Predator: Killer of Killers
Hey everyone, and welcome. Today, we will be talking about the film Predator: Killer of Killers. Fun Fact: This role makes Michael Biehn the 3rd person to be a part of the Terminator, Aliens, and Predator franchises. Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen are the other two. This film came out in 2025 and stars Rick Gonzalez, Lindsay LaVanchy, and Louis Ozawa and was directed by Dan Trachtenberg and Joshua Wassung. So without further ado, let's get right into it.
Predator: Killer of Killers is a triptych showing different interactions with the Predator facing a human and losing. These humans get brought to the predator planet where they must fight for their lives.
Predator: Killer of Killers is an adult animated action film. It has similar vibes to Prey, Alien: Romulus, or The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
I was sold on Killer of Killers for the simple fact that Dan Trachtenberg was one of the directors, considering I think Prey, the last Predator film before this movie, is pretty dang good. I, of course, was not wrong, and this movie, while short, is amazing. One of the most interesting things is getting more insight into what's happening on the predator planet. I love how the film showcases three unique stories and then has them all connect, which allows you to see what the predators are doing, but also how they aren't invincible, and they are super smart. One thing I will say about this and Prey is that they should've been released in theaters.
Killer of Killers is in reference to these people that have bested a predator or Yautja, which I just recently found out is the name for them. I loved seeing these 3 stories and then seeing how they are connected by the end of the film. I was wondering how they would connect the stories and I saw at the end of the first two stories it shows them in this prison and then you see the camera pan to someone they’re looking at and then it tells that persons story which i thought was a cool way to introduce the characters and show why they are all together. The poster of the movie looks simple but heavily hints at what the three stories were and what their strengths were.
Ursa is a Viking from the 800s who is the shield bearer. She uses her shield not only for protection but to murder people as well. She's the most aggressive of the group due to her having to fight for her people, especially her son, whom the predators stole from her. She eventually learns to trust the other two, but eventually gets captured by the predators after she sacrifices herself to save the other two guys.
Kenji is the sword who is a sword-wielding samurai from Japan in the 1600s who is forced to fight his brother to determine who will be their father's successor, and he refuses. When we meet him again, he is an adult who is on a mission to confront his brother after his dad dies, but unbeknownst to them, a predator is watching. On his journey, he effectively destroys all of his brother's protection, which truly displays how smart he is at hunting. When they are on the predator planet, he is the first to really understand what Torres wants them to do, which to me showed how well he is at keeping a level head. He gets injured and makes it back on the ship, and I'm excited to see what happened to him.
Torres is the bullet who was a fighter pilot in the war, and while his weapon of choice is a flying craft, his real weapon is his brain. He is able to see these vehicles and diagnose and fix them. If it's something unfamiliar, he can quickly learn to be able to effectively help the team. He doesn't come from a lot, which I thought made him extremely resourceful. When he is working on a plane that has a predator weapon on it, he immediately realizes something is wrong and tries to save the other soldiers, but no one will listen to him. He identifies how the predator is targeting people using heat and is able to warn the others, but they don't listen, so then he uses that brain to use the knowledge he knows to take out the predator. He is really good at adapting, whether that be changing his flying technique to take on a predator, realizing that fighting each other wasn't the solution, hiding inside of dead monster to eventually get out and steal a futuristic motorcycle, or figuring out how the controls on the spaceship are similar to anything else. He wasn't the best in hand-to-hand combat, but get him a vehicle, and he was ready to go, and I'm interested in where he ends up.
In the end, all three warriors possessed a skill that was important to their survival, and they eventually knew they had to work together to survive. This movie reinforces the idea that you have to observe the predator like it observes its prey. I loved them working together because they are all able to help each other in areas where they may be lacking. This wouldn't work with three people with the same skill, so having three unique ones was great to see how they can leverage everyone.
The predators are known for observing their prey and looking for whoever is the best hunter or fighter in that area. A small detail in this movie is how the predator weapons advance over time, which implies that another predator is watching them and seeing what the faults are and where improvements can be made. Besides the weapons, I also assume that they're watching for the simple fact that they capture the victors from across time. At first, I thought maybe it's just these three, but then the film dropped a juicy easter egg when we see Naru from Prey in the end frozen.
My favorite part of the movie is how they are not only able to tie these three stories together, but also how they are showing how there is so much life in this franchise. I think the franchise has had some strong entries and a slew of meh ones until Prey and Killer of Killers, which are great. People offer different perspectives, and Dan Trachtenberg's perspective on the franchise has made it better. This movie also reminds you that a movie doesn't need to be over 2 hours to be fantastic. Killer of Killers proves that the franchise is great and there are some cool stories to tell.
Predator: Killer of Killers is a fantastic addition to the Predator franchise. The storytelling is done in an interesting way that makes it feel like separate stories, but then they mesh so well together, and I really saw why they made the choice to tell them that way. There are a lot of easter eggs and hints at which way the franchise can go, and I'm excited to see more.
