The Yautja. Or to us mere mortals, the Predators. Hunter killers. Fight for sport in various other planets not their own. Only picks fights with those who can and have their own code of honour.

In comics (of the Dark Horse variety), they’re both villains and anti-heroes who usually fight and even team up with their adversaries against a greater game at some points. In video games, they’re pretty awesome characters to play as, and to even fight against whether it’s first-person shooters from devs like Rebellion to that one Capcom beat-em-up that will never see light of day for a port despite being top-notch.

There is one game they have trouble with: the box office and silver screen. Apart from the first Predator and Predators, the films the Predator species have been in have bombed commercially up until the late 2010s. Even in crossovers they didn’t do so hot; when your comic book crossover with Archie Comics is better with its satire than both Alien VS Predator films, you know 20th Century Fox messed up big.

That is, until one director made a pretty awesome film in 2022: Prey. Dan Trachtenberg and his team understand the franchise and made Prey a simple-yet-entertaining film featuring a Comanche warrior going through her own growth and a Predator that is tasked with hunting down the best warrior in that area. The results? A fun scifi-slash-thriller that shows future potential for the franchise’s next rebirth.

The next film in the reinvigorated franchise, Predator: Killer of Killers, capitalizes on the previous film’s concept, but in a different medium and formed into a pretty enthralling anthology spanning different timelines.

Trinity

The film focuses on three different eras: the Viking Age, Feudal Japan, and the 1940s when World War II happened. Each era features a storyline and one Predator hunting the strongest warrior for sport. The Viking Age features mother Ursa and son Anders as they hunt down a rival chieftain named Zoran. In Feudal Japan, a ninja climbs up a tower to defeat its current daimyo; also, they’re both brothers. The World War II story focuses on John Torres, a pilot and mechanic who ends up going into battle in the skies.

There is a fourth story arc that ties all this together, but let’s just say it stays true to the sci-fi notions and the habits of the Yautja already established in comic book and film lore. And all these stories rock!

In most cases of anthology films (Batman: Gotham Knight, Halo: Legends) there’s usually an episode or two that stands out as being lackluster. That isn’t the case with Predator: Killer of Killers. There isn’t a single stinker in any of them, with each of them told within an appropriate amount of time needed while making you care for them from start to finish. You actually get why Ursa is the way she is from the effective flashbacks and resolve when dealing with her space-faring adversary. You feel for both samurai-ninja brothers especially when most of that arc is conveyed without dialogue. And you see why Torres is so keen on proving himself while not letting that get in the way of the action.

And the action: it is gorgeous and kinetic. Never had I been this excited seeing a bunch of World War II planes attempt to fight off a Predator warship, where the only way the fight ends is one outsmarting the other. Or be enthralled by a snow-laden battle between vikings, only to have the title species crashing the party. And enamoured by a rooftop chase sequence between a “ninja” like Predator and an actual ninja possibly out of his element. The whole show is clearly 3D (Unreal Engine 5 powered, by the by), but it is animated and key-framed like a 2D animation (think Sony Animation’s Spiderverse films) to the point where its grittiness and violence get amplified further with this style. Every slice feeling like it truly hurts, every smash from a blunt object incredibly visceral and impactful: the wombo combo of 20th Century Animation, Davis Entertainment, and The Third Floor prove that perhaps some epic sci-fi shows are best left in the creative hands of animators.

Silent Hunter

Predator: Killer of Killers is a worthy addition to the scifi mythos and a well-made anthology-type film, with a pretty killer finale that ties everything up in a sense. Yes, it’s still framed as a supplementary film for the upcoming Predator: Badlands, but it still can stand on its own two feet. It may gel more with fans of the good Predator films, though most casual viewers may see it as another blood-filled title with a few pressing questions for those not in tune with the universe.

Having said that, this pretty much cements its place alongside the better Predator films like the first film, Predators, and Trachtenberg’s own Prey. The man and his team knows his stuff (and possibly did his comic book homework), and is actually making me excited for the upcoming Predator: Badlands and how it unfolds with its potential crossover with the Alien franchise. For now though, bear witness to delightfully violent animated kills and simple-yet-effective triumphant human spirit stories courtesy of this lovingly-crafted Predator flick that will hopefully break its box office and film medium curse.

Final Score: 90/100