Predators(2010) is a largely forgotten about sequel to Predator(1987) that didn't receive too much praise, despite an interesting take on different clans of Predators having different behaviour, and a scene that brilliantly demonstrates it while hearkening back to the original.

So one of the things this movie establishes (As far as film continuity goes, I believe this was already the case in various comics), is that there are varied clans in this weird alien warrior society, and they're occasionally at war with each other, and most notably, different clans have different hunting behaviour, and even slight difference in the "rules" they seem to follow.

Now, it's never made explicit within the film, but there's strong indication that the Predators in Predators(2010) are of a different clan than the Predator in Predator(1987). Rather than hunt in their prey's natural habitat, they bring them to a game reserve planet. Rather than hunting solo, they hunt in groups, and in a scene which mirrors one of the most iconic scenes of the first movie, they behave notably differently.

In the first film, the character Billy, approaching the climax, decides to make a heroic sacrifice and stand off against the Predator. He draws a massive blade, removes his shirt, and makes it clear to the Predator chasing them that he's challenging him to a one-on-one fight. The Predator, when faced with this scenario, opts to use his invisibility to sneak up behind Billy and kill him. A usually satirical disappointment found often in the first film's fandom is that the Predator answers a challenge to honourable combat in such a cowardly manner. Especially considering the Predator does face off mano-a-mano with Dutch at the end of the film.

In Predators(2010), the character Hanzo, approaching the climax, decides to make a heroic sacrifice and stand off against the Predator. He draws a katana, removes his shirt, and makes it clear to the Predator chasing them that he's challenging him to a one-on-one fight. I cannot possibly express how much it's exactly the same scene. But this time, the Predator does something different. It uncloaks right in front of him, they face off, it draws its own blade, and they have a sick fight.

Its a really cool scene, and because of the similar set-ups, we see a clear distinction in the behaviours of the two different clans. And it makes a game of wondering what the minutiae of each clan's rules are. Would the Predators from Predators(2010) think the Predator from Predator (1987) was dishonourable for not respecting the challenge? Did the Predator sneak-attack Billy because he didn't feel Billy had proven himself for whatever reason? Or was he simply more focused on taking what he saw as a more impressive trophy (Dutch)?

Despite being by far the most interesting entrance into the franchise since the original, in my opinion, Predators(2010)'s excellent world-building was all but forgotten by the very next film. The Predator(2018) almost entirely abandons the honour code that defines the Predators, and takes the Predators out of the context of hunting entirely, making them instead be at war with each other on Earth. I'm hoping Dan Trachtenberg's film works as a course correction getting the franchise back to what make these creatures interesting: The predator not simply being a powerful, deadly monster, but a warrior bound by honour, and operating on rules only it is privy to, as viewed by the humans it hunts for sport.

EDIT: Misremembered a crucial detail. In Billy's death scene, it's left to interpretation how he died, and I always interpreted it as a sneak attack. Point still stands about the scene in Predators being a deliberate pay-off to the scene in Predator.

Submitted November 22, 2020 at 01:40PM by Samuel412 https://ift.tt/393YXub