Dan Trachtenberg has revived the Predator franchise

While I didn't hate either Predators or The Predator, neither they nor the Aliens vs Predator crossover movies had the spark of the first two movies. Dan Trachtenberg breathed new life into the series with 2022's Prey, then followed it up with the entertaining animated film Predator: Killer of Killers in 2025. While I was a bit iffy about the idea of having a Yautja as the protagonist, particularly a youthful unproven one, the resulting film was an exciting ride. The overt connections to the Alien universe were appreciated, and Elle Fanning turns in a strong performance as two very different Weyland-Yutani synths. While perhaps not as dark and horror-forward as previous installments, the action is good and the science fiction elements are interesting. The Predator series is in good hands with Dan Trachtenberg, and I look forward to his subsequent work.