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Review of Predator: Killer of Killers (Benjamin Wallfisch)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... to piece together a handful of attractive melodic highlights from the middle two sequences in the film, emulating the appeal of Benjamin Wallfisch's Mortal Kombat.

Avoid it... if you're still waiting for one of these new composers in the franchise to capture the spirit of Alan Silvestri's original music for the concept, this one succumbing to the worst impulses of abrasive masculine bravado.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Predator: Killer of Killers: (Benjamin Wallfisch) Because it will be perfect entertainment for toddlers, the Predator franchise has traversed into the realm of animation. It seems that everything is experiencing a renaissance in the animated form in the 2020's, and another live action film for this particular concept wasn't enough for 2025. Prior to Predator: Badlands came the streaming spectacle of Predator: Killer of Killers, which is clearly meant to piggyback on the success of 2022's Prey. These prequels to Predator all suggest that this nasty species of ugly asshole warriors has been coming to Earth to fight the best warriors of every time period and, amazingly, losing. Why can't we get these creatures one on one with Elon Musk or Donald J. Trump? If the predators keep failing with comparatively ill-equipped humans in the past, why not lower the standards? Apparently, we also now know that the predators are called Yautja or Hish, but they were frankly more interesting when we knew less about them. In any case, this film is an anthology showing predators unsuccessful against a female Viking warrior from the year 841, a Japanese samurai fighter from 1609, and an American World War II fighter pilot from 1941. These worthy adversaries eventually join the 1719 Comanche hunter from Prey in being transported to a predator world where the heroes of this film are expected to duel each other. Of course, they decide to escape instead. All the usual predator action ensues, including an arm getting torn off right on schedule but this time not as impressively. The Predator franchise has long been overshadowed by the musical precedent set by Alan Silvestri for the first two films, his theme and underlying rhythmic riffs forever famous. Many different popular (and a few not quite as popular) composers have taken a single stab at the movies of the concept since, and none has come close to capturing the personality of the Silvestri mould, often failing by unnecessarily modernizing that sound beyond recognition. For Predator: Killer of Killers, franchise expert Benjamin Wallfisch steps into the fray, a promising hire given his tendency to very intelligently interpolate prior themes of a concept into a new sequel or remake.

The thoughtfulness of Wallfisch is always appreciated in these circumstances, and Predator: Killer of Killers does benefit from some nods to Silvestri's foundation. But he otherwise takes the sound of this score in a totally different direction, balancing a smart approach to the anthology format with a sense of absolute brutality that totally saturates this work during most of its length. Silvestri purists will be horrified despite the intelligence behind some of Wallfisch's ideas, for the composer, despite his care, has managed to fall into the same trap as his predecessors in this series of films. Rooted in extremely deep registers, even more than usual for the composer, nothing of Silvestri's organic blend of wonderment and military honor survives here. The score merges the tone of Kraven the Hunter with the diversity of Mortal Kombat, the former prevailing overall. Deep brass and very low strings dominate the soundscape, percussion pushed further back during the loudest action sequences. The synthetic elements and manipulation are per usual for the composer, which means they can range from somewhat cool to outright atrocious. Some of the sound effects employed in this score are just terrible, one of them even seemingly emulating Peter Cullen's famed vocalizations for the original predator in the 1987 film. Outrageously abrasive remnants from The Invisible Man return in "Avenge Me" and "Sweet Revenge," and the manipulation in "Through the Mist" is wretched, that whole Scandinavian sequence's music disappointingly awful. Wallfisch's choral element is rather restrained and closer to Mortal Kombat than The Flash, and while it seems that the composer was inspired by Silvestri's mode in Predator 2 for some of this approach, his execution is far blander. There's an abundance of standard choral usage, but that's not what will snag your attention. The throat singing element doesn't always work, as in the Scandinavian cue of "Avenge Me," and solo female vocal tones there are too brief to be effective. A few "yeah" exclamations and chants at 0:37 into "Knock on the Front Door" are a bit humorous, and group screams early in "Through the Mist" are distracting. The children's choir in the latter half of that cue almost sound synthetic. All of these ingredients form a very sour, low-register soup due to an oppressive mix.

