To add to that excellent summary, the first Predator movie started off as a testosterone fueled action movie that then flipped to a horror movie where the macho soldiers were afraid of the unknown and only one survived by being clever and resourceful instead of shooting his way out. It was the first popular movie to turn action movie protagonists into victims, and someone who saw it mote recently would have that idea spoiled by yhe many movies that Predator inspired even though I haven’t seen one that did it nearly as well.
Some sequels definitely work, such as Prey, even though they don’t have the same thrill of not knowing the monster. They succeed by having good characters who need to overcome the threat of the Predator(s). It isn’t like movies about real world predator animals can’t work even though we know their capabilities.
To add to that excellent summary, the first Predator movie started off as a testosterone fueled action movie that then flipped to a horror movie where the macho soldiers were afraid of the unknown and only one survived by being clever and resourceful instead of shooting his way out. It was the first popular movie to turn action movie protagonists into victims, and someone who saw it mote recently would have that idea spoiled by yhe many movies that Predator inspired even though I haven’t seen one that did it nearly as well.
Some sequels definitely work, such as Prey, even though they don’t have the same thrill of not knowing the monster. They succeed by having good characters who need to overcome the threat of the Predator(s). It isn’t like movies about real world predator animals can’t work even though we know their capabilities.