We are closing in on the end of the month and I’m just going back to the non-themed grab bag of horror that I hadn’t seen yet to end it out. Like so many other movies I’ve done for this year, I’ve been wanting to see this since it came out but just never got around to it. I love the premise and the new look for the Predator is fantastic.

Set in 1719 around a group of Comanche, the movie follows a young woman, Naru, who wants to prove that she can be a hunter. When a mountain lion attacks and drags off one of the tribe, she goes along with the hunting party in order to finally show everyone what she can do. Unknown to everyone, however, is that there is something much more dangerous than a mountain lion hunting them on the plains. Naru tries to warn everyone about the threat that she has seen but when nobody takes her seriously, she takes it upon herself to hunt down the ultimate hunter.

I appreciate how much this movie feels like the original Predator, and even has a couple references to it, without tipping over into being a boring retread. Instead it follows the same kind of flow from the first movie with the Predator itself being a sort of background threat and observer while working to establish the setting and cast. The final confrontation between our heroine and the monster also feels as satisfying as the original with some absolutely astounding action sequences between the two. I also appreciate that everything that the movie set up through the beginning of the film got paid off by the end of it. Just a tightly plotted film.

What really sets it apart, for me, is how the movie uses the trappings of the franchise but makes them unique to this. The Predator is itself a much more interesting villain in this because it plays into a different kind of hunter. The first movie was much more of a typical “big game hunter” where some rich asshole goes out and shoots things to death from a distance while never being in danger and calls themselves a hunter. This Predator is all about proving its worth and fighting its prey on more equal footing. It is more physical and martial in the way it hunts. While still obviously more technologically advanced than its prey, it favors melee weapons and direct confrontation. Between that and the way Naru has to rely on being clever rather than the brute force of Arnold makes the movie feel familiar while offering something new.

This was a lot of fun to watch. Obviously not the scariest of horror movies but still a great entry in the franchise.

Score: 4.5 out of 5