Predator Should Be More Like The Worst Star Wars Movie
I love the Predator movies and I would not presume to know better than the filmmakers, particularly not the most recent of the bunch–Dan Trachtenberg–who directed 2022’s Prey, and is set to helm more films for the series. But I humbly submit that taking a page from the worst Star Wars movie–1999’s The Phantom Menace–could make the stories just a bit more fun. Namely, by making the identity of the chief protagonist a little less clear (or simply by not having one).
The Phantom Menace
Whether you love The Phantom Menace, hate it, or your feelings are somewhere in between, you’ve got to admit that one of the valid criticisms of the film is that–unlike the Predator movies–there’s no clear chief protagonist.
When fans first learned the film was coming out, it was assumed Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi was the main hero, but he’s benched for the entire Tattooine sequence and doesn’t really take center stage until after Qui-Gon’s death.
Jake Lloyd’s Anakin shows up too late to be the main guy. Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon is the best candidate, but by the end he doesn’t fare better than your average Predator character.
You Always Know Who Survives
There’s never much mystery regarding who is going to survive a Predator movie–Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Glover, Adrien Brody, Boyd Holbrook, Amber Midthunder, and whoever else is #1 on the call sheet.
Maybe one other character will survive–a sidekick/love interest like Anna (Elpidia Carillo) in Predator or Isabelle (Alice Braga) in Predators, or a pet like Sarii in Prey–but pretty much everyone else but the main character is as good as dead.
We’re left to wonder not who will die, but when and how. Will they die heroically like Hanzo (Louis Ozawa) in Predators, or without having the slightest idea of what’s going on like Danny (Ruben Blades) in Predator 2?
Sure, that’s proven plenty fun so far, but what if we actually didn’t know who was going to survive, if anyone? What if the Adrien Brody and Arnold Schwarzenegger characters of each film had just as much chance of getting their spines ripped out of them as Carl Weathers or Walton Goggins?
Might Not Have Worked For Star Wars, But It Would Work For Predator
Having no clear chief protagonist wasn’t a boon to The Phantom Menace but it would be a benefit to a Predator flick for the same reason a lot of fans enjoyed Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire more than critics did–because the film focused less on the human characters and more on the monsters.
After all, just like the MonsterVerse flicks, while we may root for human heroes in the Predator films, it’s the eponymous hunters that keep us coming back.
That’s why not a single human character has appeared in more than one Predator movie so far, just as most (though not all) MonsterVerse actors show up for only a single film.
Ensemble Affairs
Most of the Predator movies are ensemble affairs, with plenty of big name celebrities in the hunters’ sights. Even the flops like 2018’s The Predator boasted a cast with Body Holbrook, Game of Thrones‘ Alfie Allen, former Punisher Thomas Jane, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, and Sterling K. Brown among others.
Predators–the most underrated film of the series–stars Adrien Brody, Walton Goggins, Laurence Fishburne, Mahershala Ali, Danny Trejo, and Topher Grace.
Imagine a Predator movie with a cast like that, but with no clear main hero. It would be like a reverse Knives Out–anyone could die, no matter where they are on the call sheet.
We’re On Board No Matter What
Neither Dan Trachtenberg nor any other future Predator filmmakers may take my advice, and hey, that’s fine. I’ll still be there for Trachtenberg’s upcoming Badlands and hopefully Prey 2 if/when it happens.
Just keep letting the dogs live. That was a good choice in Prey, and it’s a choice you need to keep making.
