Summary

• Predator (1987) initially appears to be a generic Arnold Schwarzenegger war movie until it surprises audiences with a monster twist.
• Schwarzenegger's portrayal of Dutch in Predator established the iconic Predator creature as a formidable villain and contributed to the franchise's lasting impact.
• The Predator sequels failed to capture the essence of the original film and suffered from trying to create an entire genre around the first movie, unlike Prey (2022), which understood what made the original work and took a different approach.

The reason why the Predator franchise would consist of just one good film. Neither the Predator sequels nor the Alien vs. Predator movies were nearly as good as the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led film, which led to the perception that Predator should have never become a franchise.

Prey (2022), which is a sequel in of release date but a prequel in of the story, has now reignited the franchise and set the bar high for a potential Prey 2. Still, considering Predator’s pop culture impact, which includes many other media and not just feature-length films, it is curious how long it took for the franchise to have a worthy follow-up to the first installment. Each Predator sequel and Alien vs. Predator movie released between 1987 and 2022 had its own problems, but they all faced a similar challenge.

Predator (1987) Was Just Another Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie (Until It Wasn’t)

From the moment Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch arrives and is briefed by Carl Weathers’ Dillon to the reveal of the Predator, Predator (1987) could have been any other generic war movie from the 1980s. Almost nothing within the first 20 minutes of the film suggests it will be a monster story with elements of sci-fi. For someone not familiar with the actual premise of the movie, Predator initially plays out as the most generic Schwarzenegger war flick about an action hero coming to the rescue of a politician in a Central America jungle, only for it to flip audiences’ expectations once the creature shows up.

What starts as yet another Commando quickly turns into a Jaws meets Terminator story where the creature is rarely shown but easily overpowers the protagonists. Audiences were used to seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s characters defeat their enemies without breaking a sweat or never running out of bullets, which Predator genially uses to its advantage. No human opponent would have been able to keep up with Dutch, but this didn't apply to the Predator. The same can be said about the movie’s other action heroes, all of whom are taken down by the Predator one by one. It is a simple premise that works because of Schwarzenegger’s character.

Very Few Action Stars Could’ve Replicated What Schwarzenegger Did In Predator

It can be argued that Predator only worked so well because of how it flipped Schwarzenegger’s star power. It is difficult to imagine any other actor portraying Dutch, namely because not many action stars could compare with Arnie. By making one of Hollywood’s biggest action heroes the underdog, Predator established its titular monster as one of the scariest, most iconic movie creatures of all time. Multiple movies, comic books, and video games later, the impact of the Predator in pop culture traces back to how the original creature gave Schwarzenegger one of its toughest opponents ever.

This is one of the reasons why none of the Predator sequels until Prey could match the quality or success of the first movie. Whereas the original film was an action movie with a sci-fi twist to it, all other entries in the franchise have been just “Predator movies.” Although this may seem redundant, trying to create an entire genre around the first Predator film was the franchise’s biggest mistake. The lore surrounding the Predator or how scary the creature looked were never the most interesting things about the first film. Little to nothing was revealed about the titular monster in Predator, and the focus was on the human vs. creature aspect of it.

Prey Understood What Made Predator Work (& It Didn’t Try To Copy It)

Predator 2 is perhaps the only entry in the saga that came close to matching what the first movie did, not in of quality or setting, but in regards to how tried to insert a sci-fi creature into an established movie genre. However, Predator 2 was a much more flawed film compared to its predecessor, and everything else that came after it struggled to give the franchise a new identity. Predators (2010) had an interesting concept and even feels like a spiritual succession to Predator in some ways, but the movie falls apart midway through and never lives up to its full potential.

Naru is depicted as the underdog from the start, especially because of the technology disparity, yet her bravery and intelligence make her the most interesting Predator main character since Dutch.

The Predator (2018) was a critical failure, with the film almost feeling like a parody sometimes. Between uninspired sequels and poorly executed ideas, it seemed like the Predator franchise was done. Fortunately, 2022’s Prey proved this perception wrong. The Predator prequel set hundreds of years before the first film perfectly flipped what made the original movie so good. Instead of the quintessential 1980s action hero, Prey’s lead, played by Amber Midthunder, is a character whose own tribe doesn't believe can be a warrior. Naru is depicted as the underdog from the start, especially because of the technology disparity, yet her bravery and intelligence make her the most interesting Predator main character since Dutch.