This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Review by Nolan
This review may contain spoilers.
Nolan’s review published on Letterboxd:
John McTiernan's "Predator" is so testosterone-filled that it's easy to see how many action-movie fans overlook its many flaws. To put it frankly, "Predator" is not a good film. The story feels a lot like a first draft, with glaring holes and underdeveloped characters. The only moment resembling actual character development is that of the betrayal scene, which not only feels like "Alien" backwash, but also goes nowhere, as that character's treachery is soon forgotten and he's shortly killed off in an unceremonious fashion. This is clearly trying to be one of the most "manly" movies ever made—why else would the super-intelligent, high-tech weapon-wielding alien choose to fight Schwarzenegger's character in hand-to-hand combat (other than to show off the amazing effects by Stan Winston, one of the strong points of the film)? When it comes to manliness, of course, no one beats Schwarzenegger. In this film he plays his typical macho-man, one without any semblance of development or interesting character traits. The real star of the film is the jungle—the lush wildlife is beautifully captured in this film, and is far more interesting than the story and characters. As far as it goes for the action, it has been done better before. There are more thrilling, edge-of-your-seat movies than this—most of the kills in "Predator" feel like they belong in a crappy slasher rather than a big-budget action movie. The film is, however, perfectly paced—considering the poor writing, McTiernan was smart in moving the film along as fast as possible. Really, that's all the film is: a beautiful, glorified, dumb action film, and nothing more.