GET TO THE CHOPPAH: THE PREDATOR (2018)

After 2010s Predators wasn't as successful as the studio was hoping for, 20th Century Fox decided to put the franchise to bed for a bit. This was the second time that an installment featuring a Predator had failed, previous one being Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem. Thus, the franchise went into hibernation. 

However after some time, I believe 20th Century Fox had been seeing what other studios were doing. I mean it makes absolute sense as a lot of the 2010s felt like what I'd call the 'MCU' effect. Marvel had been widely successful with their movies. Every studios seemed to be trying their best to attempt to replicate it. I mean X-Men was back in full swing with the First Class films, Spider-Man would be reinvigorated with Amazing, Warner Bros. were attempting the DCEU, Dracula Untold and The Mummy would be swing and misses for the Dark Universe. Every one was trying to throw something to see what sticks. And not surprisingly, 20th Century Fox thought that maybe Predator would be a fit for a Cinematic Universe. Least, that's what I keep telling myself. 

Enter the next attempt at reinvigorating the franchise with The Predator. The studio had decided to bring in Shane Black to direct and co-write alongside Fred Dekker. Black is well known and was even featured in that original film. Dekker also is remembered for Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps, and House. It sounds like it'd be a good fit, right? I thought so too. 

So, production went underway. Things were leaking...set photos and such. Mentions of multiple Predators in the film. Then came news that the whole third act of the film was scrapped and would need reshoots. What exactly was wrong with that initial third act? I honestly don't know. But I do know is that we had seen Predators in Military Fatigues with rifles in set photos. But in the finished film, nope. They are no longer there. However, they would appear immortalized in NECAs line of The Predator figures. I have to find them. Oh yeah, they were also featured in the Predator Evolution special feature on the Blu Ray. 

What did these reshoots result in? First and foremost, studio interference. It was to the point where I don't think Black or Dekker are proud of the finished product. It wasn't necessarily what they had originally planned for. No, instead the finished product feels like it's a superhero film. Like it was their attempt to Marvel-ize the Predator franchise with more humor. That is definitely something I noticed was the larger frequency of jokes in the film. The action results in bigger spectacle. However, it loses itself in the use of CG.

One thing I will admit is that I love the Looneys. These guys work really well together. They bounce off of one another and it's a bit fun. Looking at it under the superhero perspective, huh? It sounds like a crazier version of the Howling Commandos from The First Avenger. Oh, that also explains McKenna. He's basically this film's version of Steve Rogers but at the end turns into Iron Predator. 

The idea of the Upgraded Predator is a bit bigger. But not out there as we had seen previously with the Super Predators of Predators. Honestly, it feels like it's the Predator version of Dutch. He's just bout as big and beefy as you might imagine a Schwarzen-Pred to be. Hell, it sucks we couldn't have gotten Schwarzenegger's Dutch to return to help. 

But while have a bigger enemy, it kinda nerfs the Fugitive Predator. It basically treats Fugitive as nothing more than a sidenote. And that's very disappointing, even more so after the removal of the Commando Predators. Fugitive is kinda cool in his opening and after he awakes. But then the fight with the Upgrade happens. And it's something that is over in a few seconds. Why? Why couldn't we have Fugitive stand a bit taller? Why couldn't he have held his own a little better? Oh, to make the Upgrade seem more impressive? Hell no. That's not supposed to happen like that. 

And then there's the Predator Dogs. Don't get me started on those. Predators did it better. Here, it falls extremely flat.

Who the hell is THE PREDATOR in The Predator? Well, it certainly isn't Upgrade or Fugitive. If you look at the evidence, it turns out it's McKenna. Seriously? 

I watched The Predator with my son. He's only seen the original '87. He enjoyed this a lot cause of the action. Is this what the studio was planning for? Honestly don't think so. It feels like a failed attempt at Marvel-izing something that didn't need it for a last minute attempt to help the studio. After that, pretty sure they were bought out by Disney.  

Rating: 

2.5 out of 5. (When viewed as a Predator fan)

3 out of 5(When viewed through superhero perspective)

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GET TO THE CHOPPAH: PREDATORS (2010)

After Predator 2 was released, there was a bit of a rocky road ahead. It was the lowest grossing Predator film at the time. Critics weren't exactly welcoming it either. They applauded Danny Glover as the hero. However, other than that, it was seen as a mean-spirited mindless sequel or that not a lot of thought was put into it. Over the years, it has managed to find an audience. 

