Prey review

PREY: 

LATEST PREDATOR FILM TAKES THE FRANCHISE BACK TO ITS ROOTS WITH THRILLING RESULTS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

HULU/20^TH CENTURY STUDIOS

Amber Midthunder in Prey

 

            One of the most iconic extraterrestrial killers (aside from the Xenomorph!) in film history is back in Prey, the latest installment of the Predator franchise and prequel to the original 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger classic. With the exception of 2018’s The Predator, I’ve really enjoyed the Predator films and appreciate how each installment is different from the other while still feeling like they’re still set in the same universe. 

            The first film is basically a survival film in the jungle with soldiers going up against a deadly foe that cannot be seen. Its 1990 sequel, Predator 2 takes on more of a police murder-mystery approach, even right down to casting Lethal Weapon’s Danny Glover as a disgruntled police lieutenant solving a serious of murders caused by the Predator in the streets of Los Angeles, whereas the 2010 film, Predators goes back to the survival in the jungle plot and follows a group of people stranded on the Predators’ planet…I would describe the 2018 film, The Predator, but it is so incredibly dumb and the decisions made are so baffling, that it’s borderline self-parody, despite the usually great, Shane Black helming it. 

            Which brings us to Prey, the first film in the series to not have Predator in the name and chronicles the very first human encounter with the infamous Predator. The film is directed by Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) who despite only directing one film prior to this is quickly becoming a master at playing with audience’s expectations in his movies, this is no exception. 

            Prey is a very well-crafted, thrilling, and surprisingly clever movie that simultaneously brings the Predator franchise back to its roots while also taking it in a new direction. It’s easily the best film in the series since the original, though I may still prefer the 1987 Predator just a little bit more. 

            The film is set in 1719 and revolves around Naru (Amber Midthunder-Hell or High Water, Legion, Roswell, New Mexico), a skilled Comanche warrior striving to prove herself as a hunter. But when a mysterious humanoid alien that hunts for sport appears, she must fight to protect her people from the otherworldly threat as well as from a band of ruthless French fur traders who are attacking her tribe and slaughtering the wild Buffalo they need for survival. 

            The film also stars Dane DiLiegro (Monsters of California, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3) as The Predator and Michelle Thrush (Pathfinder, Blackstone, Red Snow) as Aruka. 

            Overall, Prey is a worthy installment of the Predator franchise that succeeds where the lesser entries failed. The plot is consistently interesting, the violent kills are a lot of fun, and it doesn’t skimp out on good character development, I appreciate how nobody is there just to be killed by the Predator. 

            You really grow attached to this hunter girl and her tribe in this movie and you feel the tragedy and heartbreak whenever someone is killed off. It helps that this is a movie where people are fighting the Predator without any guns, technology, or firepower, which adds a level of urgency and terror to the situation. 

It’s basically what Arnold Schwarzenegger had to resort to in the latter half of the first film, using his wits, resources, and surroundings to fight for survival. The biggest difference is that the characters here are limited to these tactics from the very start and not as a last resort. 

Hell, this is kind of like a Predator version of James Cameron’s Avatar the more I think about it. A tribe of people armed with bows, arrows, and spears going up against a threat with advanced technology, it does have a similar vibe to that movie…minus the save the rainforest message and with a lot more bloodshed. 

Speaking of which, the Predator kills are very entertaining to watch and as gloriously over-the-top as ever. This Predator wields more primitive versions of the technology that would later be used by Predators in the earlier films to kill his victims, there’s a great sequence where he swings a beartrap around to decapitate someone as well as a scene where he uses an alien net gun that dices another character into a log, and unlike other Predators, he’ll fight with his bare hands before bringing out his arsenal and the sound design during these kills is absolute perfection despite this film not being released in theaters. 

The cinematography is phenomenal and adds to the epic scope of the film, from the shots of the Great Plains to the camera work during the action scenes, not once did I look at this movie and think it was a direct-to-Hulu movie. Because of how the film looks and how it’s shot and directed, it makes me wish I was watching this in theaters and will never understand why Disney/20^th Century Studios decided to put this on Hulu instead of giving it a theatrical release. 

Prey is a long overdue return to form for the Predator franchise that encompasses just about everything fans of the series enjoy while also doing its own unique thing. If you’re looking to check out the Predator films, this ain’t a bad starting point as it stands on its own extraordinarily well and retains various references and callbacks to the other films. 

The plot is interesting, the action is exciting and bloody, and the characters are very engaging, this is a solid installment of the Predator franchise that goes back to basics with thrilling and entertaining results. Thankfully, with no stupid sequence with humans taming Predator dogs anywhere in sight!