The 80s had quite a few action movies happening and there was a lot of military-based, “male bravado”-type movies with hench-as-fuck dudes (sometimes) shooting their guns and rolling around in the mud (Rambo, Full Metal Jacket, etc) . We also had a few aliens appearing, both cutesey (E.T.) and scary (Aliens). So, someone (or someones, those being Jim and John Thomas) decided it would be an epic idea to blend aliens with soldiers, both itching for a fight. On paper, a solid idea. In practice? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out. The Predator franchise was born in 1987, with muscle man Arnold Schwarzenegger being the face of the inaugural Predator movie and facing off against a creature that is still without an official name to this day, only going by ‘the Predator’, ‘Hunter’ or ‘Yautja’ in some non-film media.* The series has been going strong ever since (in the sense that people keep making films based on the extra terrestrial antagonist), including a crossover with the Alien franchise. A few of these films I have seen before, some I haven’t, so it’s going to be quite a trip down memory lane with some tangents. Let’s see if the series is really as strong as it appears to be.

*This has since changed after the release of Predator: Badlands, with ‘Yautja’ being officially used in-film as the name of the race, their language and their home.

Predator (1987)
Director: John McTiernan
4/5

Starting off strong, Schwarzenegger leads the way in an action-packed beginning. A military rescue team is sent into the jungle somewhere in Central America on a rescue mission, however their true mission is soon revealed. On top of that, an alien creature begins hunting them and picking them off one by one. Predator takes a lot of what was good about films such as Alien and Rambo and mixes them into a hybrid of a movie (ironic, if you’ve seen many of these Predator/Alien movies). Personally I’m not generally a big fan of those macho, military type movies, but throw in an alien threat and I’m sold. Watching Arnie go up against the Predator is a fun and entertaining concept that is executed well. The dialogue is often cheesy yet funny and memorable, as it is quoted so often, even now. The graphics aren’t too bad for the time (and are easily emulated for future films) with excellent costuming and VFX for the Predator itself. It’s gritty and builds good tension. A solid start to the franchise.

Predator 2 (1990)
Director: Stephen Hopkins
2/5

Oh how the mighty have fallen, and so soon. It’s well-known that sequels are usually not as good as their predecessors, but this one seriously takes the cake. How the series continued after this travesty, I’ll never know. I guess some people saw some nuggets of interest that could be salvaged. Ten years after Arnie’s experience, we’re moved to a heat- and violence-ridden Los Angeles, where the LAPD are dealing with warring drug gangs. Alongside this, a Predator has come to stalk some human prey. Allow me to start with the positives: the stunt work is good, the gore is just as gruesome as it was in Predator if not more so (although the gore and nudity is far too overdone), the Predator is still played by a dude in a physical costume, and we learn a little more about the rules that the Predator race abide by when hunting. That’s where the good stuff ends. The first film set up a good protagonist, but this one is weak across the board with characterisation. The setting is bizarre, feeling like it’s far too conspicuous for the Predator, and our antagonist was revealed to the audience far too early, with nary an introduction. It also seems the budget for the Predator’s camouflage graphics took a hit to make way for the stuntwork, too. In fact, I’m not sure of the point of the Predator even being in this movie other than to emulate the plotline of the first movie, in which the Predator comes in the middle of a fight between humans. It says a lot when a titular character is unecessary in its own movie.

Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
3/5

It was an interesting (and good, in my opinion) idea to go in the direction of merging two terrifying franchises together (and, frankly, two struggling franchises at this point). The film has a good premise, in which we’re introduced to the history that the Xenomorph and the Predator/Yautja share, namely being that the Xenomorph was/is purely prey for the Predator’s hunting games, and Earth was once their playground. Now, the Earth once again becomes the setting for the warring species, and some humans are caught in the crossfire. There’s a grander scale to it all, perhaps because we’re now in the 21st century where set designs and graphics create huge new worlds, and the claustrophobic setting of the ancient pyramid is nicely reminiscent of being on the Nostromo from Alien. The actual fighting between the creatures, despite being cheesy at times, is quite satisfying. We learn even more about the “ethics” and rules the Predator race abide by, but we don’t really learn anything new on the Xenomorph side of things, so it certainly verges on more of a Predator movie. It is full of cliches, sports some weak dialogue and characters, but on the whole, it’s not a bad film.

Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
Directors: The Brothers Strause
2/5

Ok, now we have our first real bad film of the franchise, and fortunately it is just another crossover. Shortly after AvP, a Predator returns to do a sort of “clean up” job after the events of the first movie, and he will clear anything and anyone, alien or human, that stands in his way. They went quite brutal gore- and violence-wise in this film, particularly in the first act, and they do show a clear line between the new breed of alien we were presented with at the end of AvP and the Predators themselves, but that’s about where the positive aspects end. This film has fallen so far from what both Alien and Predator were/are, separately and together, so much so it feels cheap and disjointed. It seems that someone wrote a teen slasher movie and decided to encorporate popular antagonists in order to actually sell what would have been a terrible teen slasher movie anyway. Just like a Transformers movie, there’s too much focus on the humans, to the point where the title doesn’t make sense. Much like the previous film, the Predator probably got more out of this movie than the Alien species, and also, the ending was dumb. I’m being generous giving it 2/5.

