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A thrilling animated triptych from filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg, “Predator: Killer of Killers” extends not just the hunt-or-be-hunted franchise for which it is named, but a larger trend by which Hollywood studios use animation to expand known properties for mature audiences.
Last year, Warner released “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” in theaters, while Netflix debuted the “Terminator Zero” series, both produced in Japan. Disney commissioned different animated studios from around the world to offer their takes on the Force and the Dark Side with the “Star Wars: Visions” anthologies. Clearly, the intent has been to appeal to the large number of young adults who appreciate action-packed animated programming, while the R-rated “Predator: Killer of Killers” skews older still by leaning into the violence.
If Trachtenberg’s name sounds familiar, that’s likely because he also oversaw the previous live-action installment in the “Predator” universe, the Emmy-winning feature “Prey,” in which a Comanche woman faced off with the intergalactic hunters. The helmer shares directing duties here with Joshua Wassung, both working from a screenplay by Micho Robert Rutare, whose narratives lean into the well-established notion that the Predators, a sadistic alien race, thirst for murdering weaker creatures and recurrently travel to Earth, searching for the best human adversaries to hone their skills.
Beheadings, crushed skulls, dismembered bodies and all manner of explicit carnage tinge the stories, which are each separated by several centuries, with a high-stakes air of solemnity. There’s comic relief sprinkled strategically throughout as well (mostly in the final chapter), but the overall sentiment is rage-fueled resentment among the human characters, which fades into the background when the larger, foreign threat emerges. The title, “Killer of Killers,” refers to the status the predators seek. They wish to become the tippy top of the food chain, the absolute apex.
The intense violence and copious amounts of spilled blood on display benefit from the medium. The gore may have felt too grotesque to shoot in live action using makeup and prosthetics, and potentially unbearable for some audiences to watch. But in animation, the slaughtering remains brutal but less realistic. Though created using computer animation (which can mimic pretty much anything these days), “Killer of Killer” goes for a stylized, almost illustrative look, with movement deliberately lacking fluidity during certain scenes. The graphic aesthetic seems particularly noticeable in effects such as explosions or fires, and in the way shadow and light interact with the characters. The approach varies in potency but feeds one’s eyes with a more formally intriguing set of visuals than most American animated projects.
Revenge-starved Ursa (Lindsay LaVanchy), a 9th-century Viking warrior and mother whose childhood trauma haunts her, kicks off the parade of detached limbs and exposed entrails as she goes after a lifelong enemy. However, her focus shifts to protecting her teenage son Anders (Damien Haas) when a Predator shows up (image distortion announces their presence, though they are technically invisible to their prey). The battle between Ursa and the alien invader, who has access to more sophisticated weaponry and whose physical mass overshadows her, tests not only physical prowess but her astuteness as well, with a Nordic landscape as backdrop.
The mostly dialogue-free second chapter travels to 17th-century Japan to find two samurai brothers feuding over unresolved wounds inflicted in their younger years. The pair must pause their grudge match and reluctantly join forces to defeat a Predator. The blades of their swords clash in a confrontation that goes from elegantly choreographed to chaotic as the alien barges in. This segment specifically features a rather clever use of color-coded blood that enhances the tale’s tension: Predators bleed green.
Lastly, Torres (Rick Gonzalez), a young Latino Air Force mechanic during World War II who aspires to become a pilot, gets his chance to fly when a spaceship wipes out a fleet of his airborne comrades. Maneuvering through the sky, the inexperienced but intrepid fighter finds a weakness in the alien technology. The impressive action set-pieces with Torres on the plane contrast with the underwater combat and agile tandem of the first two sections, showcasing the breadth of both the animation and the background artists’ work.
The fierce trio from different time periods and latitudes eventually come together for a Roman gladiator-style brawl wielding weapons from their respective “tribes.” As with “Prey,” the creators here aim to fold characters from different genders and ethnic/racial backgrounds into the “Predator” lore, and there are a couple of elements that connect “Killer of Killers” to the larger storyline dating back several decades. Because the three parts that comprise the film were envisioned by the same team, there’s a thematic and visual integration, even if the tone loosens up a bit once Torres enters the frame. Emotionally satisfying, albeit with an open-ended conclusion, the gruesome anthology continues to assert animation as a versatile and viable storytelling vehicle for all genres.
English (US) ·