Predator: Killer of Killers

PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS 🩸 

What happens when the hunter, becomes the hunted?

PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS is an adult animated anthology film that visits three fierce warriors throughout history and tests their might against the Yautja, a species of extraterrestrial trophy hunters who are better known as Predators.

The three chosen warriors include a Viking raider guiding her young son on a bloody quest for revenge, a ninja in feudal Japan who turns against his Samurai brother in a brutal battle for succession, and a WWII pilot who takes to the sky to investigate an otherworldly threat to the Allied cause.

These warriors are killers in their own right, but they are merely prey for their new opponent.

My introduction to the Predator universe was back in 2022 when I saw Dan Trachtenberg’s first claim to the franchise with his Comanche revenge story, Prey. It instantly became one of my favourite movies of the decade and was my gateway into exploring this world of hunters even further.

In PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS, director Dan Trachtenberg officially stakes his claim as the master of this domain, building on the world that was and showing the infinite possibilities that are to come. What he has been able to accomplish by placing this franchise into four distinctly different time periods, sculpting them into existence, and providing us with enough context to jump right in without questioning it is remarkable.

Unlike Prey, the story takes a backseat to the bloodlusting visuals that allow this film to flourish in the series’ first foray into animation. Even if the story takes a backseat, the way these characters interact with the world around them and their philosophical nature in battle adds a richness to the subtext of the film, which centres around peace being harder to attain than revenge and the fact that “death begets more death, violence begets more violence.”

Like any piece of media with an anthology framework, your care will vary depending on your personal preference. I was all in on The Sword and The Shield chapters of this film, which, in all honesty, could’ve been their own movies, but The Bullet worked better for its action than its plot, regardless of the necessity of that character to the overarching story.

The action-packed glory of this film connects to the Predator universe (watch Prey!) in a way that will have audiences hyped for Dan’s third film in the franchise and second film of the year, Predator: Badlands (starring Elle Fanning), which will release on November 7th.

I'm a huge advocate for animation in feature film storytelling and will go on about the fact that we don’t get enough mature stories along the lines of this and Netflix’s hit series, Blue Eye Samurai (2023). I’m glad this exists, and regardless of its anthology framework—films of this quality deserve a theatrical release.

PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS showcases Dan Trachtenberg's relentless cinematic vision for the franchise through the ferocious tales of three unyielding warriors whose journeys are just beginning. 

Enjoy!

7.3/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 1hr30mins

Where: Streaming on Disney+ June 6th, 2025.

Predator: Killer of Killers Review (2025) The Richmond Reviewer - June 8th, 2025.

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