'The Predator' REVIEW : Muddled sci-fi action extravaganza!

Film: "The Predator" Director: Shane Black Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera Rating: ** (2 stars)

Unlike its predecessors, the 1987 release "Predator" which was a laser-focused, sci-fi action extravaganza or the 2010 released entertaining and underrated "Predators" not exactly a classic, this Director and Co-writer Shane Black's film, "The Predator" is a mediocre, gory sci-fi film, which has its moments of good and bad, but overall comes across as a muddled video game. The narrative begins with an alien spaceship crash landing in the jungle, right in the middle of a narcotic bust, headed by US military sniper, McKenna (Holbrook). McKenna survives the alien attack and while the predator seems to have disappeared, the sniper manages to lay his hands on some state-of-the-art alien technology which he promptly mails to his P.O. Box back home, as evidence, in case he is silenced. The Predator itself is captured and transported to a secret laboratory by Traeger (Sterling K. Brown), a dubious government agent who ropes in Casey Brackett (Olivia Munn) a biologist to understand why the Predator landed on Earth. Meanwhile, the dispatched consignment lands in the hands of McKenna's son Rory (Jacob Tremblay), who unknowingly activates the device, which in turn, revives the captured Predator and attracts the attention of another super-sized alien who seems to be the Predator's opponent. On the other hand, after the military covers up the drug-bust operation and discredits McKenna, he is sent away to prison with other "loony" soldiers suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders. En route to the jail, the group witness the Predator attack and soon realise that the Predator is going after McKenna's son. So how McKenna and his teammates including Brackett race to reach his son before either the Predators or Traeger can lay their hands on him, forms the crux of the tale. It is simply tough to get over the chaotic and gory nature of the film, especially when it extends to the action. There are scenes in the Predator that appear brilliant with gore, action beats, but those moments are juxtaposed with confusing, locales and turn-of events. While the plot is exciting and challenging, the glaring plot holes along with the Predator's vague and unclear motive are what probably leave the audience desirous of a meaningful fulfilment. Overall, while the film is astutely mounted with right doses of brilliance from every department, the film fails to get you invested in its characters or its storyline.