The Predator series has had a bit of a tumultuous history. The first film was universally praised, with the next few films in the franchise bringing in diminishing returns. The 2018 instalment, The Predator, bombed massively, and the future of the franchise was in doubt. That is, until director Dan Trachtenberg entered the series with the 2022 film, Prey. The film revitalised the franchise, and things are seemingly moving in a good direction.

Or so I’m told, because the truth is, I haven’t watched a single film from this franchise (or Alien for that matter). The Predator films never grabbed my interest, and the poor word of mouth towards the recent entries didn’t motivate me to seek out any of the films. That is, until an animated film was announced, and it was being directed by the guy who did Prey. Predator: Killer of Killers was the first film in this series that actually had me mildly interested in this universe. So, has this film shown me what I’ve been missing, or did I have the right idea of avoiding this series altogether?

A Story in Four Parts

Killer of Killers is a pseudo-anthology film, with three stories set in three different time periods. The first story, titled “The Shield,” is set in Scandinavia in 841 AD and follows a clan of Vikings led by Ursa and her son, Anders. Ursa is on the hunt for her father’s killer, a man named Zoran, and she’s been raiding any villages that may have information. All the while, a mysterious figure is watching from the shadows.

The second story, titled “The Sword”, is centred around brothers Kenji and Kiyoshi, sons of a samurai warlord, and takes place in 1609 Japan. After being betrayed by his brother, Kenji flees his home. Twenty years pass, and the warlord is dead, and now Kiyoshi is getting ready to take over, but Kenji won’t let that happen. Armed with new skills and weapons, Kenji sets out for revenge, but not all is as it would seem.

The final story, titled “The Bullet,” is about a young pilot named John J. Torres. He’s been drafted to fight in WWII and spends his days repairing aircraft that he accidentally crashes. But when the rest of the pilots encounter an enemy they can’t defeat, Torres will have to use all of his ingenuity to survive.

These stories were entertaining enough, if not a tad formulaic. Each started with a brief introduction to the new protagonist, created a conflict, and then throw in a new type of Predator at the end (they do look pretty cool). I did enjoy the 20-minute bursts for each story, but they lacked any emotional weight due to the fact that they’re so short. I did find it cool how they eventually connected the stories together in the last 20 minutes, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this concept would be better served in a TV format rather than a film.

Getting the Job Done

Similar to the story, the characters are entertaining, but lack any real emotional impact due to not getting much time to develop. Torres (Rick Gonzalez) is the most fleshed-out character, as he is sorta set up to be the main protagonist in the final 20 minutes. I enjoyed his character, but his development is very rushed, with him growing as a person in the span of a minute, which isn’t ideal.

Ursa (Lindsay LaVanchy) suffers a similar issue with her development, which seemingly comes out of nowhere towards the end. Her character has a lot of potential, and she kicks a lot of ass, so I hope she returns in one way or another.

Kenji (Louis Ozawa) didn’t get much development, but he was very cool. So cool that I think the rule of cool takes over and makes him the best character in the film. Similarly to Ursa, I hope he returns in some capacity, because he’s too cool for just one appearance (I just said cool a lot)

It isn’t a Predator film, though, without a group of Predators (whose species is called Yautja; the more you know) skulking about, and the ones here are pretty gnarly looking. Each story has its own Predator: a large buff one for The Shield, a ninja-looking one with a spear for The Sword, and a tech-savvy pilot for The Bullet. As a first introduction to these hunters and the titular Predators as a whole, I thought they were sick as fuck. I enjoyed how each had a unique way of hunting their target (buff Predator punching things, for example). I had assumed that all Predators looked like the one from the OG film, so I was pleasantly surprised by the variety on display here.

Surprisingly Gorgeous

The aspect that Killer of Killers doesn’t disappoint in is the visuals, because this film is bloody beautiful. Every frame of this film looks phenomenal; I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. While I would say the anthology format hinders the story and characters, it does wonders for the visuals because it allows the artists to go wild with creativity. Each time period looks distinct while not looking out of place as a whole. My personal favourite was the Scandinavian section with its snow-covered villages and frozen lakes. The frozen lake was especially great with all the broken Viking ships scattered across the ice.

But Killer of Killers doesn’t just have fancy environments, because the animation is on par with some of the greats. The fights are a treat to watch, with it looking like a more fluid version of the Spider-Verse animation style. It also doesn’t hold anything back, because you will see decapitations, intestines falling out, and people being chopped up into little pieces, and it’s all amazing. My favourite fight doesn’t involve a Predator, and is instead the battle between Kenji and Kiyoshi. The way their battle travels through various different rooms with Kenji using every trick he can think of while Kiyoshi attempts to put on his armour is just fantastic. This quality is consistent across the board, and it makes up for a lot of the film’s faults.

Predator: Killer of Killers was an entertaining but flawed experience. The anthology format was interesting, and I liked how the final 20 minutes tied everything together, but it also limited the emotional weight the film could have carried. I would’ve loved to spend more time with these characters, so I would care about them in these life-or-death situations. 

However, I can look past a lot of these issues because the film just looks so damn good. The film is definitely worth a watch for the visuals alone, even if, like me, you’ve never seen a Predator film before. I don’t know if I’ll watch any other of the films in the series, but my interest has certainly been piqued.

Have you watched Predator: Killer of Killers? What did you think? Would you want to see a continuation? Let us know in the comments where we can talk all things Predator.