Predator: Killer Of Killers (2025) Dir: Dan Trachtenberg

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The prospect of not only a new 'Predator' film, but an animated one in a totally different style to what we have seen previously, and directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who also directed the tremendous 'Prey' from 2022, was very exciting to me. I really wasn't sure what to expect beyond featuring the iconic yautja, but can't pretend like I hadn't been looking forward to it anyway.

The animation was mostly really neat and visually appealing. There were a couple of moments where the movement of some characters was a bit dodgy, but the film kind of got away with it because of the chosen style of said-animation. Some of the character designs, especially for the main predators, were very cool, and also gave audiences a look at some of the other varieties of yautja.

The action was awesome, both in terms of how it was animated, as well as how violent and intense it was. I had kind of expected gory, but I was pleased to see that Trachtenberg didn't shy away from showing it too much. I loved how versatile the film was with the types of action it displayed. This was helped by the different types of characters it featured, but it was still nice to see a shift in action between each arc.

I liked how the narrative played out as an anthology of sorts, before combining the three arcs into one main story - it was very watchable. My favourite of the three arcs was the second, set in feudal Japan; it was just so aesthetically cool. I thought this was a very unique foray into the world of the predators, and one that was executed superbly. It even teased a potential sequel, or, at least, more animated 'Predator' stories, which I, for one, certainly wouldn't complain about.

The voice acting cast put in some good performances between them, each with their own, fairly unique characters to explore. Of those involved, my personal favourite performances came from Rick Gonzalez, Michael Biehn and Lindsay LaVanchy. These names all brought the most characters to their performances, at least as far as I was concerned, and left the most memorable impressions. I'll also mention the likes of Doug Cockle, Damien C. Haas, Lauren Holt for their respective performances, albeit they impressed to a slightly smaller degree.

Overall, although you can't always count on a straight-to-streaming film, I'm certainly glad that this one backed up the hopes I held for it. It was exciting, it was different, and it continued the slow journey of redeeming the wavering 'Predator' franchise that 'Prey' began a couple of years prior. I really hope that Dan Trachtenberg directs more 'Predator' projects very soon, because his vision of the franchise appears to be very fun.