The Predator franchise returns with an animated feature telling a triptych of stories that feature battles across time.

The Shield set in 841 tells of a Viking warrior seeking vengeance for the murder of her father as a child. As she seeks her quarry in the frozen wastes a Predator hunts her.

The Sword set in 1609 tells of Ninja brothers in Japan who are set against each other by their father. Years later when their father dies they fight again and a Predator is drawn to challenge them.

The Bullet set in 1942 tells of a fighter pilot in World War II who is trying to learn lessons from his father about being able to stand on his own two feet.

And of course finally, the stories will intertwine in an effort to expand the lore of the Predator franchise.

The result is actually rather impressive in the confines of what is trying to be achieved. We only get twenty minutes with each story before the finale so we have to settle for broad stroke character development that takes a backseat to action. This however is a staple of the best films in the franchise, being the original Predator and the more recent Prey (2022). All of our characters have the ability to adapt to the enemy they are facing and use their ingenuity to fight it. The result is that when characters who can not communicate verbally have to face their enemy together they can do so with a shared language of improvisation. The through line of a parent’s legacy is also a nice addition to the characters’ shared story.

Most importantly in this film is that the action sequences are great fun to watch. The animation and art styles are superb and allow for vast arrays of blood spray. Whilst the clever usage of different weaponry across eras is fun. I have previously complained that one of the weirdest flaws across the Predator films is that an alien species who have devised interstellar travel and invisibility never seem to develop their weaponry so it is nice to see that there is some concession to each predator using different technologies. Although it still does not really explain how in the 1,100 year gap between the first and last stories those technologies and weapons are not vastly different. I guess we will just argue that they want to give the prey a bit more of a chance?

Regardless of my thoughts on technology lifecycles this film proves that the franchise is safe in the hands of writer/director Dan Trachtenberg. After reinvigorating the franchise with Prey (2022), he has delivered a superb smaller film here in animated form that teases us even more for his next live action Predator: Badlands due later this year.

Oh and big franchise fans should keep their eyes open for a weapon and a character that have links to other films.