Predator: Killer of Killers
review by Bobby Blakey
Ever since the original Predator film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1987 the now iconic creature has spawned numerous films, comics and merchandise. I am a massive Predator fan and love all the films despite issues with some of them. Sadly, with the failed performance of the latest entries I assumed it might be the end, but thankfully 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg took the reins and reignited the franchise with Prey. Now he is not only directing another entry with Badlands but also co-directing an animated entry Killer of Killers alongside Joshua Wassung.
Predator: Killer of Killers follows three legendary warriors, a Viking mother seeking vengeance, a ninja fighting his samurai brother, and a WWII pilot facing cosmic horrors – who become prey to an unstoppable hunter of killers.
This film wastes no time letting you know that it is going to be violent and a perfect addition to this franchise, but how will it all come together. With this animated feature it uses the anthology style storytelling of three different time periods that would have worked fine on any of their own, but there are much bigger plans here. My first thoughts after seeing the awesomeness of Prey and clearly others were wanting to see more period piece hunts with the Predators. This animated feature is the perfect way to tell them using simple stories and hyper violence to bring pain and fun.
I love this film as it pulls no punches with the action and just sets up the stories for each of these timelines enough to get invested in before the Predator arrives to turn it on its head. They managed to pack in some depth into these quick set ups leading to some action that has purpose as opposed to just violence for the sake of. I was fully expecting each story to be standalone, but they managed to
fuse them together in the final act in a fun way. Every entry brings something different complete with a different designed Predator and weaponry. People are slaughtered and butts are kicked at a breakneck pace from beginning to end fully capitalizing on the animated styles to do stuff that wouldn’t work in live action.
The animation is outstanding, looking painted and highly detailed. It’s not as chaotic as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Madness, but similar in that look. It lends itself to the details of the varying time periods and the actions they display on screen. They are all fantastic, but my favorite being the feudal Japan segment. I didn’t think the plane dog fight segment was going to work as well from the trailers, but it’s a whole new level of Predator action that we haven’t seen before. This is an excellent entry into the Predator franchise, and I hope this will not be the only time we get some animated stories tole on this scale.
I am eager to see what they do with the next live action feature Badlands and how it might further connect this universe even further. Join the hunt and check out Predator: Killer of Killers streaming now on Hulu from 20th Century Studios.