CGI / Hybrid absolutely ruined it (possible spoilers)

Pretty much how I felt after watching it.

Just saw it for the second time (no shame) and this next level Predator remained one of the movie’s highlights for me. As much as people want to criticize it, I failed to see what was so egregious about the way he — or most of the CGI - looked in the movie. Sure the effects are shoddy in some scenes, but still so far from the worse I’ve seen in a big budget movie. On that note, while keeping it practical is always appreciated, a more “practical-driven” Predator of this size might have arguably looked more unconvincing—particularly with all his fast movements. I just don’t see the alternative having the same effect, at least in non-close ups. Can you tell which shots are CGI? Naturally. Yet, this doesn’t automatically equal terrible CGI. For the most part, the CGI was decent to good.

Now if you’re one of the cool grumps who oppose CGI in general... then my response to that is CGI does in fact work better for certain movies, characters, and shots. You read that right—it’s not only done for the sake of convenience. It can add so much to a film when done right. That being said, why make this new Predator gigantic in the first place? The way I see it, he was a believably evolved and far more intimidating Predator. Who can hunt down and tear apart a “primitive” Predator? A massive and advanced Predator, that’s who! Yes, the final product wasn’t by any means impressive, but the inclusion of this mammoth Predator didn’t exactly ruin the movie for me. The “space dogs” didn’t bother me either. And idk about you but, I for one, always expected to see a bigger & badder Predator like this in the franchise. I thought he looked solid in obvious CGI-free shots.

As for that ending, it goes without saying that it could’ve been better. But in its defense, they reshot the entire third act only a few weeks before the movie came out. So all in all, whether the final product suffered due to studio interference, poor editing, or simply a less than stellar execution, the movie did leave a lot to be desired. Either way, I didn’t feel so lukewarm about it. To me it brought in fresh ideas to explore in the Predator mythology, it was well-acted, provided decent thrills and its humor was fun. Disappointing overall but to my mind not unwatchable.

This is essentially a monster movie. So why not 11 foot? If he is bred to hunt other predators (who are also tall), his height will be of benefit in close combat.

Agreed. Movement was out of whack, also for his size he didn't seem thick enough, at certain points thighs looked kind of frail.

Also imagine you are a tracker/soldier on a specific mission -- why would you all of a sudden decide to go on an impromptu recreational hunt. Final impromptu hunt didn't make sense to me.

I was excited when I heard Shane Black was involved, but the second I heard that there was another "super predator" involved I wrote the movie off. I can't believe that they took something that was so disliked about the previous movie and did it again. Why do they keep thinking that passing the face of an iconic monster is a good idea?