Predator: Killer of Killers is the most original movie in the Predator franchise (Review)

Prey director Dan Trachtenberg has delivered another masterpiece with the animated film Predator: Killer of Killers.
ByDaniel Roman|
PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS poster
PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS poster | Image: 20th Century Studios

The new animated Predator movie Predator: Killer of Killers is not what you're expecting. The second movie in the franchise from Prey director Dan Trachtenberg contains a number of notable firsts for the series, pushing it into new and exciting waters. It's the first animated Predator movie. It's also the first to break successfully from the tried-and-true formula that almost every single previous film has followed, where a human is hunted by a Predator seeking the most dangerous prey it can find on the planet Earth. Yes, it has that...but it also has so much more. And of course, it's the first time we see a Predator on the hunt in settings such as the Viking age, feudal Japan, and World War II Europe.

I've seen Predator: Killer of Killers and have been dying to discuss it. I'm going to be keeping this review spoiler-free, so that you can get a feel for what's in store. I do not want to ruin the twists and turns of Predator: Killer of Killers for you. It's that good. I'd go so far as to say this animated movie is one of the best installments in the entire franchise. If you love Predator, you are going to want to make time for this one.

A scene still from 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS, exclusively on Hulu.
A scene still from 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS, exclusively on Hulu. | Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Predator: Killer of Killers spoiler free review

Predator: Killer of Killers is co-directed by Dan Trachtenberg and Josh Wassung from Third Floor, the animation company which created the striking visuals for the movie. And those visuals are amazing. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure from the trailers whether I would like the animation style of Killer of Killers, but it does some really interesting things, from the differentiation of the color palettes for different time periods to long, sweeping shots that put viewers right in the action. It's smooth and memorable and stands out from many other animated movies, reminding me a bit of the League of Legends show Arcane.

But what would good visuals be without a great story to back them? I was more than a little curious how Trachtenberg could follow up his smash hit Prey, and in an animated medium no less. Killer of Killers seemed destined to be a step down, because I simply couldn't imagine how this movie could possibly keep the streak going.

Just as with the visuals, that fear was unfounded. Killer of Killers absolutely slaps. The story is one of the most interesting and unpredictable in the franchise. It's primarily an anthology film which follows three different instances where a Predator came to Earth and hunted down humans who it perceived to be the deadliest killers it could find at the time, and each of those stories is moving and powerful.

A scene still from 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS, exclusively on Hulu.
A scene still from 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS, exclusively on Hulu. | Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

It's an immense testament to the writing on the film that it manages to make each of its period piece stories so resonant, since this 1-hour-and-24 minute movie can't spend too much time on any one of them. Trachtenberg understands something that a lot of other Predator movies have missed: these films are at their best when there's an interesting human story propelling them, which the Predator disrupts in a fashion that feels shocking even though we as viewers knew it was inevitable. To pull that off three different times in the same movie is quite a feat.

There's also some connective tissue which ties these stories together, thematically and literally. I'm not going to talk about it in depth, aside from to say that once again, Trachtenberg and writer Micho Robert Rutare outstripped all expectations. This movie blew my mind more than once. The less you know about it going in, the better.

The voice cast also needs a nod. The main trio of characters are voiced by Lindsay LaVanchy (Ursa), Louis Ozawa (Kenji), and Rick Gonzalez (Torres), and each of them fully owns the role. Gonzalez in particular is a standout as World War II fighter pilot Torres. The character has a lot of personality and a lot of comedic beats, which is a welcome relief given the non-stop intensity of Ursa and Kenji's stories. There are also a couple of extremely notable sci-fi and fantasy actors in the mix, like Aliens and The Terminator star Michael Biehn as Torres' commander Vandy and The Witcher video game voice actor Doug Cockle as Ursa's father Einar.

The music by Benjamin Wallfisch is also top notch. The approach for Killer of Killers seemed pretty clearly to be to score this movie just like any live-action Predator film, and that works really well. There are some familiar musical reprises, as well as lots of new themes that crop up throughout each of the time periods.

So far, I've just been gushing about Predator: Killer of Killers. Is there anything negative to say? Not really. This is the eighth full-length Predator film, counting the AvP movies. At this point you should know what to expect well enough going in that we don't need to discuss or critique whether the Predator formula works, but rather how well a movie navigates it while still doing new and interesting things. Just like Prey, Trachtenberg's second Predator film does an amazing job on that front. At no time in the franchise's past have we ever had the same director deliver two solid Predator films; either they moved on to other projects, or their first attempt bombed so badly they didn't get to continue, like Shane Black's 2018 movie The Predator.

A scene still from 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS, exclusively on Hulu.
A scene still from 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS, exclusively on Hulu. | Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Should Predator: Killer of Killers have been a live-action movie?

All that said, there is one aspect of this film I do want to dig a little deeper into: whether Predator: Killer of Killers should have been a full-blown live-action movie instead of a smaller animated film. This is no shade at animation; I love watching animated movies and think there are lots of valid reasons to choose it over live-action. The question here is whether that was the right choice for Killer of Killers.

I'm a little torn. On the one hand, by doing this film in animation, Trachtenberg got to film not one, but two Predator films which will come out in 2025: Killer of Killers and Predator: Badlands, which is due out in theaters on November 7. The latter of those is live-action. I'm sure that it was not an option to do both of these in that fashion, so it's very understandable Killer of Killers might have ended up being animated instead.

I think making it in animation is even more reasonable when you consider the ambitious scope of the film. Made in live-action, Killer of Killers would have had to create multiple unique time periods and settings, which probably would have run the budget for the movie much higher than 20th Century Studios probably wanted to spend on a Predator film. Beyond the fact that the animation is beautiful — Third Floor did an amazing job — I think there are multiple reasons why Predator: Killer of Killers being animated instead of live-action makes sense.

On the flip side, there's pretty much no question in my mind that if this movie was live-action, it would become one of the most iconic Predator films in the series. This animated movie is better than every other Predator movie except for Prey and, arguably, the original 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's true of it as an animated movie, but if it were live-action, it probably would be even more impressive.

At the end of the day, I think animation was clearly the right choice for Predator: Killer of Killers. However, I think it's extremely likely we'll see elements or even characters who were introduced in Killer of Killers again in the live-action films. Predator: Badlands is coming later this year, and given how good a job Trachtenberg and company did of hiding Killer of Killers' biggest secrets, I would not at all be surprised if Badlands has a few in store that tie everything together.

A scene still from 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS, exclusively on Hulu.
A scene still from 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS, exclusively on Hulu. | Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Verdict

Predator: Killer of Killers is an excellent new entry in the Predator series which firmly establishes Dan Trachtenberg as the best director the franchise has ever had. This movie has compelling human stories, shocking twists, beautiful animation, thrilling action sequences, and very good pacing. Even if adult animated films aren't typically your cup of tea, you want to make time for this movie if you love Predator. It's an essential part of this new chapter for the series and a banger from start to finish. Enjoy the ride!

Predator: Killer of Killers releases June 6 on Hulu.

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