Predator: Killer of Killers
If you're craving a little of the ol' ultra-violence, this animated iteration of the franchise brings the gore and the thrills in a mashup of sci-fi and fantasy. See it on Hulu.
Some movies require a goodly amount of space and time to review. “Predator: Killer of Killers” is not one of them. It serves up exactly what it promises, in spades: heaping helpings of gore and thrills.
I suppose some might turn their nose up at this flick, the eighth in the franchise about a race of aliens whose greatest aspiration is hunting humans for sport. It’s animated, and not in a super high-polished way. The action is deliberately a bit herky-jerky, almost a Rotoscoped feel.
Honestly, it most closely resembles the cut scenes of a really good video game.
It’s also not being released in theaters, though it certainly deserved such a platform. Produced by 20th Century, it’s debuting on Disney+ in most of the world except for the U.S., where you can catch it on the Hulu streaming platform starting June 6.
Co-directed and written by Dan Trachtenberg — who made the excellent “Prey” from 2022 in which a Predator hunted Native Americans — and Micho Robert Rutare, it’s a movie of vignettes in which people from various timelines and geographic settings do battle with the Predators.
In depiction and tone, it feels a lot like “Heavy Metal” from way back when — several compelling stories loosely connected by a single locus of power.
The first, and for my money the best, sequence is “The Shield,” set in 841 AD somewhere in the Viking lands. Ursa (voice by Lindsay LaVanchy) is the barbaric sea queen who has conquered all that her gaze beheld, and now is ready to settle the oldest of scores. She’s hunting Zoran, who slew her father when she was just a girl.
Accompanied by her teenage son, Anders, Ursa is a blood-soaked, spit-flecked vision of hell, all snarl and attack mode. Her favored weapons: twin shields with sharpened sections cut out — perfect for throat-slashing and beheadings. Despite obviously not being a youngster, Ursa moves about the battlefield like a flesh-starved panther.
The second section, “The Sword,” takes place in feudal Japan circa 1629. Two brothers are set against each other by their grim shogun father. Following his death, they do battle to claim his armor and his position. Never named, the son who was victorious in their long-ago conflict takes on the mantle of a samurai, while his banished brother (voice of Louis Ozawa Changchien) fights with the sneaky M.O. of the ninja.
When the Predator appears, they must set aside their blood enmity… for now.
In the last section, “The Bullet,” set during World War II, a mechanic-turned-fighter pilot named Torres (Rick Gonzalez) finds himself dogfighting a Predator in the skies somewhere over the Pacific with the Texas Aces squadron. He must use his mechanical ingenuity and extra-large cajones to battle the creature’s technological superiority.
There’s a final, fourth sequence, which I’ll let you discover for yourself.
Of course, you’re probably familiar with the Predators. Humanoid with vaguely crab-like faces, they’re merciless killers who prefer throwback devices like hooks and chains to slide and dice their prey. Plenty of their green blood flows in this movie.
“Predator: Killer of Killers” is not subtle, nor will it cause you to ruminate upon it long after. It’s just a gleeful chumbucket of bloody dripping fun.