Predator: Killer of Killers is the best addition to the franchise since 1987 (critic)
A bloody animated journey through time, mixing a stylized aesthetic with impressive action scenes. And at the end of this abundance of carnage, an extension of mythology.
Imagined over 40 years ago, the creature designed by Stan Winston continues to make little ones.
Predator Returns on Disney Plus for his 8th film, the first to play the animation card. And it is clear that it will delight him!
In this new part, we travel through time, to attend three clashes on earth: a Predator against a Viking in Northern Europe, a Predator against a ninja in feudal Japan and a Predator aerial against an American fighter of the Second World War … very quickly, we understand that its title, Killer of Killersrefers to the status sought by monsters from the stars: they aspire to defeat the most dangerous killers on each planet, in order to become the absolute summit of the food chain, the ultimate Apex. And depending on the period, they choose their opponents …
The format is, intrinsically, somewhat repetitive (a Predator Arrives on Earth, hides to analyze the situation and engage in death to death), but it is devilishly effective.
Dan Trachtenbergwho took over the saga with the successful Prey (2022), signs an impressive animated film filled with bloody action. Decapitations, crushed skulls, dismembered body … The explicit carnage is omnipresent in these three stories loaded with a dramatic solemnity. This intense violence and the liters of blood shed clearly benefit from the medium. Yes, animation goes like a glove at Predatorwhich can go there, without restraint. Obviously, it is less afraid than at the time of John McTiernan. We are more in an excessive funeral and unbridled madness. But this gore would probably have been too extreme in real shots, possibly unbearable to look at for some. In animation, the massacre remains brutal, but less traumatic.
However, the animation (entirely digital) of Killer of Killers is not that of an average cartoon. Trachtenberg Assumes a supported, almost illustrative style, a neat aesthetic with rich visual textures, which puts itself at the service of a sharp story that has fun with the codes of the saga (a host of new fatal weapons are appearing).
Do not do too much either: Predator: Killer of Killers First of all made Predator. The emotional issues of these little stories are struggling to exist in the face of the total spectacle. But still, the characters written by Trachtenberg have a certain thickness and as a bonus, the new boss of the franchise dares to go even further by extending the mythology of the monster. In a surprising last chapter which takes place on their Planet, his film presents the chief, the leader of the pack and opens the door to the continuation of the saga … which he will continue next November, in live action with Predator: Badlandsa new film carried by She Fanning.
Waiting for, Killer of Killers Maybe is the best Predator Since the original of 1987. At least, it is a useful addition to the franchise.
Predator: Killer of Killers, by Dan Trachtenberg, to see on Disney more in France since June 6, 2025.
