Prey (2022)

I didn't mind it but it wasn't the stripped-down horror I was hoping for - far too much extravagant CG action and elaborate melee choreography (which was fucked over by all the shitty whip-pans most of the time anyway). Too much stuff from the Predator's point of view as well - not literally the heat vision POV shots but just loads of scenes following him around beating up animals and stuff before the humans have even encountered him. We all know what a Predator looks like and stuff now so the mystery is going to be hard to maintain, but it still feels odd when they don't even try. I did like that because the human weapons were primitive, the Predator wasn't just laser-cannoning everyone from the get-go.

Rating: okay

Predator: Badlands (2025)

MILD SPOILERS BELOW

Overall really enjoyed it. It looks fantastic, the action is great, and it has a bunch of cool ideas. BUT it's best enjoyed on the understanding that it's essentially a kids cartoon. It's like if in the late 90s, Fox went to the makers of Aeon Flux and said 'please make us a feature length pilot for a Predator tv show - it can be as cool as you want but it has to be suitable for and appeal to ten year olds'. So it's basically just a load of cool cartoon fights in a story about an angsty teen Predator who crashes on a dangerous planet and winds up in a found family of comedy/cute animal sidekicks, going on adventures and only ever killing robots and aliens. Apart from Aeon Flux, I was periodically reminded of stuff like the Lost In Space movie and Battle For Endor. It's probably the second best Predator movie and, again, I really enjoyed it, but more on the level of Killer Of Killers than the '87 original.

Rating: great fun, if you don't mind the kids cartoon tone.

Death Of A Unicorn (2025)

Gave up on this halfway through, as it was slow, unfunny and dull. It has at least five characters who just don't need to be there, it's aiming for political satire, comedy and horror but only dips its toe in each of them without doing anything interesting, and I didn't laugh once.

Rating: rubbish