‘Prey’ Review – A ‘Predator’ Pre/Sequel That’s Actually Good For Once
Prey goes back to basics and rewards audiences with an unrelenting action movie that delivers a good story with its kills.
Prey takes place 300 years ago on the great northern plains. The first predator has arrived on earth to hunt the most challenging prey it can find. Amber Midthunder stars as a Comanche warrior named Naru that becomes the target for the universe’s ultimate hunter. Like Dutch after her, Naru (and her dog Sarii) is not about to let the Predator kill her or her community without a real fight.
Prey Review – Is It Worth Watching?
This is the best Predator movie we’ve gotten since the original. It boils it down to a fight of wits and ingenuity in the wilderness. Using what’s at hand against alien tech. No weird genetic experiments, bad horror tropes, drug lords, or Weyland complications. Just predator vs. human. And this predator is different.
Director Dan Trachtenberg and the team behind the predator’s design came up with a new take that fits right in with the historical surroundings. It has tech including the signature predator cloaking, but not as much nearly as much as its future brethren. Due to this, its attacks are up close and its fighting style is more animalistic, more feral. It makes for very different fight scenes.
Amber Midthunder’s performance from untested hunter to battle-proven warrior has some faults, but she’s the perfect choice for the role. Naru isn’t some sort of super soldier – she feels fear, suffers grief, and she has a sense of humor. Midthunder handles all of it and you’ll be rooting for her the whole movie – and her dog, who steals multiple scenes.
via Hulu
Several historians and members of the Comanche nation took part in the creation process. It’s not 100% accurate by any means, but it never feels like the Comanche culture and people are set dressing. And the movie is better for it.
It is well worth your time. Especially if you need to wash the taste of the last several sequels out of your mouth. Prey understands the nature of what it is and doesn’t lose it at any point. The cast is great, the effects are good for a streaming movie, and the action is unrelenting. It is available on Hulu now. A Comanche language track is available with subtitles, which is a cinematic first. I suggest watching the Comanche version on your first watch to really get into the setting.
Minor Spoilers in the Easter Eggs Below
Callbacks to the Other Predator Movies
Trachtenberg added some fun callbacks to the other movies that don’t feel forced. He told Digital Spy before the movie was released:
“Frankly, there was no Easter egg – maybe except for one in particular – that we had the preconceived notion of trying to jam it in. We really were embracing the lore that was present and telling a story that is somewhat similar to the story of the original film in its structure. That led us through encountering little obvious moments where Easter eggs would arise. There was never any moment where we were like, ‘We’ve got to put this in the movie’. I think that can hamper the intention.”
To start, Prey opens with music woven with the 1987’s theme by Alan Silvestri. You’ll hear it in the soundtrack along with traditional drums and songs. The final fight found some inspiration in the original’s cat and mouse chase. Then there’s Taabe speaking Dutch’s famous line.
The one I was most surprised to see was the pistol given to Naru by the Frenchman. It is seen in 1990’s Predator 2. The flintlock was given to Harrigan by the eldest predator as a trophy for his win. Its inclusion closes a mystery fans have been theorizing about for over 30 years.
Predator 2, via 20th Century Studios