To Wallfisch's credit, the various sections of the score for the different times and settings have ethnic elements unique to them, though there is not enough dichotomy in their style to really suffice, blowing all chances for a truly divergent score. The Scandinavian brass coloration is least prominent in the mix, swallowed up by the ensemble. The deep tones of grinding in this portion don't do any justice to history, all of the cues in this sequence sounding abysmally out of place. So much of this portion simply devolves into pure noise and is challenging to survive, with "Knock on the Front Door" and "Sweet Revenge" largely unlistenable. On the other hand, the highlights of the score almost all come from the Japanese section, the solo string and Shakuhachi flute performances in this portion surprisingly lovely and reminding of the "Hanzo Hasashi" cue from Mortal Kombat. A singular boy or female voice is a wonderful but too brief an accent to this sequence. Koto, shamisen, and live percussion are a nice touch as well. The suspense of this section is superior, "20 Years Later" engagingly diverse. These elements fight vigorously against the synths and brass in "Predator vs. Kenji" and eventually lose that battle. The World War II section is too modern in tone and doesn't have much militaristic tilt to it, the presence of a snare drum not prominent enough to serve that purpose. Wallfisch's abrasive synthetic presence with distortions in "Heat" is badly misplaced, almost like a foghorn effect for the horror of the scene. His brass finally opens up in more traditional form at the exciting start of "Flare" much like the heroic highlights of The Flash, and the cue stays largely organic but still devolves into brooding force late. Finally, the outer space portions immediately shift to the warbling synthetic tones from The Invisible Man again. Applications of massive choral chanting are rather cheap here, especially as dissonant as they sound. A new fanfare opens "Weapon of Their Tribe" with cymbal-crashing silliness, and the Imperial "red alert" sirens from the Star Wars franchise cause laughs as a rhythm at 0:33. A sound effect at 0:04 into "Fight to the Death" is also hilariously trashy. Percussive rampaging in "Fight to the Death" is tiresome. Some of the instrumentation from other sections carries over for the characters in this portion, which is nice, but the detriments are simply too numerous. Generally, this sequence sounds too similar to the one from Scandinavia.

On the upside, Wallfisch does offer keen melodic development throughout the score for Predator: Killer of Killers, even if it's eaten alive by the brash performance inflections. He thankfully starts with a portion of Silvestri's main 1987 theme. The six-note progression from his main riff is used but without the satisfying percussive portion. Other fragments from the Silvestri scores might be accessed, but not obviously enough to matter. The six-note riff wastes no time reminding of the concept's roots, heard at 0:14 into "Earth 841 A.D." under Wallfisch's new main theme and returning at 0:51 and more aggressively at 1:53. Sadly, this is the only place in the score when you hear these two identities really interact. The riff pounds inelegantly at the outset of "Knock on the Front Door" and, in the Japan portion, contributes in the middle of "Duel" against silly sound effects and intervenes in the middle of "United" for a few phrases. It's not as present in the World War II sequence, skittish on violins at 1:27 into "What Does Flying Mean to You?" For the final scenes, the riff blows up the end of "Arena" with almost stupid amounts of low-range force and can't quite get itself started at the headache-inducing close of "Remember Me." The only other melodic presence in Predator: Killer of Killers is the composer's new main theme, which receives intelligent manipulation of its progressions and demeanor for each of the three sequences establishing the characters. The idea is meandering and difficult to recall afterwards in each of its adapted forms, but it's very frequently accessed and thus functions to tie the whole work together if you're paying close enough attention. The melody's base structure is almost like a vampire hunter representation, reminiscent of Wojciech Kilar's music for Bram Stoker's Dracula from 1992. In the first sequence, this theme prominently joins the Silvestri riff at 0:19 into "Earth 841 A.D.," broader on brass at 0:57 and more evocative and lyrical on strings at 1:39 despite remaining really dark. It recurs under the riff again in more forbidding tones later to yield its most powerful presence. Low strings toil with the theme at the start of "Flaming Arrows" and shift upwards late in the cue. Various vocal shades convey the idea in "Avenge Me," including solo female voice, but it's vicious on brass at 0:29 into "Knock on the Front Door." Creepy on distorted voices several times late in "Sweet Revenge," it rises victoriously on more tonally interesting brass and choir at 0:39 into "Through the Mist."

