Age of The Nerd
It has been revealed that cameras will start rolling to film The Predator some time in the next seven days.
Shane Black, who has penned the screenplay for the upcoming film, plans to make the next installment in the franchise an “event movie” that Fox studios have promised to put a boat load of money into. No plot details have been revealed as of now, although that should within the next couple of months. Black had a co-starring role in the original movie alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger as Hawkins that eventually fell victim to the dread locked alien.
Black has a history of successful writing credits including screenplays for all four of the Lethal Weapon movies as well as the current television adaption, Iron Man 3 and The Last Action Hero to name a few. But being cautiously optimistic is probably the right approach here seeing as how the last sequel, Predators was critically panned and the Alien v Predator movies lambasted.
Boyd Holbrook, who will have a starring role, told We Got This Covered: “I’m currently working on Predator. It’s not a sequel; Shane Black has made something totally new, somehow keeping within the realm of Predator [while also being] absolutely new in terms of the story that we’re talking about today, and rooted in something real. It’s real fresh. I don’t think you’re going to see [Arnold] Schwarzenegger. It would kind of make it a gimmick. It’s horror, science-fiction and a western.”
So, it appears that the next Predator movie is being taken seriously. But just what ingredients do they need to get things right?
The original 1987 movie stands out, not just because of the subtle technique in slowly revealing the human like beast, but because of the various quotes and one liners that are often imitated in pop culture! But if one scans over Shane Black’s movies, you will hardly find any that are catchy. The 1980’s were a different time then, so that has to be taken into consideration, however, the Predator movies are what they are which is a mix of feelings of constant foreboding and fun.
The one thing that 2010’s Predators got right was it’s peculiar and somewhat tense atmosphere during the film’s first act. This was clearly an approach that was lifted from the original film that should, again, be used if the plot is compatible enough. However, any attempts to imitate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s robustness should be best forgotten, as they attempted and failed with Adrien Brody.
Further exploration into the Predator mythology should be welcome. In fact, it is a necessity at this point as there always needs to be a reason for the hunter’s return in any succeeding episode, related to any predecessor. Or not. The mythology has not been explored thoroughly in any solo Predator movie so far, so it would be nice if a number of layers were added to get our teeth into!
Well fleshed out characters are necessary if our emotions are aroused enough in order to care about our human counterparts. Unfortunately, Predator 2 failed much in this respect and elected to focus mainly on most of the bloodshed. Predators did a better job, however. Fortunately, Shane Black has a reputation for creating memorable and relatable characters, so there should not be too much to worry about here.
Because the nature of the Predator is to hunt for pleasure and sport, a minacious mood will keep audiences on the edge of their seats. To use Predator 2 as an example once more, that sequel contained turns in it’s mood which at times was filled with humorous moments which often killed any sense of danger. The first Predator movie sustained that feeling of threat and possible danger, and that is really what Predator is mainly about.
What do you think makes a good Predator movie?
Sound off in the comments below!
