There’s always a reason when someone or something gets saved. When it is saved by a person it is almost always because that person has a vision; they see something there that others have missed. Today we honor writer/director Dan Trachtenberg, the savior of the floundering Predator franchise. This was a franchise I didn’t want saved. Ask me ten years ago and I would have equated Predator with Saw or Friday the 13th or Madea, i.e. something I’d happily let die for lack of interest.
Dan Trachtenberg saw something else. Dan saw value in the alien race that came to hunt earthlings for sport. First, he sought to make the hunt less one-sided. I mean, don’t you want to root for the humans in an alien v. human contest? Second, he decided to humanize the Predators, give them a language, a culture, and a reason to do things other than “because we can.” These were simple moves, but -for me, at least- they’ve made the difference between blasé and rapt. I’ve gone from, “Bleah, another Predator film” to “Woohoo! Another Predator film!”
Now if only somebody could do that for Madea.
Predator: Killer of Killers is an animated battle of wills. The film is broken into four parts (three individual struggles, and then a meta). As usual, I will give the screen title first, and my interpretation second:
The Shield or Don’t You Dare Call Me a “Shield Maiden” It’s 841 A.D. in the old country. Which old country? Can’t say, but there are Vikings … and probably Bears and Lions … and Packers. Badass Ursa doesn’t want just to see the manager; she 
wants to kill him, and in the process of exacting some local revenge, a Predator shows her a whole new way to murder.
The Sword or “Dad! Kenji Took My Birthright!” It’s 1609 Japan, and there ain’t no white people, thankfully. Kenji and Kiyoshi are rival sons out to inherit dad’s title of Samurai. Is that how it works? Doesn’t matter. Twenty years later, a Predator shows up, rendering Kenji’s revenge moot.
The Bullet or “Hey! Latinos Hate Hitler, Too, You Know.” It’s 1942 somewhere in North Africa and fighter pilot John Torres is already facing discrimination when a Predator shows up and gives everybody something new to complain about.
The Battle or “What a Shitty Waste of Time Travel.” In each of the stories above, there is a human who has managed to defeat a Predator. Given that this is a big deal in Predator lore, they have collected all three from their given time periods, put them all on the same battlefield, and now want them to fight to the death.
What is it with you people and death? Can you find no other way to relate? This is why I didn’t like Predator films in the first place. Ahhh, but this one is a little deeper, and maybe if these three humans can act together, they can escape. But there’s a big communication problem among 9th century Norse, 17th century Japanese, and 20th century Fox. Can the human figure out how to make a plan before they’re forced to kill each other? Probably.
The isn’t the best Predator I’ve seen. It’s not even the best Predator from 2025. But we are now a far and far more entertaining cry from the land of Alien v. Predator. With films like Predator: Killer of Killers, Prey, and Predator: Badlands, Dan Trachtenberg has made this franchise not only viable, but exciting. I look more forward to Predator films now than Fast & Furious ones.
There once lived a badass woman Viking
Her appearance was barbaric and striking
She took on a Pred
But got no street cred
Cuz she was abducted before any were liking
Rated: R, 85 Minutes
Director: Dan Trachtenberg, Joshua Wassung
Writer: Micho Robert Rutare, Dan Trachtenberg, Jim Thomas
Genre: The downside of a history of hunting humans
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Predator fans
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Did you miss the crappy days of Alien v. Predator, because we’ve evolved well beyond that
