Prey
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg.
Written by Patrick Aison.
I was on YouTube one day watching movie trailers, and I saw a trailer in which a dude tried to hit a Predator with a hatchet, and the Predator caught it, flipped it, and killed the dude with it. And at that moment I decided I had to watch Prey. Since then I’ve seen it twice. And yes, it’s as good as all your nerdy friends are saying it is.
Full disclosure: the reason I saw it twice is that I was falling asleep the first time. Not because the movie is boring (it isn’t), but because I thought I could work a full day’s work, then go see Bullet Train, then go home and watch Prey. I am not the young man I once was, so my brain said “Nah fam, we tired”. So I watched it again the next morning, while wide awake, and yeah, it’s pretty dope.
The concept of Prey is pretty simple. It’s a Predator movie, but in 1719, and following a Comanche tribe. You know how these movies are. Predator comin’. He gon’ kill some people. Will he kill all the people? That’s what we’re here to find out.
Speaking of people, this movie isn’t one for super in-depth characterizations and arcs, but our protagonist Naru is pretty great. Amber Midthunder pretty much has to carry this movie on her shoulders since there aren’t many other characters to get attached to. But Amber’s performance is on point, so no problem there. She’s a talented hunter and tracker, but her mom wants her to be in the medical field. Relatable, huh? Naru says “Nah, I’m too badass to be in here fixing wounds, I should be causing wounds”. *Not an exact quote*. So she wants to join her very supportive and caring brother out in the mean streets of wherever they go hunting.
While we’re talking about her brother, I was so happy that he’s supportive of her. Their relationship isn’t antagonistic and he doesn’t hit her with the “a woman’s place is back home” nonsense. There’s one time when he expresses that maybe she should sit this one out, and that’s only after he has a pretty big reason to feel that way. Naru also has a dog who tends to just run off. A lot. Where did he keep going?
There are other characters as well if you want to call them that, but all the humans aside from Naru and her brother are pretty forgettable. That was a bit disappointing for me because I really didn’t feel any emotional stakes when the Predator started catchin’ bodies. But speaking of that, if you’re hesitant to just watch indigenous people get mopped up for an hour and a half, there’s a group of French trap stars that come in and take some of the hits, too.
As I said, it’s pretty simple, but they do interesting things with it. We get to see Naru develop new skills (and even a new weapon), and there’s a nice parallel of the Predator testing its skills with various prey while Naru learns more about whatever is out there goin’ HAM. Then it all pays off very well in our final girl fight against the Predator.
Before I put down my phone, laptop, or whatever I end up writing the rest of this on, I just want to say that I’ve always loved the Predator as a concept. It’s one of the dopest creature designs in movies, especially with the mask on. A movie monster that hunts for the sport of it, but also has a code about it? I love that. And I love that we can still make Predator movies I care about.
So, that’s To Catch A Predator: Comanche Edition. If you like Predator movies, I recommend it. If not, I’m not sure what you’d get out of this one, unless you’re just really hungry for indigenous representation. And if that’s the case, I totally get it. We don’t have enough of that.
Tl;Dr: It’s a really good Predator movie. You know the vibes. Watch it if you like Predator movies.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Straight Outta Pride Rock 