Review: Predator: Killer of Killers
After revitalizing the Predator franchise in 2022 with Prey, director Dan Trachtenberg, along with co-director Joshua Wassung, is back with the first animated entry in the series, Predator: Killer of Killers.
An animated anthology, Predator: Killer of Killers journeys across history to tell the story of three warriors who come face to face with the menacing Yautja; Ursa (Lindsay LaVanchy), a Viking warrior and mother, Kenji (Louis Ozawa), a ninja looking to settle a feud with his samurai brother and Torres (Rick Gonzalez), a World War II fighter pilot. Like most anthologies, some of the segments will be better than others, and “The Sword”, which is the Kenji segment, is by far the best, offering up some awesome ninja action before the Predator even reveals itself, and the Ursa segment, “The Shield”, is also fantastic. “The Bullet”, which features Torres, is, to me, the weakest segment, and it’s mainly from some tonal whiplash, as it’s much more focused on humor as Torres fast talks and quips his way through everything. It feels inconsistent with the serious nature of the previous two segments. Michael Biehn voices a more grizzled ace pilot in that segment, and I can’t help but wonder if the segment had focused on him, it would have maintained a consistent tone throughout. All three segments come together in the final act in an incredibly fantastic way, though, and there are easter eggs for fans of the franchise throughout.
Action-wise, Killer of Killers presents a wealth of new and unique elements within the Predator universe. From a hulking Predator who uses a deadly sonic arm blaster to a Predator ship launching harpoons and ripping pilots out of planes, the creativity and imagination behind what the Yautja are capable of is excellent and exciting. The movie employs the Spider-Verse “animating on the twos” style of animation, with a visual style similar to that seen in the film and other works, such as the recent Puss in Boots movie. Animation also allows the movie to be absurdly violent and over the top with its gore, and you’ll get to see the Predators ripping people apart and using their various gadgets to eviscerate people in many cool ways that you couldn’t do in live-action. Outside of the Predator fights, the movie also features superb choreography and inventive ideas for human vs. human battles, such as Ursa devastating a squad of Vikings with a pair of broken shields.
Predator: Killer of Killers is a fantastic, violent, excellent new entry in the Predator franchise. Between this and Prey, Trachtenberg has massively reenergized the franchise, and it makes me even more excited to see Predator: Badlands later this year.
