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Predator: Killer of Killers Movie Review

Predator: Killer of Killers is a 2025 animated science fiction action anthology film directed by Dan Trachtenberg. This is one of the best entries in the franchise.

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“A fight to the death… only one will live…

and the survivor… will face me!“

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A Viking raider, a ninja in feudal Japan, and a World War II pilot encounter a fierce intergalactic hunter in this very interesting anthology that was sadly not released to theaters, but I would rather have these cool movies release on streaming services then not have them at all. Dan Trachtenberg is a very talented director who singlehandedly plucked this franchise out of obscurity, and although this one isn’t up to par with the superb ‘Prey’, it still came awfully close and it’s my favorite entry in the series after that one and the original film.

This is an anthology movie that consists of three seemingly disconnected stories, but they are eventually all connected into one coherent whole, which I really appreciated. It ranks among the best anthologies out there because of that. I genuinely appreciated all three stories as all of them got something going for them, but the highlight was clearly that third act that united all three characters against a common threat.

My least favorite segment was The Shield. Not only did I not care for Ursa, but I actively rooted against her. This was how atrocious her character was. Lacking any morals, her backstory made me despise her as she had no legitimate reason to be hell-bent on revenge the way that she was. This segment also was the least realistic as the way she managed to beat this Predator seemed ridiculously implausible. But the segment was rich in Viking-era detail and I appreciated that it was the most plot-heavy story of the three, the one that actually developed its characters and the main conflict. And she did grow on me in the third act, I have to admit.

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The Sword was actually the least developed in plot and characters of the three. It has sparse dialogue and its plot was barebones. With that being said, this story of two brothers fighting against each other to please their father worked because it ended in a superbly executed fight against the alien hunter. They also managed to use its Japanese setting to the fullest with the roofs being particularly well utilized for action set pieces.

The WWII story actually ended up being the best of the three, which I did not expect at all as I am increasingly growing tired of this era depicted on film. But it worked so well because it gave us something different and unique – an aerial fight with the Predator. I again pose the question of how in the hell are these weak humans worthy opponents to these overpowered aliens who are so technologically advanced, but still the action was immensely entertaining here, even though it was silly. Torres was by far the most likable of the three human characters and I saw myself rooting for him throughout. He’s the smartest and most resourceful of the trio.

Killer of Killers was strong beforehand, but it really ended with a bang and this is where it reached the status of greatness. It wasn’t easy connecting these disparate threads so well, but they did it with ease and they also left potent room to explore this creature’s mythology and to even include some lovely Easter Eggs. The 18^th century pistol connected this one deftly with ‘Predator 2’ and ‘Prey’ and it was great seeing the protagonist from the latter movie too. The action was at its best during this section as the trio worked so well together against these creatures and the result was a true spectacle to behold.

If there is one thing that I did not care for here it has to be the animation. It was done in the Unreal Engine and it shows – the look is very much that of a 2000s video game. It lacked polish and it simply did not look all that appealing to me. The backgrounds were solidly detailed and colorful, but the stocky look to the characters was off-putting.

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But the world building was fantastic and we finally got to see the Predator home planet, which was refreshing. The score was also quite strong and the pacing was superb – the movie flew by how genuinely riveting it is in its fight scenes. It’s an action movie first and foremost, but a phenomenally crafted one. The violence was there, but it wasn’t overwhelming. The tone was serious and just right while the pulpy vibe to the whole project was old-fashioned in the best way possible.