Predator: Killer of Killers Review

WARNING: Spoilers for Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

Predator: Killer of Killers is the second Predator film released on Hulu from director Dan Trachtenberg, while also being the first even animated Predator film. And while Prey was an extremely welcome return to form for the franchise, is it possible for Dan to strike gold twice? With an animated anthology film, no less? The answer is a resounding YES!

I’ll start with the negatives because there are so few when compared to the positives in this film.

My main complaint is that as a viewer it takes time to get used to the animation. The look itself is fine, with close-ups giving nice details of the paint strokes much like Star Wars: The Clone Wars; but the frame rate can be very jarring. Characters seem to jerk and jitter as they move, especially in the smaller moments. However you do get used to it, as the jitters are less noticeable in the quick-paced action segments.

That aside, I pretty much have zero qualms with this film. These stories are pure fangasm and pure action in a way that a feature just couldn’t give you. As much as I would LOVE to have feature length stories with any of these characters, there are elements here that only work because the stories are just snippets of a larger world. In particular, the samurai storyline because part of the genius of that section is the fact that there is very little real dialogue (six spoken lines at most). This is an incredible and novel approach that focuses on character expression and movement to tell the story.

What is also remarkable is how this film branches out the mythology of the franchise.

Each previous installment has given us slightly different designs and looks to the titular monster. While fans of the comics and extended universe will know that the narrative reasoning is the existence of different clans and variations of the Yautja species, it’s never been fully explored in the films. Until now. Killer of Killers gives us very distinct iterations of Predators that have their own ways of hunting; definitively exploring these different clans.

The Viking story is a brutal and intense way to start the proceedings, and features a giant berserker Predator that may remind you a bit of the massive genetically enhanced beast from Shane Black’s The Predator. This monster fights with sheer brutality and a cool sonic battering ram that replaces one of its hands (one of many nifty new gadgets the film introduces us to). The middle Japanese story features a monster that reminds one of the more recent feral Predator design seen in Prey, with slick movements and a more fluid  fighting style. This one relies on stealth, spears, and blades more than the previous. And the final story set in World War II gives us a the most tech savvy Predators in the franchise, complete with his own heat-seeking, ship-skewering harpoon drones. This one feature a nifty eye patch and has clipped his dreads which makes him very unique in his look.

But the epilogue is where things really take off!

This is where the diversity of the Yautja clans is on display in all its glory. It’s been a long time coming and it feels so right. We're introduced to one of the coolest Predator designs I've ever seen with the Grendel King, a massive Predator who wears the skeleton tails of Xenomorphs as a cloak. You heard that right. This final sequence jumps to the future (which is why it is placed last chronologically even though the first two stories technically take place before the events of Prey). Here we find that our 3 survivors of the different Predator hunts have been taken off planet (similar to Predators) and frozen to be brought together to take place in a massive gladiatorial arena to fight to the death as a way to determine which one is the ultimate prey.

By doing this, the final sequence changes the structure from less of an anthology film into a single coherent storyline broken up by long flashbacks. Featuring hundreds of different Predators, huge sets, hover-bikes, and a massive rampaging monster, this is one of the most ambitious things this franchise has ever done. And it’s clear this was done in animation because the budget would have been far too high to bring this sequence to live-action. The end features not only a surprisingly poignant emotional beat which compleste each character's arc, but also an amazing “oh shit” moment which is clearly setting up an even more epic sequel that fans of the franchise have only been able to dream about up until this point.

Predator: Killer of Killers is a fascinating and action-packed anthology-(ish) story made exclusively for the fans of the franchise. But even non-fans should still enjoy the action and artistic styles on display. With plenty of guts, violence, and “hell yeah” moments, this is another extremely high point for the franchise (fix the frame rate, and it’s perfect). I can only hope that Trachtenberg hits 3/3 with his upcoming Predator: Badlands.

9.8/10

If you would like to see where Predator: Killer of Killers stacks up compared to the rest of the franchise, be sure to read my Predator Franchise Review HERE!

---