We’ve been starved for so long for Predator content that is good and true to the series that the shock of getting two movies back to back in Prey and now Predator: Killer of Killers might be too much to handle. The newest animated film on Hulu, Predator: Killer of Killers ,is a sort of anthology story, sort of not. The three stories told here, The Shield, The Sword, and The Gun, all converge together in the third act of this film. Going into it, I didn’t expect that, and it was a nice surprise for sure.
Predator: Killer of Killers comes from Dan Trachtenberg and Joshua Wassung, who co-directed the film. It was written by Micho Robert Rutare and based on a story from Trachtenberg and Rutare, and of course based on the characters created by Jim and John Thomas. It stars Michael Biehn, Doug Cockle, Rick Gonzalez, Damien Haas, Lauren Holt, Lindsay LaVanchy, Jeff Leach, Piotr Michael, Louis Ozawa, and Britton Watkins.
The story in The Shield follows Ursa in Scandinavia, 841. She’s a Viking warrior who leads her clan on an expedition to destroy a rival faction. Along the way, the Predator shows up, slaughters her men, and her son dies in the battle. The next is Japan, 1609, which features two brothers fighting to be the next successor to a samurai warlord. A Predator begins hunting them and the two brothers have to set aside their differences to fight it. Finally, The Gun features Torres, a fighter pilot. His squadron investigates a mysterious aircraft that destroyed another unit, which happens to be a Predator ship. All three stories end up connecting for an explosive third act with the three warriors.
The Good Of Predator: Killer Of Killers
The action on display is absolutely brutal here. The Predator has never been this violent and just savage. An animated setting allows for more locales, but also more bloodshed that you couldn’t do in live-action. The stories here are pretty bare bones, but sometimes, that’s all you need. The best of the bunch is The Sword. It provides the best visuals, and really answers the lifelong question that everyone has had at one point in their life, who would win, A Predator or a Samurai? It might take two Samurai, but the story remains awesome. It’s also the story with the least dialogue, which lends itself to just show the story unfolding. The animation style works best for this section because it’s a lot of quick movements.
Seeing the Predator lore expanded upon in the third act is also quite thrilling for a lifelong fan. There’s a hierarchy to the beasts with the hulking Warlord leading at least this group. If you wanted to see what the culture and mythology of the Yautja (Predators) would look like, this movie gives you that and then some.
The simplicity of the whole thing is really a strength. Sometimes you just need to see a Predator dropped into different periods of human history and see what’ll happen. That’s likely the genesis of the entire idea for Predator: Killer of Killers, but it’s one that works, really well.
The Bad Of Predator: Killer Of Killers
The animation style is not for everyone. It shares some DNA with films like Spider-Verse and TMNT Mutant Mayhem. There are little moments where it feels like a frame gets skipped. That’s not to say it looks bad or cheap, but it definitely takes some getting used to on your eyes. The half 2D/3D stylings make for a bit of a jerky experience.
Now, for Predator fans who love the lore, these changes or information about how they operate might be a bit of a departure from previous franchise lore. The storylines all converging into one is a cool concept, but it means that each story gets hurried a bit, and the ending really gets hurried along. It has to wrap up three stories and set up a new one, all in the span of about 15 minutes.
A Crowd-Pleasing Predator Film
Even with some of those quibbles, Predator: Killer Of Killers is as crowd-pleasing as it gets. Some of the action on display is breathtaking. The Predator has never been this savage and brutal before. It might not eclipse the first film, but what’s going to? The team behind this film and Prey have done more than show off their care, love, and knowledge of this mythical movie beast.
Predator: Killer Of Killers is available to stream on Hulu right now.
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