Prey - Review Thread

After 2018's The Predator, from Shane Black, turned out to be awful (to put it mildly), I think it's safe to say that desire to see another film in the Predator franchise was at an all-time low. But then along comes 10 Cloverfield Lane's Dan Trachtenberg with the intention of injecting new life into the franchise by way of delivering an installment set in the early 18th Century. The story concerns Naru (Amber Midthunder), a Comanche woman seeking to establish herself as a gifted and worthy warrior amongst her tribe, who look down on her as anything but. Once The Predator drops into the time, seeking what the title of the movie says, it's soon up to Naru to prove herself by defeating The Predator.

So, a quick summation of my thoughts on the previous entries: the 1987 original holds up as an awesome sci-fi-infused action movie, the sequel is a movie I'm just not a fan of and 2010's Predators I actually find to be pretty entertaining. Prey is a movie that clearly recognizes what worked so well about the first and goes back to it: a simple, stripped-down story about characters out in the wilderness out on their own struggling to survive, and it mostly makes it work. Thanks to Dan Trachtenberg's direction, the movie is able to utilize a lot of effective techniques...be it excellent cinematography (to the point where I wish I could've seen it on the big screen), a firm grasp on tone and atmosphere or just a general solid sense of building tension. The fact that this is only Trachtenberg's second feature after 10 Cloverfield Lane six years ago feels like a crime, because I want to see this guy do more. From the way in which he films a lot of the action and kills to the way he can hold your interest even with lots of dialogue-light stretches, Trachtenberg still shows clear skill as a director here. Even when one or two action scenes may come off a little derivative, the filmmaking at least remains solid. He also gets a REALLY strong main performance out of Amber Midthunder, who proves a more-than-capable lead actress and sells her character's overall arc pretty effortlessly.

That said...while the acting is generally solid from a lot of the main players, the writing for the characters themselves often comes across as pretty bland. Naru, for instance: I think her main/general motivation itself works within the context of the story and setting, but it DOES simultaneously feel a little bit too on-the-nose. And when you consider how the other Comanche characters treat her especially, there's not a whole lot of nuance to the writing. Not that I'm expecting any sort of high sophistication from a Predator movie, mind you, but when you look at the original, or the sequel, or even the 2010 movie, most (if not all) of the characters seemed to stand out in some way. Here, apart from Naru, the other characters just sort of blend together and are really just there to be Predator fodder. Not only that, but some of the dialogue given to the other Comanche hunters can feel pretty stiff at times. And that's not to mention the over-the-top Frenchmen that come in during the second half of the film. Really, Naru is the most likable and interesting character in the film, and the fact that most of it rests on her shoulders certainly helps. There's also some questionable CGI employed for a lot of animals, particularly during a big scene with a bear, that interferes somewhat with the tension, but not to a crippling degree.