Thirty years in the making, three primary films and two crossovers with everyone’s favorite face-munching alien, comes the next installment in the Predator franchise. That’s right, The Predator has returned, and with him comes a cinematic experience soaked in a pool of blood, well-placed nostalgia and a very clever shout out to those on the Autism spectrum. Boasting incredible visual effects, hilarious acting and an awesome story, The Predator shows that while the sequel may never be as good as the original, it can still offer a few new surprises to keep the audience and fans interested.

Twentieth Century Fox once again shows its strength as it produces yet another visual spectacle. Now, any- one can make space ships and explosions, that appears in a film every other week,but to be able to create a truly worthy opponent for the Predator, that is a feat all its own. Of course, we’ve seen the Predator take on Ridley Scott’s Xenomorph in Alien vs Predator (AVP), which was obviously exciting, but offered no real sport. But predators hunting each other is a whole new level of awe- some, especially when the one doing the hunting is 11 feet tall and a walking army. He’s big, he’s bad and he has an unhealthy appetite for tearing apart defenseless soldiers. This new Predator is a venerable titan of terror and an excellent example of why Fox is among the big kahunas of visual effects.

Since the 1987 original film, The Predator franchise has always succeeded in bringing together an ensemble cast of actors to play as expendable trophies for the Predator, or as food for the Xenomorph if you’re referencing AVP.

For this film, the process is the same; the only difference is that while the first first few films focused on more serious acting, given the terrifying nature of what they were fighting, the cast for The Predator is plucked from the more comedic side of the acting department and, quite frankly, it was a nice change of pace. Normally,with the original films, you’d get maybe one or two moments of well-placed comedy and then transitions to a never-ending barrage of drama. However, with this film, it was a non-stop comedy show, with the cast poking fun at each other, making crude jokes and the smaller of the two predators had a surprisingly good sense of humor.

Every member of the cast had their moments to shine, to deliver drama, heart, plenty of comedy and in their last moments, left a memorable mark on the story.

Finally, the story. The tale of a ragtag team of mercenaries as they combat two alien predators who have once again come to Earth in search of the ultimate hunt,but their fight evolves into a struggle for “the next stage in the evolutionary change.” The story, of course, draws a majority of its concepts from the original 1987 classic, as well as quite a few nostalgic references to previous films,including a reference to one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature lines. The story also offers a surprising and respectful appeal towards children dealing with Autism with its lead child protagonist Rory McKenna, stating that Autism is not a disorder, but potentially a new form of human development. Now, while the story may not offer much in the case of originality, it still successfully draws on the characteristics that made the first film the classic it is today and expands on it enough to keep the franchise exciting.

Overall, The Predator is a hilarious, blood-soaked extravaganza that will no doubt attract the attention of both veteran and new fans alike. Igive this film a 10/10.