Predator Movies Ranked

 

 

PREDATOR MOVIES RANKED

 

It’s been a while since I’ve ranked a series of films, and with a new Predator movie coming out this summer, I figured why not have a look back at one of my favourite films and its somewhat bizarre series of sequels and spinoffs? I promise this ranking list will be controversial and solid explanations will be given.

The original Predator had a simple but great premise, and only turned out as fantastic as it did thanks to some clever rewrites from Shane Black, who was part of the great cast of actors, as well as director John McTiernan directing the hell out of them, and the instantly-iconic creature saved by Stan Winston who redesigned it and made it into one of the greatest extraterrestrials in all of cinema.

The point of ranking these movies is more to show how the sequels compare to one another than it is to reveal where the original movie sits. Let’s get it out of the way right now: the first Predator is obviously the best one. The direct sequel was more or less what was expected, but the next two movies, which came quite a few years later, mixed the otherworldly hunters with the xenomorphs from the Alien series, then it went back to just the predator species for the next two movies, which aren’t really direct sequels to any of the previous movies—and to make it even more complicated, the new film, Prey, is a prequel.

 

6. The Predator (2018)

We’re starting off with the controversial placement of the fourth solo-predator film at the bottom spot, even below both crossover films with the Alien franchise. The Predator was not particularly well-received when it came out, and I have barely talked about it since I saw it the one and (as of writing this) only time in theaters four years ago. It successfully introduces a collection of human characters who feel like real people, are played by decent actors, and gives them moments to develop, which for most viewers would at least put it ahead of the AVP movies, but what puts it below them, for me, is the stupidity of the plot and the mishandling of the creature. The story tries too hard to be different from previous stories involving the predator and ends up lacking an interesting connection between the human characters and the creatures. The mix of great practical effects with terrible cgi clashes in the worst way, the action is mainly lackluster, and the generic finale is worse than any Predator finale before it, which solidifies why it’s the least-entertaining Predator movie for me. When a movie ends on such a weak note, it’s hard to look back on the bright spots before it. The Predator was not the reboot I was hoping for.

 

5. Alien vs. Predator (2004)

I know I’m in the minority here, but I enjoy the two AVP movies, and my nostalgia for them is probably one of the biggest reasons I’m ranking them above The Predator. Comparing just the two AVP films to one another, I slightly prefer the first one overall, but in terms of the actual predator aspects to each film, I think the second AVP does the species a bit more justice. The trio of young hunters in AVP are cool, but they are not very cunning compared to the hunters from the first two Predator movies. These guys are bulky, two of them get killed very easily, and the last living one becomes friends with the last surviving human, which isn’t an idea I dislike, but it also could have been done in a more interesting way. The movie itself is quite ridiculous, but delivers on the creature action and gives you pretty much everything you could want from the first attempt to cross over these two species. It’s a B-movie premise that’s embraced as such, but the choice to give the monsters the spotlight more often than not and use high-quality practical effects to bring them to life puts this one above The Predator. Even though the characters are not very good and it doesn’t always make sense, I’d much rather see a predator fighting the Queen alien or slicing up a facehugger than a regular predator fighting a bigger cgi predator like in The Predator.

 

4. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

There is another big reason beyond nostalgia for why I like the AVP movies more than The Predator: both of them deliver on the premise of having the alien fight the predator, and though the expansion on the lore for both creatures is questionable at times, much of it is pretty solid, with the coolest idea in this second one being the answer to the question of what would happen if a chestburster came out of a predator. The human characters definitely suck, the visuals are too murky, making it hard to see the great practical effects clearly, and the plot is not that special, but in terms of another B-movie premise with A-movie monsters, it gets the job done better than The Predator. By the time The Predator rolled around, it didn’t feel like that movie had anything new to do with the creatures, and thinking back on the action, effects, and ideas from these AVP movies, they come off as more creative and therefore more interesting. Plus, in terms of talking strictly predator content, this movie has one of the best examples, taking what we loved about the creature before and making it a little different. “Wolf” is like a crime scene investigator and coroner and cover-up artist and big game hunter all rolled into one. Compared to the “Fugitive” predator in The Predator, he’s more interesting and isn’t killed off as easily. Requiem isn’t great overall, but I’d still rather watch it over The Predator.

 

3. Predators (2010)

I have to give it to Predators for feeling like a more competent, straightforward story compared to either AVP movie while still delivering the predator action we want to see without sacrificing engaging characters. There is a big group of characters once again, but overall it’s a better collection of actors than the AVP movies, and even though most of them are just there to be killed off, there’s more suspense built up in the first part of the movie and the characters feel more authentic. The main aspect that puts Predators ahead of both AVP films and The Predator is the focus on creating quality thrills over goofy humour and stupid ideas (The Predator) or boring characters and creature-on-creature violence (AVP) while still adhering to what made the first two movies work. It may adhere a little too close to the original in later scenes, but the premise of the game reserve planet was a refresher for the franchise, and the new expansion on the lore was respectful to what came before without even retconning the AVP films. As a Predator fan, this somewhat distant sequel feels more worthy of being grouped closer to the original than The Predator or either AVP.

 

2. Predator 2 (1990)

The second Predator movie may have felt a bit obligatory and by-the-numbers when it first came out, but looking back on it now, it’s a really solid follow-up to the original, and basically redoes the same premise again, but also makes it different enough that it doesn’t come off as a Jaws 2 situation and feel like an inferior copy. This “city hunter” prowls the alleys and skyscrapers of L.A. and comes into conflict with Danny Glover, who is certainly no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the point isn’t to make him the same, he brings a totally different skill set to the table, and this predator likewise brings different weapons than the pred from the original, but follows the same hunting code of honour. The predator lore is built up and expanded, but not at the expense of interesting characters who feel unique to this story. The reason it rises above later sequels is because of the Stan Winston special effects, which are bolder than the first movie and shown more, as well as the thrilling third act with Danny Glover discovering a government agency is after the creature, but they are no match for it, and he has to track it and kill it all on his own. Predator 2 finds that balance of thrills, action, horror, and suspense that no other sequel (so far) has been able to find in quite the same effective way.

 

1. Predator (1987)

The original film was guaranteed to spawn sequels on the grounds of being successful with audiences alone, but it also introduced a creature with such an intriguing and complex culture that it begged to be explored further, and that’s why this franchise has gone on as long as it has, because every sequel builds on the lore in new ways (some more successfully than others, as we’ve seen), but in the first movie the creature isn’t what makes the movie. The characters and the actors playing them are what sets this movie above all the others. There are other Predator movies that are well-directed (though still not as well-directed as this one) and are visually great, but none of them have as great of a cast or as solid of a story. Obviously no other Predator movie is as original as this one, either, but originality and characters aside, there’s a grittiness to Predator that has yet to be duplicated, and it somehow strikes a balance between being restrained to create suspense while also being bombastic to be an action-packed thriller.

 

Reviews:

Predator: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2018/10/predator-1987-review-favourite-films.html

Predator 2: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2018/10/predator-2-1990-review.html

Alien vs. Predator: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2018/10/alien-vs-predator-2004-review.html

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2018/10/aliens-vs-predator-requiem-2007-review.html

Predators: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2018/10/predators-2010-review.html

The Predator: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-predator-2018-review.html