Depending on who you speak to, Predator has had a franchise lasting over 30 years full of mixed results. Dan Trachtenberg came onto the scene in 2022 with his Hulu original feature, Prey - a title that seemed almost like a laughable joke at the time. Shockingly, Trachtenberg and his efforts with Prey would light a fire under Predator fans after delivering one of the best Predator sequels to date. It comes with little surprise that he, alongside co-director Joshua Wassung have done it once more with Predator: Killer of Killers - a new brutal installment fans will certainly not want to miss out on. 

 

What comes as even more of a surprise is that this is an animated feature, beautifully crafted to look like brushstrokes from an elegant painter. Nodding to the unique visual stylings of remarkable animated films of late like the Spider-Verse films or Mutant Mayhem. The film doesn’t hold back - allowing for an anime style of animation that tackles three stories where Earth’s deadliest predators become prey. 

 

Story one: “The Shield” tells the story of a warrior and her clan in 841 A.D. set on a path of revenge. Plans change when her path is overtaken by a sudden invasion of a Predator lifeform. A beat of a Predator unlike any we’ve seen before obliterates the clans of both opposing sides - leaving only a singular warrior to fight for his own salvation. 

 

Story two: “The Sword” is my personal favorite of the trio - taking place in Japan 1609 and 1629, the story follows two friends forced to battle for honor in the age of the Samurai. A wonderfully engaging fight occurs between these two armed men leading to a grave error. This leaves a predator lurking in the shadows waiting for the lone survivor to take on. Other samurai attempt to intertwine with deadly consequences.  

 

The third story: “The Bullet” tackles the story of a young man drafted into the war, with the ambitions to become a WWII pilot. Neglected and left in the dust, he must become an unexpected savior as he comes head to head with a Predator war ship. 

 

All three interconnect in a third act that is unlike anything we’ve seen from the Predator universe to date - a gladiator style arena where there can be only one victor. Shocking twists and turns lie ahead with glorious gory satisfaction. 

 

Predator: Killer of Killers is one of the franchise’s best sequels and puts the iconic creature in an anthology of scenarios that Predator fans could only have dreamed of prior to this. It’s a beautifully animated, (literal) bloody delight from start to finish!