The final Predator trailer is so much better than all the previous ones
Earlier this morning, we got a look at the final trailer for The Predator before the film comes out on September 14. And we have to say, compared to the trailers that were released prior to it, this one is much, much better. Give whoever cut this trailer the afternoon off—and let’s run down the ways it succeeds.
First off, it gives a simple, minimal, and coherent introduction to the film. We’ve got a crazy military badass who gets dropped into a bus with a group of equally crazy mercs, and it’s revealed he’s the only survivor from a group who encountered a Predator. There you go! That’s all we need to know. (Much more interesting than watching a kid accidentally summon the alien.) Also, it makes clear that the existence of the super-Predator, or whatever you want to call it, isn’t some late-in-the-game twist giving away one of the film’s key elements, but rather a beat established fairly early on. All of this is done better than the cheap Suicide Squad knock-off style of the first trailer.
Second, we’ve got a few good laugh lines that also do a decent job of conveying who these characters are and what their roles are in all of this. Before, it was just Keegan-Michael Key and a solid “yo mama” joke. Now, it’s Sterling K. Brown cracking wise about how they all took a vote, and how “Predator” is a much cooler name than “Game Hunter.” Not only that, but we see him in a lab coat leading a team of scientists, helping distinguish him from the others. Similarly, there are a few flashes of personality assigned to our various mercs, from Alfie Allen’s taciturn weirdo to Key’s motormouth. Pass go and collect $200, new Predator trailer.
Lastly, there are some decent action beats that demonstrate some cool violence without giving away who’s on the receiving end of the Predator’s deadly weapons or cutting so quickly as to render it all an incoherent hash of kinetic motion. Finally, a trailer for a new Shane Black Predator movie that looks awesome, rather than acceptable. This may all just be window dressing—we’ll know soon enough when the movie comes out—but this is exactly what we want from the film. Please be good, movie.
The Predator heat-senses its way into theaters September 14.