The franchise, which debuted with the John McTiernan-directed original in 1987, has survived atmospheric highs and truly subterranean lows, awkward series mash-ups and misbegotten attempts at reboots, ...

Nestled within these basic essentials, though, is a much more philosophical one: a good Predator movie isn’t a Predator movie at all. Rather, it’s a genre movie that happens to have a Predator in it.

It isn’t necessarily changing the way we’ll look at the green blood splatters of Yautjas in its cinematic past; it’s simply offering a fresh story into the series. And while it’s one that may be more ...