good a movie is is how many times someone will re-watch a movie. And going by my personal experience, friends and family itching to get together and watch a rerun, it's always big budget loud movies or dumb comedies. Very enjoyable movies. The types of movies critics will hate. You never see someone saying they watched by themselves or with a group a rerun of Moonlight or Spotlight.

They are all the same types of people. Mentally ill, borderline retarded who care more about seeing their personal politics celebrated than providing an in-depth, critical review. “Critics”, at least the vast, *vast* majority of them, are completely and utterly worthless as barometers for anything. What matters more is knowing yourself. Watch a trailer, play a demo, converse with freinds or colleagues who have similar tastes. Then decide from that.

As an aside, haven’t seen Prey yet. Going to on Monday! I am rather excited.

 

[Airbus Jr]

so the big predator is the tracker/hunter?

No that one was different it is genetically enginereed

 

[mansoor1980]

finished the 2018 movie
shane black should stay away from this franchise.

 

[adamsapple]

so the big predator is the tracker/hunter?

Are you talking about The Predator 2018 ?

The big one is a genetically modified 'super predator'. That movie made a weird retcon to the Predator lore that Predators hunt around other species so they can embed their DNA into their own or some shit like that. It's a totally pointless add-on.

 

[Xenon]

Someone is trying to boost their follower count.

 

[mansoor1980]

Are you talking about The Predator 2018 ?

The big one is a genetically modified 'super predator'. That movie made a weird retcon to the Predator lore that Predators hunt around other species so they can embed their DNA into their own or some shit like that. It's a totally pointless add-on.

yea just finished watching the 2018 one , started ok but quickly turned into a mess , movie was humorous to me.
the guy using the shoulder canon to decapitate himself was just LOL

 

[adamsapple]

yea just finished watching the 2018 one , started ok but quickly turned into a mess , movie was humorous to me.
the guy using the shoulder canon to decapitate himself was just LOL

So apparently, the entire third act of the movie was reshot again, originally the third act was going to be a daytime action piece, but then Shane black decided that it needs to take place at night to be scarier and they reshot the whole thing, and I'm guessing that guy's death was changed in the reshoot because that's just an absolutely pathetic and funny way for him to go out.

 

[Stuart360]

So apparently, the entire third act of the movie was reshot again, originally the third act was going to be a daytime action piece, but then Shane black decided that it needs to take place at night to be scarier and they reshot the whole thing, and I'm guessing that guy's death was changed in the reshoot because that's just an absolutely pathetic and funny way for him to go out.

Do you think there are any redeeming qulities of the 2018 film?.
For me i just hated it. From the giant Predator that seemed to be included just for something new, to the weird humour throughout the film, the shit action, the awful script. Everything was just so dumb and felt it was made by someone who didnt know the franchise, and that shouldnt be the case with Shane Black who said the franchise is super important to him for obvious reasons.