Get to the chopppa because the Predator is back!
If you know anyone that doesn’t believe Predator is one of – if not THE – greatest action films of all time then there’s only one logical reason for their woefully inaccurate opinion. The CIA has got them pushing too many pencils.
Oh yes, the ugliest motherfucker in the galaxy is back in The Predator and as always, if it bleeds, we can kill it.
As stated in our spoiler-free review of the film, Predator fans can expect buckets of blood because the hunt has evolved and so has the gore factor. In fact, the body count in this film is probably higher than every other Predator film combined.
Of course, John McTiernan’s beloved original was far more than just a ‘big, dumb and lots of fun’ movie because in many ways, Predator was a perfect pop-culture hybrid that combined elements of Aliens, Rambo: First Blood and the Vietnam War.
Another reason why Predator is so beloved is because of its eclectic cast.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character Dutch might have been the main star but every single character in his unit had a memorable role to play.
For example, Blain introduced us to ‘Old Painless,’ Billy was crazy enough to go mano-a-mano with the alien, and Dillon, well, he gave us the greatest handshake of all time.
With The Predator set for release on Thursday, we got a chance to talk with its main star, Boyd Holbrook (Narcos), and he chatted about what makes this new film so different to be beloved original.
In the film, he plays Quinn McKenna, a former Army Ranger who discovers the existence of the fierce Predators and much like Arnie in the original, Quinn is forced to rely on a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers that are dubbed ‘The Loonies.”
Ultimately, these men have to do battle the greatest killers in the galaxy but the stakes have been raised because the universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species.
There will be blood and lots of it!
With a cast that includes Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Thomas Jane (The Punisher) Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones), and Keegan-Michael Key (Tomorrowland), it’s clear that Shane Black is expanding the Predator universe and Holbrook believes that’s reflected in the story arc of the supporting characters.
The Predator leading man was also delighted to see that Black had no intentions of cutting down on the gore factor.
“I wouldn’t have gotten involved with this if I wasn’t a huge fan from the original and I’ve got the utmost respect for it and Arnold and the whole gang. I hope people enjoy it. We know what works and you can’t do a movie without it being R-rated. It’s not going to work. It’s one of those reasons why Logan was so successful is that people finally got to see what those claws can do and we want to see what these Predators can do too,” he said.
Regarding the original, the Narcos star feels that the rest of Arnie’s crew could have been fleshed out a little bit more.
Yep, we see the irony. After all, the Predator absolutely loves tearing off the flesh from the bodies that he kills!
“One critique I have of the original is that a lot of these characters are only seen on the cosmetic level. We don’t really get to see what they’re really like. They’re not that three-dimensional because we only see the native American with the bandana on, or a cowboy wearing a cowboy hat and chewing tobacco. We really go a bit deeper with our characters now and kind of get to really bite into them and see what they’re made of. I tip my hat to Shane. This is so many people’s favourite film of all time and if you really want to dive into that water, you really have to take some risks and make some changes,” he said.
The Predator is released in Irish cinemas from 12 September. Get to the cinemaaaaa!
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