Predator out for blood

THE PREDATOR

★★★ 1/2outof5 Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn Director: Shane Black Duration: 1h47m

In the realm of science fiction films there are reboots, remakes and reimaginings. But director and co-writer Shane Black’s The Predator is something else. Revenge, perhaps?

Back in 1987, Black was an up-and-coming writer (Lethal Weapon) and an actor with a single credit to his name. “Hawkins,” in the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Predator, comes to an ignominious end, turned inside out by an alien kill ray.

Over the next three decades — and far be it from me to suggest some calculated plan — Black amassed a decent portfolio of writing and directing credits, including 2013’s Iron Man 3.

Which brings us to The Predator. Drawing on Black’s moreis-more ethos, the alien hunters don’t bother much with camouflage this time out, preferring to run around in the open.

The film’s ’80s sci-fi vibe starts early, with the deliberately lowbudget crash of a UFO in Mexico. U.S. sniper Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) witnesses the mayhem that follows and makes off with a few choice bits of alien tech, which he mails to his estranged wife (Yvonne Strahovski) and son (Jacob Tremblay).

As to what happens next, just imagine if you took a phone from a grizzly bear, but she had the Find My Phone app. Quinn now has to keep ahead of the aliens, find his kid and, for good measure, rescue a bio-geneticist (Olivia Munn) who’s been brought in by the government to assess the threat. Hint: It’s very high.

The Predator is rated R for blood, sweat and tears — but mostly blood. There’s an ideal sense of timing when the film sets up the inevitable sequel, which I can almost guarantee Black will not be directing. He’s proven he’s better than the franchise that started his career. No need to flog a dead alien.