Predator: Killers of Killers, the animated movie that debuts tomorrow (June 6) on Hulu, is one of the best Predator movies ever made. In fact, it’s the second best Predator movie ever made. Granted, that’s not a very high bar to vault over, as the series started as an excuse for Arnold Schwarzenegger to crack wise in the jungle and has mostly not gotten better from there. But Killer of Killers makes director/new franchise shepherd Dan Trachtenberg two for two after the superb Prey, finding emotional resonance in between the gruesome alien hunting accidents. And like the previous, live-action movie, Killer of Killers also stands on its own as a beautiful artistic achievement that is gorgeously animated while still providing pleasant shocks to the animal part of your brain that just wants to see some sick kills.
The movie is also not exactly what 20th Century Studios is selling it as, and there are some huge surprises along the way that left me literally cheering at home, watching on my laptop (insert requisite “why isn’t this being released in theaters” rant here). I won’t spoil them, but will give a spoiler warning past this point anyway, just for the basics. Split into three sections, the movie introduces us to a Viking on a quest for vengeance, voiced by Lindsay LaVanchy, twin brothers feuding in (appropriately) feudal Japan, voiced by Louis Ozawa; and a World War II mechanic who dreams of being a pilot, voiced by Rick Gonzalez.
It’s not a surprise to say that each story is interrupted by a Predator, so it helps immensely that Trachtenberg, along with co-director Joshua Wassung and Micho Robert Rutare, who gets a co-story credit with Trachtenberg and screenwriting credit, make sure that we are invested in each of these anthology segments before the murderous alien shows up. The first section follows Ursa (LaVanchy) as she looks for vengeance on the man who forced her to kill her father, tied to the training and protection of her young son, Anders (Damien Haas). The second, nearly dialogue-free section finds the brothers on opposite sides, but still connected by fate. And the third, following Torres, changes up the usual hunt in the jungle for dog fighting with a Predator spaceship. Appropriately, Torres is the underdog in this scenario.
The voice work is excellent throughout, the characters are immediately understandable, and like how Prey dug in on a simple but poignant emotional thread — Naru (Amber Midthunder) just wants to be taken seriously as a hunter by her tribe — each section also draws you in, leading with its heart, first. And also like with Prey, the Predator is there as an external stressor on the essential themes and emotions, rather than being the main attraction.
The animation is also stellar. Trachtenberg has talked about how the team was inspired by concept artists, making sure that any frame you paused the movie on would look like a beautiful painting. And it definitely pays off on that idea, roaming from icy Scandinavian lakes to cherry blossom surrounded castles in Japan to the battlefront on the Pacific. It’s a far cry from the overly busy Los Angeles of Predator 2 or the generic suburbia of The Predator. There’s a real thought to make each section distinct, with its own color palette and feel, essentially three mini-movies that each work on their own.
But the other place the visuals excel, and I don’t mean this dismissively, are the kills. Not the action scenes; the deaths. Like any horror movie, the Predator series lives and dies (no pun intended) on how the characters, including the Predator, are offed. If it’s not clear what’s happening, like Bill Paxton’s train death in Predator 2, or the underwhelming sword fight in Predators, it brings the whole movie down. The deaths in Killer of Killers by comparison, are awesome, every single one of them. And best of all, they’re unique. There’s no “multiple people shot in the midsection because that’s the effect we could afford.” In animation, you can do anything, and Killer of Killers makes fantastic use of this wide-open canvas with some of the most spectacular deaths in the series.
It’s also, like I intimated above, hiding some huge secrets in the back half of the movie that not only tie up thrillingly by the end of the 90ish minutes, but also blow up the possibilities of the franchise. And isn’t that the most exciting thing Trachtenberg and company are doing, through Prey, Killer of Killers, and the upcoming future-set Badlands? They’re getting away from a tried and true formula of setting up a bunch of dummies, bringing in a Predator, the Predator kills them off one by one, and then our hero takes on the Predator, mano a mano that’s been in place since 1987. Instead, they’re offering fresh new takes that don’t ignore the simple roots of the series while tying them to a story that feels far more than disposable. Themes? Ideas? Stunning animation? Who knew?
While fans of The Predator have gotten a lot of different stories in other media, including some excellent comic books, this is the first time this sort of thought and depth has been brought to the screen, after Prey. So if you’re looking for a team that will bring a classic action series like this to a level where it exists not just as a Predator movie, but an excellent animated film in its own right? Your hunt is over.
Predator: Killer of Killers premieres June 6, 2025, on Hulu.
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