For the Japan sequence, the new main theme is adapted into a variation at 0:11 into "Japan, 1609" in pure Mortal Kombat form with the flute, solo voice taking it at 0:49 with gorgeous melodicism over chopping bass strings, the idea enthusiastically conveyed by full ensemble at the end of the cue. The melody returns to its original fighting form on low strings in the first minute of "Duel" and becomes melodramatically poignant at the cue's close. Fragmented on horns late in the badly processed "Predator vs. Kenji," this theme runs through manipulations in "United" against the terrible distortions, but it endures in inspirational spirit on choir and ensemble in "Fallen Leaf" without too much synth interference. In the World War II portion of the story, Wallfisch gives his main theme a new heroic twist at 0:21 into "Dreams Are Fuel." This version is carefully explored early in "What Does Flying Mean to You?" on strings but can't survive against the pounding terror in "Heat" until a melodramatic moment late. It brightly conveys hope in fragments early in "Flare" and finally opens up nicely at 2:06 for more organic appeal. In the outer space sequence, the main theme becomes a mashup of its three preceding incarnations, the Scandinavian one prevailing musically in the end to bring the score full-circle. It briefly explodes on brass at 1:08 into "Weapon of Their Tribe" before stomping on brass later, and Wallfisch revisits the Japanese version for a respite at 2:14 into "Fight to the Death" prior to a rendition that sulks loudly at 2:32, gaining Godzilla levels of self-importance during these performances. The heroic World War II version combines with the Scandinavian one in "Remember Me," producing some palatable expressions of hope that are shattered by manipulation. The Japanese rendition with choir at 1:28 is another melodic highlight of the work, though fragments close out the cue with ballsy, thunderous pounding that is over the top. Some listeners may pick up a reference to Naru theme's theme from Sarah Schachner's Prey as well. Overall, there is a lot to like in the strategy of Predator: Killer of Killers, Wallfisch as intelligent as ever in his spotting sessions. The "Japan, 1609" cue is quite wonderful at times. But his brutal, over-produced rendering is too obnoxious to tolerate, a trait not congruent with Silvestri's original vision for the concept. His music continues to prove that there is no need for the blaring bass region stupidity we hear decades later as the commonly accepted representation of masculinity in film music. Like Mortal Kombat, this score badly needs culled into the palatable portions, but there are simply not enough highlights to really make such an action worth the effort.  **

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 68:04

• 1. Earth 841 A.D. (2:34) • 2. Flaming Arrows (3:02) • 3. Avenge Me (2:42) • 4. Knock on the Front Door (2:12) • 5. Sweet Revenge (7:00) • 6. Through the Mist (2:55) • 7. Japan, 1609 (4:02) • 8. 20 Years Later (2:40) • 9. Duel (5:13) • 10. Predator vs. Kenji (3:05)

• 11. United (2:31) • 12. Fallen Leaf (2:55) • 13. Dreams Are Fuel (1:16) • 14. What Does Flying Mean to You? (2:17) • 15. Heat (6:51) • 16. Flare (3:45) • 17. Arena (1:34) • 18. Weapon of Their Tribe (3:28) • 19. Fight to the Death (5:17) • 20. Remember Me (2:45)

NOTES & QUOTES:

There exists no official packaging for this album.

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Predator: Killer of Killers are Copyright © 2025, Hollywood Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/15/25 (and not updated significantly since).