Predator: Killer of Killers: Movie Review

Director: Dan Trachtenberg

An animated anthology that ups the gore quotient and the brutality of the Predators, Predator: Killer of Killers does little to really upgrade and enhance the mythology of the killers.

Instead, pitting the creature against various opposition through time seems to be a creative winning formula - but in truth, it starts to feel repetitive as the 20 minute story chunks play out.

From a Viking norsewoman to a ninja in feudal Japan via a World War II pilot who's grounded but gets the chance for redemption, the anthology stories are rife for something different. And while the ideas are sound, the execution lends itself to something a little more average. 

Granted, in the painterly animation and the different time zones, the fights have a few moments of visual flair. The violence feels dialled up in parts and there's no way a live action film could fulfill some of the more vicious kills doled out by the prey and the hunter. Certainly some of it feels like it looked incredible on a storyboard and also on a script, but after a while the stories begin to slip into some kind of repetitive malaise that doesn't engender itself to extended viewing.

And while a fourth segment offers an element of a surprise in store, the payoff feels like a desperate pitch for more stories of a similar vein, a prospect that will provide muted - if any - enthusiasm.

Visually, Predator: Killer of Killers looks the part - flashes of red blood mix with vibrant greens of the Predator blood. But aside from the leads of each story, there's little that really truly stands out sadly.

It may have been a secret film and a comic-book style exercise that offered potential, but Predator: Killer of Killers feels like it's fallen short when it should have soared.

Predator: Killer of Killers streams on Disney+ from June 6.