Predators feels like a movie that desperately wants to recapture the stripped-down magic of the original Predator while also winking at it so hard you start wondering if the wink is actually a twitch. This is the entry in the franchise where I spent a good chunk of the runtime genuinely unsure whether I was watching a serious revival or an accidental parody, and that uncertainty never fully went away. Sometimes it works in the movie’s favor. Most of the time, it really doesn’t.
On paper, Predators is a clever reset. A group of highly dangerous people from different backgrounds wake up in free fall, land in a jungle, and slowly realize they’re not on Earth anymore. They’ve been dropped onto a game preserve planet where Predators hunt them for sport. It’s a strong hook, clean and efficient, and it smartly echoes the original’s premise without copying it beat for beat. The problem isn’t the idea. It’s the execution, and more specifically, the tone.
Serious Faces, Cartoon Energy
From the jump, the performances are dialed way up. Everyone speaks in intense whispers or aggressive declarations, like they’re auditioning for the most dramatic version of a campfire story. Adrien Brody, cast as the reluctant leader, is the most puzzling example. He bulked up for the role and leans hard into a gravelly, hyper-serious delivery that feels wildly out of sync with his natural screen presence. It’s not that he’s bad, exactly. It’s that he feels like he’s playing a Predator action figure version of himself.
Then there’s Laurence Fishburne, who enters the movie like he’s wandered in from an entirely different genre. His performance is so broad, so theatrical, that it almost plays like intentional satire. He chews scenery with enthusiasm, delivering lines with a manic edge that made me pause and ask, am I supposed to be laughing right now? If the answer was yes, the movie never fully commits to that joke. If the answer was no, then this performance absolutely derails whatever grounded tension the film is trying to build.
That disconnect is the defining flaw of Predators. It wants grit, but it keeps drifting into self-parody without acknowledging it.
A Jungle That Feels Familiar, Maybe Too Familiar
Visually, Predators does a decent job recreating the oppressive jungle atmosphere that made the original so effective. There’s sweat, mud, shadows, and a constant sense of being watched. But it never quite feels fresh. The movie leans heavily on nostalgia, repeating beats and imagery we’ve already seen done better before. Instead of building dread, it often feels like it’s checking boxes.
The Predator designs themselves are a mixed bag. Introducing multiple Predator factions is an interesting idea, but the film doesn’t explore it deeply enough to make it meaningful. They become slightly redesigned threats rather than distinct characters or cultures. The action scenes are serviceable, occasionally exciting, but rarely memorable. Nothing here reaches the primal simplicity of man versus monster that defined the franchise at its best.
Concept Over Commitment
What’s frustrating about Predators is how close it comes to working. The premise is strong. The setting is right. There are moments where the movie settles into a rhythm and starts to build actual tension. But every time it gets there, it undercuts itself with tonal confusion or exaggerated performances that pull you right back out.
The film seems torn between honoring Predator as a serious survival thriller and commenting on how absurd the whole concept is. Instead of choosing one lane, it swerves between both, never fully committing to either. That hesitation drains the movie of impact.
Not Terrible, Just Weirdly Hollow
I didn’t hate Predators, but I didn’t really like it either. It’s a movie with enough competence to stay watchable and enough missteps to keep it from ever becoming engaging. The over-the-top performances, especially from Brody and Fishburne, might have worked if the film leaned into a more playful, self-aware tone. Instead, they clash with a story that wants to be grim and intense.
In the end, Predators feels like a missed opportunity disguised as a revival. It understands the ingredients of a good Predator movie but never figures out how to assemble them into something cohesive. That lands it at a 2 out of 5 for me. Not a disaster, not a success, just a strange, uneven entry that left me more confused than satisfied.