“We took a vote—Predator’s cooler, right?”
Oh yeah. God, I’m already so excited for everything Sterling K. Brown does in this movie.
In the latest and final red-band trailer for The Predator, we get a sense of not only tone, but the promises of hyper-violence with bodies being torn apart and the Predator and his dogs (aww) hunting humans for sport (not aww).
Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Lethal Weapon) is a great director who knows how to keep up the pace but also deliver a great balance of action and laughs. No doubt with a cast that includes Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele) as a lead, this movie is going to have all the quips. I will say that from the trailer alone it seems like the cast—Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen and Sterling K. Brown, will have amazing chemistry.
That being said, amidst my fan-girl delight of seeing my favorite alien creatures on screen again looking big, better and more dreadlock-y than ever, there are two things that make me sigh about the whole production. Not deep sighs, but “oh we are still doing this” sighs.
First being that Olivia Munn is the only woman in the cast besides Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid’s Tale/Serena Joy) as Emily McKenna, Quinn’s ex-wife and the mother to Rory. Ex-wife and mother … I’m sure she will have a lot to do right? Right? It’s great that a woman of color, Munn, is getting to be the female lead in a big action film like this, but I always hate when there is only one female character in these ensemble piece movies. Especially since Munn seems to be the “voice of reason” and that, is almost always the role women play in films like these and it’s boring.
Then there is the whole “omg they are all a team of crazy people.” In his latest video talking about Thanos’ role in Infinity War, Mikey on the Movies discusses how labeling characters as “crazy” and “mad” in films and in discourse as a hand-wave for characters who make “irrational” or poor choices is language that we need to start walking away from. Not only because it reinforces really bad stereotypes about people with actual neuroatypical conditions, but it’s also lazy writing and a way to give a character “personality” without actually taking the time to write one down.
You can just call a person a thrill-seeker, guys.
Anyway, that was my tiny soapbox, but beyond that, I’m excited for The Predator. The original Predator was a favorite of mine and in A.v.P, I was always Team Predator. I’m interested in seeing how Black brings his own style to the film. Between this and the upcoming Halloween movie, I’m feeling nostalgic—but in a good way for once.
(image: Screengrab)
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