The studio was trying to see where they could go next with the franchise. Robert Rodriguez was tapped to write a script. It was something that since become a bit of a legend. It had the mention of space pirates. At the time, it probably was unfilmable. 

Years passed, Rodriguez had become a huge name with the success of films and properties. As well as the fact that ran his own studio. Rodriguez was then asked once again to revisit the idea of a third Predator film. Nimrod Antal was brought in to helm this third entry, Predators. 

Predators is a unique entry in the franchise. It was very much ahead of the curve. This was a film that would be a sequel, yet would reference earlier films. In my opinion, I would easily consider it to be a requel. And this was well before we had seen lots of successes with the requel trend we find ourselves in now. 

This film is very much a back to basics approach. It took what made the first film so successful: group in jungle being hunted and added its own twist. Each member that's being hunted is a Predator in their own way. That is something that is pretty fantastic, especially when it comes to Topher Grace. That character was something on first watch felt off. Like he was the odd man out when compared to the rest at first. Adrien Brody is the merc that is in the vein of Schwarzenegger's Dutch. This actually had a pretty big cast: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Danny Trejo, Alice Braga, Walter Goggins, and Laurence Fishburne are a few. Mahershala Ali, later cast in Luke Cage and Blade, would also be featured. I honestly feel like the big surprise in the film is with Fishburne's character. Or at the very least, how long he is in the film.

We have the third film in a series. What can we do that's different? That's what I feel like a bit of the motto was. Well, in this film, we are given the idea of another race of Predators - the Super Predators. We would see three different instances of them - the Falconer, Mr. Black or Berserker, and Tracker. Each of them are extremely distinct. The only downside is how long Tracker and Falconer last. Before we know it, we have a similar showdown of the first film - Brody alongside a Jungle Hunter Predator this time against Mr. Black. But each new bit adds more Lore to the franchise overall. The coolest being the falcon drone that Falconer uses to spy on the prey. And Mr. Black is definitely pretty intimidating until his mask comes off. 

The film has a nice rollercoaster pace. It doesn't overstay its welcome. It honestly doesn't even stay in one place too long. The set pieces are well thought out as well. Whenever, I look at the film I'm amazed at what they were able to do with it. 

The only downside I have to the film is that it ends on a cliffhanger. Why did it have to do that? Couldn't we have ended it in a more definite fashion? Instead we have Brody and Braga stuck on the Jungle Preserve Planet out in Space. 

After time away, this was a nice return to form. It was able to reinvigorate the series for a time. Besides the fact that some aspects would be criticized by fans sometimes harshly. The Hunting Dogs and Mr. BLACK'S appearance under the mask being prime examples. Go give it a watch.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5. 

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GET TO THE CHOPPAH: PREDATOR 2 (1990)

Welcome Back to GET TO THE CHOOPAH. The first installment was one that was a lot of fun to do. It's not every day that able to get my son to watch and contribute. Maybe later a little closer to Halloween Ends, I'll do something with the TV Cut of the original '78 classic. If you haven't checked out our thoughts on the '87 Predator, go check it out.

With this installment, I am flying solo. After watching Predator 2, its just not time for LugNut (nickname for my son) to see it yet. In a few years, he will get to check it out. So join me as we travel to Los Angeles for Predator 2. 

After the success of the first Predator, it became apparent that the studio was game to do a sequel. By this point with sequels in a film series, they tended to play it a little safe and rehash the original with some tweaks. With Arnold's Dutch surviving that original film, it seemed like a sure thing we could get his involvement again. But honestly, it wasn't meant to be as a producer says he wanted too much money. What could a Predator 2 without Arnold look like? 

Well, we know what happened next. They brought in Danny Glover. At the time, Lethal Weapon was pretty successful. So, it felt like a no brainer to have Glover as a detective. It allows things to be different. It honestly opens up the world and lets the film add to the franchise as a whole. If Arnold had been in it, would it have felt like a retread? I think yeah. It would have been Predator but with a changing of the setting. With Predator 2 as it is, it has a whole lot to make it stand out - the City scape and its people are really big highlights. There will probably be even those that consider Predator 2 to be a superior film. 

