Anyway, I loved 95% of “The Predator.” I bought tickets to see it. Then I watched a bad camera rip of “The Predator,” and then I bought “The Predator.” I've already covered Shane Black and Fred Dekker's "The Monster Squad" for this column so perhaps it's not news that I loved “The Predator,” but the toxic press did make it seem like a sure thing all of a sudden. And yeah, I see where the studio and reshoots maimed it. I see the strings, the cracks, the flaws, the bad. And you know what? I don't care. This is a Shane Black monster movie and that's the kind of movie I'm going to hold onto forever. His writing, this setting, the cast, and Olivia Munn in the part she was born to play. This essay gets at the issues with “The Predator,” textual and extra-textual, and yes, there's a lot to talk about. Let's dive in.

To watch previous video essays from Scout Tafoya's "Unloved" series, click here







