Prey (2022) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

1987’s Predator has been considered an action classic since first released. The same cannot be said with the overall franchise as moviegoers considered the sequels hit or miss. Just off of that long period of trial and error, it would be easy to think that the franchise should have been dead and buried. Instead, a step back was all that was needed to bring back its greatness.

PLOT

The prequel Prey takes place in 1719 and follows a young Comanche woman named Naru who is trained as a healer, but aspires to be a hunter like her brother Taabe. One day when tracking deer with her dog Sarii, she sees something in the sky assumes it to be the North American legend, the Thunderbird. In reality, it is an alien spacecraft containing a Predator, who chooses to roam the planet and hunt for sport. Naru sees this as a sign to prove herself as a hunter. Taabe gives her a chance by joining him to pursue a mountain lion that recently attacked one of the hunters. During the hunt, she finds tracks that are nothing compared to others she’s seen and also finds a skinned rattlesnake. Both siblings and the other hunters corner the lion and Naru is able to trap it, but she gets herself wounded after being distracted of a distant light. Taabe takes her home to recover, only for him to return to the woods to and finish off the animal, earning the mantle of War Chief. Still determined to find the greater threat, Naru takes off with her pet dog Sarii. She tries to kill a grizzly bear on her own with a bow and arrow, but it results in her being chased by the animal. She is able to survive when the bear is killed by the Predator, giving her a chance to escape with her life. She does warn a Comanche group of what she saw, but they don’t believe her before they ambushed and killed by the skilled extraterrestrial. When Naru retreats again, she does get trapped in a foothold trap, but is spared by the Predator as it doesn’t see her as a threat. After she is freed from the trap, she and Sarii are then captured by French voyageurs who recently skinned a bison herd. Their translator named Raphael Adolini (Bennett Taylor) question her about the creature as they hope to kill it too. She doesn’t budge with them, which results in her and an also captured Taabe being used as tied bait to lure out the creature. Since it does not go for bait, the alien hunter goes after the Frenchmen. The native siblings break free during the conflict and rescue Sarii from the Frenchmen’s camp. Before Raphael would meet his demise, he would teach her how to use a flintlock pistol in exchange for medical treatment. It took longer than anticipated for the Predator to kill him last due to herbs he took to staunch his bleeding also reduced his body heat, making him undetectable. He is able to officially finish him when the Frenchman tries to make a sneak attack. Naru retreats for the last time when Taabe dies protecting her. She is able to successfully ambush the Predator by using the same herbs for herself and shooting at it with the pistol, which knocks off its laser targeting mask. She takes the mask for her final trap, which is luring the creature to a mud filled bog pit. Just when it be gets itself trapped, she is able to kill it by using the mask to turn its projectile weapon against it. She decapitates the deceased alien, takes the pistol and paints her face with its glowing green blood, to prove to her tribe of what she vanquished. With her brother gone, she is given the mantle of War Chief. The film ends with a sequence of shown cave painting, depicting three spaceships heading towards Comanche territory.

THOUGHTS

As I grew up in my childhood, it was easy for me to get invested with the Predator franchise, as they lived up to being filled with action packed excitement I enjoyed. Aside from loving the original film, I had a soft spot for 2010's Predators, whereas it's not so hard to see Predator 2 andThe Predator as weak links. Looking at such a mixed bag of a franchise, it was easy for me to have low expectations when hulu announced to adapt this prequel. And again with low expectations, there was no way I would expect it to be this good. Director Dan Trachtenberg knew exactly how special the original film has been, which only satisfied me that he was able to return to its roots and provide well crafted, fairly graphic and well edited action sequences in its setting. Because of the said setting where technology had a long way to go to evolve, it brought that intense feeling where you have to improvise to overcome your odds. That alone just makes the set up more intriguing and makes the Predator just as terrifying when first introduced in '87. Portrayed by Dane DiLiegro, who wears an incredibly designed costume that's well blended with visual effects, this creature reminds audiences that its kind does not fuck around when it chooses to work its way up the food chain, from animal to human. Whenever it chose to take action, you bet your ass I was scared when it did. While this beast of an antagonist sets up the plot, we got totally different protagonist to root for throughout to slay it. Amber Midthunder gives an incredible performance as the young Naru, who earns her respect as a hunter in the fight of her life. It is easy to consider her the franchise's best protagonist since Dutch because you admire her will to survive and prove her worth. You totally relate to her perspective because proving yourself to others is a common trait for us humans in order to earn respect to one another. She truly is the perfect opponent for the Predator because instead of advanced technology, her greatest weapon is critical thinking which she uses to perfection. Every moment is a learning opportunity for her to make impactful decisions. And the fact that more Predators arrive to attack the tribe, later taking Raphael's pistol that would later be awarded to Mike Harrigan in Predator 2, proved that the opposing species had a long way to go to create their moral code of respecting their competition. The only other character I enjoyed in this movie was Taabe. Dakota Beavers plays the best big brother you can ask for who is looking out for his sister as much as he can. He was indeed a skilled warrior, but the big difference he had from Naru was that he didn't really come off as open minded as he thought. He did give her a chance to kill a cougar, but wasn't onboard with pursuing the Predator. Their relationship was not perfect, but there is no point of denying that he was there for her to the very end, making his death all the more tragic to see. While this film unexpectedly holds up, it doesn't excuse some issues I had as I watched it. For instance, why does it take so long for the Comanches to hear the Predator's clicking sound? The creature may be hiding, but that sound was as loud as birds singing. So it's kinda crazy that the guys don't get as curious as Naru. Because of that, it got irritating that they had zero interest in seeing a skinned snake. That is something very unordinary for its time, which makes it upsetting that they ignore it when they know damn well no one in their tribe would do that. Also, would it really be bad if torches were used to fight a predator like the lion? Yeah they got the upper hand without it, but they were making too big of a risk to not see what they're after. I even wonder how the hell did Naru survive the fall off the tree? Her head landed right on the rock on the floor and there is no acknowledgment if she got any injury other than a concussion. I even thought it was weird for one of the native children to claim to see Taabe when he didn't enter the light until after he said it. I then wonder why does Naru roast all of her rabbits at night? She has no idea how long she'll go out hunting, so it was weird for her to not ration it. That was weirder than the pack of vultures not feasting on the dead bison or the fact that she didn't get new wounds from the Predator's shield. And if I were to question anything about the Predator's actions, it would be the fact that it chooses to stay invisible when animals sense its presence. It makes sense to do this for humans because they get distracted, but it didn't look the case the bear or wolf were. So it's pointless that it chose to not go for a fair fight when the cover was blown. On top of that, how did it not see the bear trap when fighting the French? It was aware of its surroundings for the majority of the film, which makes it confusing for this to be the time it's caught off guard. Other than that, this movie was still pretty cool to watch. In short, Prey lives up to the hype for saving a franchise from extinction with its fresh atmosphere. If you have hulu and are a fan of Predator, I guarantee that you'll be satisfied with this prequel.