The success of Prey -- which Hulu recently revealed had the biggest premiere of any programming on its streaming service -- has prompted a reevaluation of the Predator franchise as a whole. It's either the fifth or the seventh movie in the line (depending on how the two moribund Alien vs. Predator movies are counted) and unanimously regarded as a big step up from 2018's disappointing The Predator. Indeed, it's been credited for elevating the franchise after decades of less-than-brilliant efforts since the classic original movie in 1987.
But in point of fact, the Predator movies have often been much better than their reputations suggest. The AVP entries haven't helped, but taking them out of the equation reveals multiple creatively robust films that put the franchise in a much different light. Prey's success has prompted a new look at them, and more than one holds up surprisingly well.
The franchise has admittedly moved forward in fits and starts. The AVP movies came about as a reboot, 14 years after 1990's Predator 2 grossed about half of the first film's take. 2004's Alien vs. Predator turned into a hit despite scathing reviews and a PG-13 rating legitimately viewed as too timid for the material. That gave way to 2007's Alien vs. Predator: Requiem -- an objectively terrible movie still regarded as the franchise's low point -- which prompted another reboot. 2010's Predators found reasonable critical and box office success, but studio inaction left an eight-year gap before the follow-up -- The Predator -- which tanked and seemingly took the franchise with it. Now, Prey has once again delivered a successful reboot/update, though it remains to be seen whether the inevitable follow-ups will emulate its example or send the franchise back into a spin.
All those ups and downs hide several movies that prove far more durable and entertaining than they seem. Besides Prey and the original, the easiest film of the lot to defend is Predators, under the direction of Nimród Antal, which found a slick way to reverse the first movie's commandos in the jungle. This time, the humans are taken off-planet -- dropped in an alien jungle on what amounts to a planet-wide game preserve -- where they have to determine how to get back to Earth as well as stay alive. It also upended the tight-knit nature of the original team: its protagonists are pulled from all over the globe and have to find a way to work together despite little inclination to do so.
The formula proved a winner: bringing A-list actors like Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne to play interesting characters instead of cardboard cut-outs and expanding on the Predator universe while keeping the title species suitably mysterious. Like both Prey and the original, it delivered a taut, engaging sci-fi thriller, punctuated by smartly assembled action scenes and even throwing a few surprises into the mix. And its R-rating meant it didn't have to water down its title creature's viciousness in the name of easier profits.
Predator 2 is a harder sell, with a low standing among critics and an admittedly B-movie outlook to its mayhem. But it too has its share of adherents and carries some surprising assets in its corner. It escaped its predecessor's shadow by bringing the monster to a near-future Los Angeles, which it used to tell its own story rather than just copying the first film's primeval rain forest. Its action sequences, while a tad gimmicky, still carry enough pop to justify more than a few repeat viewings, and although its racist depiction of warring gangs is cringe-inducing, it finds an unexpected ringer in Maria Conchita Alonso's smart, tough Latina cop. Star Danny Glover -- best known for the Lethal Weapon movies at the time -- helps upend the era's "lone-wolf policeman" clichés just as the first movie took down the "unstoppable soldier" stereotypes of Rambo and his ilk. It even manages a little prescience: its city is saturated with guns, laboring under the scorching effects of climate change, and suffering from a bloodthirsty media troll played by real-life trash TV host Morton Downey Jr. (who served as a precursor to the Alex Joneses of the world).
That leaves four of the five "core" Predator movies with either a strong critical standing or a devoted following, which is a long way from the dingy reputation the franchise is so often saddled with. It hasn't taken the easy route, and its shortcomings are undeniable, but so too are the hard-won victories it's notched along the way. Far from diminishing Prey's accomplishments, their quality actually further certifies its greatness: calling it the best of the lot means much more than it appears.
Prey is currently streaming on Hulu.