The Predator

THE GIST: A Predator crash lands on Earth, where a secretive government agency has been on the lookout for new arrivals. A soldier takes some alien artifacts as evidence, but when his young son inadvertently turns a piece on, a signal is picked up by another Predator ship, which soon arrives as well. The new Predator, however, looks bigger and stronger, hinting at some genetic enhancements.

The Predator is the latest entry in the long running franchise and, while passable, it's not one of its best.

This time the cast is led by a brooding Boyd Holbrook, who gets help from Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera, and Olivia Munn. Sterling K. Brown is hot on their tails, while Jacob Tremblay plays the gifted son.

There is a lot of action and plenty of shooting, satisfying that part of the hunt, but other things (like the Predator dog taking a liking to the scientist or why the new Predator, clearly annoyed by the humans, doesn't just dispatch them and move on) are a bit puzzling.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Entertaining enough to warrant checking it out, but only for hardcore fans. Surely, given the finale, there will be more sequels.

Grade: 5