‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ Review: Inventive Animated Anthology

A Viking warrior, a Japanese ninja and a Hispanic World War II fighter pilot walk into a bar…

It’s not the beginning of a bad joke, but rather the unlikely connective tissue in the new animated Predator movie directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who has undeniably given the franchise new creative life. Premiering on Hulu domestically, Predator: Killer of Killers serves as a fan-pleasing amuse-bouche between the last film in the series, 2022’s critically acclaimed Prey (also directed by Trachtenberg), and the upcoming Predator: Badlands, opening in theaters this November.

This anthology-style entry, divided into three chapters plus a final segment that ties up the stories in highly imaginative fashion, reveals the versatility of the franchise. Like the video games, it shows that the alien killers are just as fearsome in animated form. And with its time-hopping storylines — taking place in the first, 17th, and 20th centuries, respectively — it demonstrates that the Predators can effectively be plunked into any era. The crossover possibilities seem endless — get ready for “Predator vs. the Karate Kid.”

The storylines are not exactly complex. In the first, entitled “The Shield,” a middle-aged female warrior — “You look like a Viking washerwoman,” one of her enemies sneers — seeks brutal revenge on those who wronged her, only to have her mission disrupted by the arrival of a Predator. In the ensuing violent confrontation, her son is killed.

“The Sword,” taking place in feudal Japan, focuses on the fierce rivalry between two brothers that becomes a fight to the death after their father’s demise. When a Predator shows up, they overcome their hostility to join forces against it.

And in “The Bullet,” set in 1941, a young pilot figures out that the alien vessel threatening his fellow flyers is not the enemy they think it is. “Fellows, don’t engage with whatever that is,” he implores them, to no avail. After his aircraft takes a hit, he manages to repair the wing while still in mid-air like an animated Tom Cruise and later channels Harrison Ford when he tells one of the creatures, “Get off my plane!”

So far, so simplistic. But screenwriter Micho Robert Rutare, working from a story devised with Trachtenberg, ties things together in an extremely clever, satisfying manner that won’t be disclosed here but that makes the film more than the sum of its parts.

More to the point, Predator: Killer of Killers provides the non-stop action that the diehard fans crave. And no concession has been made to the animated format; the film easily earns its R rating with copious amounts of gruesome violence and bloody gore that should well sate viewers’ bloodthirsty tendencies. The animation takes a bit of getting used to, with its exaggerated, video game-style visuals, but it serves the material well.

The voice cast features Michael Biehn, providing him the impressive genre trifecta of having appeared in Alien, Terminator and Predator films. And there are plenty of Easter eggs in the form of callbacks to previous films, as well as hints about future installments, that should generate the desired social media chatter.