8 Reasons You Should Be Excited For The Predator

After lying dormant for the best part of a decade, one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises of all time is blasting its way back into cinemas this year; Predator.

Ever since the debut of the original film in 1987, the Predator (known as the Yautja, canonically speaking) has remained a vital part of pop culture. Even when the films he was in, were not. Between lackluster sequels and abysmal cross-overs with a certain other sci-fi monster franchise, the Predator franchise sunk itself to the depths of irrelevance.

This fact, along with the fairly limp first trailer for the upcoming The Predator, may have many viewers convinced that this sequel is destined to suffer the same fate. But this could not be farther from the truth. The Predator has a stellar cast, an inspired core concept, an incredibly talented team behind the camera, one of the most inventive writer/directors in genre filmmaking, and more than a few tricks up its sleeve.

For the first time in decades, a new Predator film looks to legitimately stand a chance at honoring the legacy and upholding the quality of the original film. And you ought to be thrilled for what's in store...

In a recent interview with Collider, director Shane Black shared his feelings on the overuse and ease of computer-generated special effects work in modern blockbusters, saying;

"I remember Michael Bay — when I saw Transformers for the first time, and I thought that’s pretty good, except there’s a scene where a robot goes through a skyscraper, breaks through one window, slides down an entire length of the office building and breaks through the other side and if it had just been that, then you would’ve gone, ‘Wow! I can’t believe I saw that in a movie.’ But, you’re surrounded by fifty identical stunts, so you just sit there and go, ‘Another one. There goes another one.’"

He goes on to say a large part of the reason that he feels the original Predator still has such a following is because of the practical effects.

"I think the reason there’s a lasting quality that the original movie has that’s due I think, in part to the fact that it was made before it was so easy to just do a bunch of CGI effects and before video games had taken hold as well. So, there was a more visceral kind of war movie thriller-esque quality to the material."

Black and his team make it incredibly clear throughout not only this interview but countless others that they are doing everything they can in camera. When a recent still was premiered online, a lame-brained fan accused the image of looking 'CGI as f***'. To which cinematographer Larry Fong responded, 'There's no CGI in the shot. Therefore you're wrong as f***'. Speaking of which...