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Prey
(20th Century Studios/Hulu)
By Lucas Allen
Thirty-five years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger fought the Predator in the jungle, and audiences ate it up. The 1987 hit spawned three sequels (as well as two battles with the Xenomorphs from “Alien”), but none could recreate the rumble in the jungle until this year. Dan Trachtenberg (director of “10 Cloverfield Lane”) directed “Prey,” the prequel that’s set nearly 270 years before the original, and gives the alien hunter a couple of upgrades in the process.
In 1719 America, a Comanche tribe spends their time hunting wild animals. A young woman named Naru (Amber Midthunder) wants to be a hunter too, but her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) doesn’t allow it, knowing she isn’t ready. As she wanders the woods with her dog Sarii, trying to prove her courage and survival instincts, she discovers large bear-like footprints and skinned animals. She knows it’s not from any wild animal.
Unsurprisingly, a Predator (Dane DiLiegro) has landed on Earth for a ritual hunting spree to collect some trophies. After seeing the alien hunter fight a bear, Naru tries to warn her tribe, but, naturally, don’t believe her. Then, a group of French fur trappers kidnaps her and Taabe to be used as the Predator’s bait. Naru will have to use all her might to bring the monster to a final showdown.
As with the “Alien” franchise with 2012’s “Prometheus,” this prequel gives the “Predator” series an opportunity for a fresh new direction after 2018’s “The Predator” disappointed audiences. With that said, there’s a lot to like about this new entry, especially for fans of the previous films. The Predator is just as awesome and terrifying as ever with its many hisses, roars, and other sound effects as well as the camouflage to boot. As always, it displays such cool weaponry like the flying discs, the deadly nets, and for the first time, a metal shield. You can tell the filmmakers really put a lot of thought into making it more amazing than ever.
The story doesn’t have the machismo of the original, but it’s a good attempt at trying to put the alien hunter in a very different setting and time in our world. This new direction in the franchise could open up whole new story possibilities. The movie makes great use of stunning location work to represent the way America looked in the early 18th century. The cinematography adds to the unnatural and haunting look of the woods with the Predator doing some hunting and killing.
As for the main characters, they’re solidly written with the actors doing good work making them believable. Midthunder is superb at handling the physical action while displaying some great courage in many scenes. Beavers makes a fine big brother role though some of his line readings during the dramatic scenes leave a lot to be desired. Besides the cool effects, DiLiegro makes an amazingly scary presence from inside the Predator suit.
In case anybody’s worried about how much “Prey” references the other movies, it mostly makes subtle references without being too obvious. It does have one of the characters utter one of the lines from the 1987 film, which does come off as a bit forced. You may not hear any of Alan Silvestri’s iconic score from the original, but you could hear snippets of the main theme pop up anywhere in the film.
While the original “Predator” will always be a beloved action classic, “Prey” manages to stand on its own while continuing the franchise legacy successfully. It’ll be interesting where they’ll take the series after this film makes its bow on Hulu.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for strong bloody violence)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.5 Stars (Out of Four)
