Did you like the Emissary Predator idea or no?
I mean listen, if I was still a young kiddo, yeah I would, absolutely…
But when someone gives you a $88M budget & you churn out a story that’s a Mercury Rising (1998) rip off, mixed with Fanfic one would write when they’re about 12 & starting out, and OF COURSE Shane’s brand of mostly off-key raunchy humor… Adult brain says WTF I paid $10 for this schlock.
It just comes across as gimmicky & let’s be honest: A stupid way to write an Emissary. Emissaries are NOT defector beings from another planet you basically keep as pets & give tommy guns to. Emissaries are diplomatic representatives. And I think that’s one of the huge things that irks me about them. Because a Yautja Emissary would be a brilliant idea… But general audiences don’t go to see a Predator movie for diplomacy & Pulp/Trek style Sci-Fi. They go for action, suspense, and flavors of horror in their Sci-Fi.
Now THIS CONCEPT ART Looks like a proper Emissary, I would have LOVED THIS:
But as it stood in the original script (been awhile since I read it, but), they’re defector Predators. And they kept them in essentially a preserve/pen and gave them fucking camo pants. Listen, it’s cute to draw Preds in human clothes, but in a full motion picture? WTF. Also Predators riding around with humans in a tank? Hooooo Boyyyyy… Super small me would’ve made a fortune playing with action figures if that’s what passes for cinematic green lights.
There’s a TON of content they could have drawn from: comics, novels, games, etc. IDK why they ended up with dreck. And it especially stings when fans can, have, and will write better stories than The Predator (2018) gave us.
There are ways to do stuff like this ‘right’, and by that I mainly mean a logical in ‘canon’ way that’s compelling, and has some bulk to it’s story. Not ‘Hey guys look at this he has human clothes & a human gun & he’s fighting & making jokes with the one-traits/stereotypes!’
Bottom line is that the concept has great potential, but NO I do not really like The Predator (2018)’s execution.