I Watch Films: The Predator

 

The Predator

Somewhere in Central America US Army Sniper Quinn Mckenna is taking part in a hostage rescue operation when things go wrong. A Predator alien interrupts; Quinn manages to knock out the alien. Suspecting the US authorities will try to cover it up he mails some of the alien equipment home to his PO Box.

Quinn’s right; the US agency that looks into aliens interrogate him and take the Predator for testing. They’re all very keen and ruthless about it. They bring in Casey Bracket, a biologist, to investigate the alien. She determines that the Predator has human DNA incorporated into him. Then the Predator wakes up and escapes, Casey the only survivor of the laboratory staff.

Quinn was right; they prepare to ship him out from the base on a bus with mentally ill service men to be committed to keep him quiet. As the Predator makes his escape, Quinn does too, bringing the other bus passengers with him. They pick up Casey. Quinn heads to the home of his estranged wife and son to discover that the Predator equipment he posted has gone there after he stopped paying for his PO box. His autistic son Rory has got the helmet and figured out how to turn it on; it’s Halloween so he’s gone out with the helmet hoping it will hide him from bullies.

When attacked the helmet defends Rory; this draws the attention of US Agents, the Predator, and another Predator that is hunting the first Predator. The film then moves through several action setpieces to an end.

Something of a loveletter to Predator, or perhaps the cut up gif and meme version of Predator that exists on the internet. Or perhaps not, Shane Black, the director and one of the writers was an actor in the original Predator. If this is a bit of a smooth, quippy 21^st century version that despite bringing the action back to the Imperial Core of America has less to say than the original, it’s not as though that was a deep meditation either. It’s willingness to engage with characters with mental illness is interesting though, again, not especially deep.

Watch This: Fun and fast paced science fiction action film
Don’t Watch This: Watch Predator instead
I Watched This Before: And had some hard words for it's views on mental illness and neurodiversity