My first time seeing Predator 2 was on TV with my Dad. Yeah, it was edited for content. But at the time, I never knew that. I ended up loving it as much as the original. The City Hunter is a really cool companion to the first's Jungle Hunter. It feels like a whole other creature. Plus, he had some cool gadgets that added to the world building of the Predator. We have the spear gun, the smart disc, spear, and the first aid kit. And then, there was the whole aspect of the Lost Tribe at the end of the film. Super solid. 

On this rewatch of the film, I noticed something different. There's a whole media angle that I never thought about. With this watch, all the media felt like something out of Verhoven's original ROBOCOP. So, the film is like Lethal Weapon meets Robocop's Media meets Gang War meets Predator. It's incredibly layered and if it could have taken place later on, I'd consider it to be canon with Robocop. 

And then, there's the whole Peter Keyes stuff. I get that we needed to show that the government was acknowledging the Predators. Gary Busey as Keyes just strikes me as a little wrong. Like a small miscasting. But that might just be me because I'm not really a Busey fan. The cool thing is that with all of that stuff, it opens the world up wide open. And that's a nice thing, especially as we will later see it again in the franchise. Is it done well then? Yes and no, stick around and find out. 

Predator 2 is a fun, interesting film. It delivers on all cylinders. It builds on what made the original so successful while standing on its own. Yeah, there may be some things here and there that I don't like. But overall, it's on par with the first film. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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GET TO THE CHOPPAH: PREDATOR (1987)

Growing up, I was introduced to the horror genre relatively early. As far as I remember, it was because my family rented some and my mother and sister said should give them a shot. I was probably around 1st or 2nd grade at the time. Pretty early but not necessarily a bad thing. It gave me a good introduction to the genre that I love. 

A few of the best memories that I have are with my Dad. On the weekends, we would always manage to find a channel that was airing some movies or there'd be Hercules and Xena playing. Two of the instances I remember the most was finding Predator and House on WGN. By this point, it may have even been a double feature. But I remember catching these with him and just loving both movies. Personally,  it was always great getting to watch movies with him. And that's something that I am able to do with my son now.

For Predator, I didn't know much going in to it. I knew it had Arnold Schwarzenegger in it. I may or may not have seen Terminator. Predator may have been my first introduction to him. If that is, then it's a hell of an introduction. There were a group of guys going in to do something. I never was quite clear on it back then. Now, of course, I know Arnold led a squad (like the Expendables) into South America to try to rescue someone. Then things just happened to take a huge ass turn into science fiction. I can always recall the final battle with Arnold facing off with the Predator. My younger self always considered it to be a hell of a film.

Now that I'm older, I had the chance to share this experience with my son. He's pretty much in the same age range as I was when I first seen it. So, it's a great growing up moment. And we were able to sit down and watch it the other day.

I will preface this with saying that he has seen the first Alien Vs. PREDATOR and seen me play Predator Hunting Grounds. So it wasn't necessarily his first experience with the Predator in general. 

The film started and the space ship soared across the screen. My son turns to me and says "There's an alien!". I told him that he needed to keep watching to find out. Clearly, that opening shot had already hooked him on it. The film moves and before he knows it, Arnold's squad is going into the village. My son was extremely just taken aback with how quickly the film is moving. But every time, the guns started shooting or an explosion, "It's time for fwee fwee." would ring out. He said his favorite moment was the whole final battle between Arnold and the Predator. Just seeing the two go toe to toe against one another was great. He really hadn't seen anything like that before. His final verdict of the film was, "It wasn't what I expected. I was expecting the movie to be people standing around talking like Tremors, which I hate. This wasn't slow. It had lots or action. And the Predator was really cool.". 

I'm so happy that was able to share this experience with my son. It's something special that I'll always remember. Especially as it is a nice tradition that hopefully he will be able to share with his son later on. 

But with this watch for me, I was able to see the film through a few new perspectives. It's the first time watching it with my son. It's the first time watching Predator since I started writing reviews. The first time watching the original since The Predator was released. So, it made for an interesting experience. 

Predator is a classic and for good reason. It is those dirty dozen going into the jungle mixed with an Alien hunting them. Everything in the film holds up so well. It's definitely a master class in how to make a film. It's extremely well paced. It takes its time letting us get an idea of what characters we are going on a journey with. Quickly, it gives us little things that make each character memorable. The best examples are Hawkins jokes, the machismo of Jesse Ventura, and the quiet and stillness of Billy. Then when things take a turn and they are being picked off, we care. And all of it pushes forth into an unforgettable ending. Few films will ever be able to stand up to or surpass what they were able to do here.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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