Predators (2010)
Director: Nimród Antal
3/5

Continuing the mediocre trend, we now have Adrien Brody leading a human ragtag group of dangerous killers against Predators. Said group all find themselves on a random planet where they have been brought as game for Predators, needing to find a way to work together to stay alive. First off, it’s nice to be back in a jungle setting. This feels much more Predator-like, more secluded and sneaky. The group themselves are quite cohesive as characters that also rub each other up the wrong way, which keeps things interesting, but individually they’re a little lacking, other than Brody, who makes for a decent leader and overall action man with his character (who knew, because I certainly didn’t). The plot overall is rather basic, but it has a good premise and is decently paced. It could have used less dialogue and more action in the first half to draw the audience in better, but the second half pulls it back. We also continue to learn more about the code and “ethics”, if you can call it that, of the Predators, which is a nice way to build the lore surrounding their race.

The Predator (2018)
Director: Shane Black
3/5

Like the previous movie, this one has a good premise, so the series is doing something right at the moment. Set between Predator 2 and Predators, a group of soldiers and scientist find themselves embroiled in a fight with a Predator after some scientists had captured one and began studying it. This one was directed and co-written by Shane Black, who also had a small supporting role in the ’87 original. The dialogue is once again cheesy but fun, and there is also some ridiculous yet fun comedy to it, with the actors playing along in an entertaining way, so the film kind of pokes fun at itself and the franchise as a whole. It was interesting to learn even more about the Predator species in this one, and it felt like it was looking to the future of the franchise, however it is generally beginning to feel like filmmakers keep bringing out a “fresh” take that implies a sequel at the end, but then never actually goes anywhere. The CGI was rather overdone in this instalment too, and the characters were not the strongest. The Predator is a good movie, but it’s not really anything special in the grand scheme of the series.
Click here for a full review of The Predator.

Prey (2022)
Dan Trachtenberg
4/5

FINALLYYYYYY we have an exciting, interesting, entertaining and, perhaps most importantly, well-crafted entry to the franchise for the first time since 1987. Prey is a prequel, set in 19th century north America with Native Americans as the main cast and characters. A young girl of the Comanche people is working to prove herself as a hunter to her tribe, and when a Predator threatens the hunters of the Comanche, she decides to take it on herself. All the while, some Frenchmen also threaten them, mirroring the multi-strand plot of Predator and Predator 2 in which there is human-on-human warfare. The lead character is the best since Schwarzenegger, and the Predator itself is physically intimidating and seemingly far more badass than other incarnations, in part due to his fighting abilities, namely hand-to-hand combat. The Frenchmen seem a little out of place and unecessary for plot advancement, but it is, as mentioned, inkeeping with past Predator framework. The opening to the film is understated yet effective, the best opening to a Predator movie yet. The premise too is the best yet, not to mention the setting of the vast and stunning wilderness of North America as a playground for the Predator. The characters themselves are well-rounded and interesting, with good dialogue that respects the Comanche and their native tongue, and you will want to root for the humans for once in this franchise. Blending an Earth-based hunting culture with that of an alien one was an excellent idea, and it is criminal that Prey didn’t get a theatrical release when it deserved one far more than any of its predecessors. I could say a whole lot more about this film, but it’s best watched to appreciate the breath of life it gives the Predator series.

After the disaster that was Predator 2, I truly wondered why they bothered to keep the franchise going, however I could see how perhaps after the use of the Predator in the AVP films something sparked the imagination again and caused a revival of the legendary Yautja. I do think it’s a very interesting and well-thought out antagonist and some-time antihero with a lot of dimensions to it, more so than the Xenomorphs of the Alien franchise (though I do think that franchise has better quality films overall). Although the Predator franchise starts off strong and falls off quickly, it’s worth sticking with to get to better storylines and character evolution for the Predator race themselves. It would be good if some characters could become a little more recurrent, or at least appear in more than one film, to anchor it more, much like Ripley does for the first few Alien movies and then by name in others. We do have another film coming in 2025, tentatively named Badlands, with the plot currently under wraps, and it is apparently to be directed by Dan Trachtenberg (of Prey), so there’s hope for the Yautja yet.

Update 29/06/2025
There is now a spin-off direct-to-streaming film, Predator: Killer of Killers, that does a fantastic job of expanding the story of the Yautja and their connnection to humans. Check out the Tiny Tapes Review.

Update 09/11/2025
Badlands is here! Once again, Dan Trachtenberg continues to build on the lore of the Yautja and delivers another strong entry to the franchise. Check out the full Predator: Badlands review.