Prey – Review
99 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Patrick Aison and Dan Trachtenberg
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
**Read Mark’s review below, And we’ll post a link to Ryan’s review soon. Then stick around and watch or listen as they discuss Prey in more depth as part of this week’s episode along with Luck and Easter Sunday.**
Synopsis:
The origin story of the Predator in the world of the Comanche Nation 300 years ago. Naru, a skilled female warrior, fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators to land on Earth.
What is this, like the 37th or 38th attempt to make a decent follow-up to the classic sci-fi-action film, Predator (and to a lesser extent it’s immediate sequel, Predator 2)?
We’ve had Predators on Earth. We’ve had Earth’s worst taken to outer space. We’ve had Xenomorphs battling Predators (twice!), and still, they’ve been unable to really get back to that basic, visceral experience of the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic.
So what is a movie studio to do?
Go primitive, that’s what.
No guns, no explosions, no fancy technology, just a Comanche girl, her (over-protective) brother, and a tribe full of sexists who don’t think she should be hunting anything, much less some sort of (in their view) imaginary monster.
Yes, set in the early 1700s, Prey is billing itself as the first hunt of the Predator on Earth, but that seems to fly in the face of the franchise’s established (yes, I’m about to say it) canon.
That seems to be a dirty word nowadays, but it does count when you’re tying things together. If this had been a genuine, full-scale reboot, that might have been different, but it goes out of its way to make sure this is the same Predator universe (Predator-verse?) we’ve already established.
In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say (or Franc, if you’re dealing with French pelt-traders).
Enough has been made of the filmmakers’ (successful) efforts at ensuring the authenticity and accuracy of the Camanche culture of the time, from costuming, color choices, and casting, so I won’t remark on it further except to say it makes sense for a movie about Native Americans to, you know, feature Native Americans.
Duh.
Immediately after I finished screening this, though, I found I wasn’t terribly impressed because frankly, there is no f-ing way Naru (Amber Midthunder) is going to take out a Predator.
No. Way. Zero.
Stay with me, people; there’s more to read. Slow your roll.
However, after a few days of reflection, I’ve mellowed a bit on Prey.
A bit.
Sure, it’s rampaging girl-power and bare-faced misogyny is pretty overpowering (though accurate), but the crux of the story is solid: child trying to prove themselves in a culture where tradition is equally as important as ability.
Midthunder is a convincing heroine, fighting not only the Predator but her community, and handles her action scenes with aplomb. The Predator is, as it must be, suitably terrifying. The overall combat action is actually pretty good, with the exception of that ridiculous leashed tomahawk.
Who thought that was a good idea?
In the end, I consider Prey a decent action film, if only another sub-par entry in the Predator series, though there are countless Easter Eggs and homages to the (2) original films scattered throughout, including the in-your-face tie-in to the end of Predator 2, but that in itself creates a plot hole that can only be filled by the sequel they very subtly tease in the closing credit animations (which are actually pretty cool, BTW).
Director Dan Trachtenberg has done some solid TV work, and directed my favorite film of the Cloverfield series (10 Cloverfield Lane), and here he puts together a film that simply oozes atmosphere, so…
You probably won’t be disappointed after watching Prey, but I’m kind of wishing we could just kill this franchise once and for all.
Prey will stream on Hulu (because no R-rated movies on Disney+, lol) beginning August 5 and stars Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, and Dane DiLiegro.
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