The Predator (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3)
	Actors: Boyd Holbrook (Narcos TV-series, Logan), Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder), Thomas Jane (The Expanse TV-series)
	Country: USA, CDN
	Genre: Action, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 15.02.2018, in-flight entertainment 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: When an alien race of sport hunters takes a fight down to Earth, a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers led by McKenna (Holbrook) as well as his son (Tremblay) get involved.
Review: I love the muscular original Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and should watch again its sequel with Danny Glover which also had its qualities, but I would ignore the pitiful 2010 Predators even though director by Nimród Kontroll Antal, and let's not talk about the two Alien vs. Predator cross-overs. I totally agree with the statement that the movie "succeeds at being the never-made 1992 sequel to Predator 2" as phrased by YouTuber Mike on his 2018 Fave5 video (list to which this movie does not belong). But then the movie touched us differently: I enjoyed it! I find that it does give us what we liked in the first two movies while expanding the Universe but not in a too exaggerated way (just a little), and in particular it refrains from over-using the aliens hunter's characteristic thermal vision and sound effects, which I found was the worst in Predators. The crew of soldiers has been revisited, matching more the style of the A-Team rather than the original brutal one. The gifted kid a-la Mercury Rising makes the fight more personal for our hero McKenna. The casting talks to the audience by mixing TV-series stars (Holbrook, Jane), a cinema wonder kid (Tremblay) and 90's favorites (Jake Busey). In the end I think my favorite thing in this movie is how well it is wrapped-up, showing to me for the first time the famed story-teller talent of Shane Black (I gotta watch again Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). And a few jokes hit the mark (like the debate between the naming predator vs. spot hunter). All in all a nice experience for me.
Rating: 7 /10