By now, there have been so many remakes, reboots, and unnecessary sequels to our favorite 80s
action movies that it's inevitable some of them are going to be pretty subpar.
But there's plenty of reason to believe The Predator will do right by its predecessors.
Stacked with top-shelf talent both in front of and behind the camera, The Predator is
neither a direct continuation of the original films nor a total reboot.
Set in the same universe, it's trying a story that's completely new, and unlike the Alien
vs. Predator movies, it actually looks kind of good.
Here's why we think The Predator will blow us away.
Resistance is futile
The alien hunters of the original Predator movies are, to put it mildly, pretty formidable
warriors.
They're strong, fast, can camouflage themselves, and have weapons capable of blasting a hole
the size of a watermelon in Jesse Ventura's torso.
If that was all the heroes of the new film had to face, things would be tough enough.
But the extraterrestrial hunters of the new film appear to be next-level specimens, and
they don't just hunt for the thrill of it.
This time around, the Predators have genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species,
assimilating their prey.
It's a development which seems to imply that, like the cybernetic Borg of Star Trek fame,
the Predators now absorb the strengths of their conquered.
If the Predators end up with more diverse upgrades than just "the same, but bigger,"
fans might get to enjoy puzzling out which species they get their new powers from.
We know the hunters have encountered the xenomorphs of the Alien franchise, after all.
Imagine if a Predator had acid blood, or, even scarier, a baby mouth inside its regular
mouth?
After three movies and two crossovers, we'd finally see true horror.
Evolution of the hunt
The new Predator is being directed by Shane Black, the famed screenwriter behind Lethal
Weapon who came to fame in the late 80s.
His sharp dialogue is a highlight of even his weakest screenplays.
He's also proven himself to be a capable director, getting behind the camera for Iron Man 3,
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and The Nice Guys.
He even has a little insight into the franchise he inherited, being with it from the start.
He actually appeared as an actor in the original Predator, a bit part, since the Predator chose
his character as a first target.
During a talk with Collider, Black gave some indication of exactly how his new Predator
would pay respect to what came before while improving on it at the same time.
Black said,
"We just tried to take the existing mythology and take it a step further.
Ask some questions about why?
Why do Predators do what they do?
What would be the next step for them?
How do we up the stakes so that there’s not just a single Predator hunting a group
of soldiers?"
Black's comments paint a picture of a new class of predator that's more ambitious than
audiences are used to, implying that the aliens aren't just out for sport this time.
Their goals now may be closer to world domination.
A different kind of cast
The original Predator focused on a group of elite soldiers on a rescue mission.
Despite how capable each soldier was, most of the times the Predator killed off one of
them when they were separated from the team.
If Dutch and the gang weren't trying to outdo each other's machismo and
had better group chemistry and camaraderie, the Predator wouldn't have had such a staggering
body count by the end of the movie.
That likely won't be a problem with The Predator.
Cast member Sterling K. Brown has praised the movie for fostering a sense of, quote,
"real camaraderie."
No doubt this is partially due to the script and Black's direction, but the movie's also
got a unique cast with some unexpected players that we can't wait to see bounce off of each
other.
Some of the more out-there actors to see in a Predator movie include Alfie Allen from
Game of Thrones, comedian Keegan-Michael Key, and Trevante Rhodes from Moonlight, the 2017
Best Picture winner.
Even young Jacob Tremblay from Room will apparently play a big part in fending off the Predators,
due to an ability to quickly learn languages.
While the first Predator movie was all testosterone, this is a cast that can approach the material
from different directions, from the dramatic, to the childlike, to the wickedly funny.
"Would you let me date your daughter?"
"Of course!"
Witty weirdness
While the first Predator movie can be an amusing watch today, it's not necessarily funny on
purpose, finding laughs in over-the-top machismo rather than actual jokes.
That looks like it'll be different in this new installment too, since Sterling K. Brown
has also identified the movie as having a "wicked sense of humor."
It's not only Black who deserves credit for that.
The Predator's script was co-written by Black and Fred Dekker, who previously collaborated
on the horror-comedy cult classic The Monster Squad.
(the greatest movie line you'll hear all day)
In other words, we're expecting this movie to get weird, and considering how ridiculous
this franchise has already gotten in the past, that's saying something.
The Busey legacy
If you're concerned that this new movie may neglect the past, one of the few characters
we have confirmed details about should set your mind at ease.
Cast member Jake Busey has confirmed his role in The Predator is the son of Peter Keyes,
the character his father Gary Busey played in 1990's Predator 2.
An agent from the top-secret Other World Lifeforms Taskforce, Keyes was a G-man who got his hands
dirty, hunting and fighting the formidable City Hunter with the help of some clever technology.
He put in a pretty good effort, too, before the predator got the fatal upper hand.
We don't know a lot about Jake Busey's role in The Predator yet, only that he's shared
an on-set picture of himself in a lab coat, and described his character as a doctor.
Maybe Keyes' son ended up in the same branch of government as his father, working more
on the egghead side of things.
Either way, you can bet one of two things will happen in this pseudo-sequel, either
the Predators will claim another Keyes family member, or this son of a Busey is gonna pay
off nearly 30 years of patience with some glorious revenge.
"Guess who's back?"