Movie review: PREY

 

 

Who would have thought that there was still some life left in the PREDATOR franchise? 

 The 1987 film by John McTiernan (One year before he shook the action world with his game-changer DIE HARD) was a classic, sweaty, loud and ripping yarn starring Schwarzenegger at the height of his fame. Propelled by a rhythmic score by Alan Silvestri and an iconic alien design by Stan Winston (brought to life by gentle giant Kevin Peter Hall ) who saved the film from an anticlimactic beast designed by Boss Studio and portrayed by none other than a despondent Jean-Claude Van-Damme. The film became a staple of video stores, and an action classic in its own right.

 

Kevin Peter Hall dwarfing Arnold Schwarzenegger in his iconic Stan Winston make-up in the 1987 PREDATOR.

 

The success of the film brought the inevitable sequels. PREDATOR 2 (1990) moved the action from the jungle to the Urban Jungle of L.A., and while it may suffer from a lack of originality, it does feature some great performances by Danny Glover, Bill Paxton and a scenery-chewing Gary Busey, and is ultimately a lot of fun. 

One of the stunning visuals that almost makes PREDATOR 2 a necessity in the franchise.

 

 

Then things took a turn for the worse. 

Inspired by the 1989 Dark Horse Comic ALIENS VS PREDATOR, which cleverly joined both franchise in an engrossing story-line, the 2004 film only kept the title and instead just squandered all that potential in a rather tepid monster mash devoid of anything resembling characterization. But it's a friggin' CITIZEN KANE compared to the sequel made 3 years later, that brought the action to present day Earth (crushing any sense of continuity with the ALIENS series) and suffers from the worst sin for a tent-pole movie; to be instantly forgettable. 

 

Nothing in the eponymous movies inspired by the 1990 Dark Horse comics series by Randy Stadley, Phill Norwood and Chris Warner comes close to the quality of story-telling displayed here.

 

PREDATORS tried something different in 2010, bringing the would-be prey to a extra-terrestrial game reserve where a group of human predators (led by Adrian Brody, and featuring Danny Trejo and Laurence Fishburne) are facing the alien hunters. Starting with a promising premise, the film quickly loses its hold on coherence and slowly fizzes out to a blissful oblivion, even though it features a few cool moments. 

One of the few redeeming moments of PREDATORS, where a Yakuza enforcer (Louis Ozawa Changchien) faces the Predator.

In 2018, Shane Black was brought in to revive the franchise, and while THE PREDATOR features some amusing dialogue and endearingly flawed characters, the plot pitting the Predator against the CGI monstrosity Super-Predator (get it?) spirals out of control and loses the interest of the viewer faster than you can say « I ain't got no time to bleed ! ». It does have the "Predator Dog" which pretty much steals the show.

 

The film that could have killed the franchise, THE PREDATOR by Shane Black.

 

 

 Which brings us to PREY, which has the audacity to bring the predator into a different era, where the guns and technology prevalent in the other instalments are (almost) non-existent. A friend remarked to me when hearing about the concept for the film, which pits a Predator against a group of Comanches in the 1700s, that it didn't make sense, because it would be impossible for a Comanche warrior to face a Predator without modern weapons. But you have to remember that in the original feature, Arnold goes toe-to-toe with the creature with only his (considerable) brawn and a bit of (not as considerable) brains. It's not difficult to imagine that a fierce enough warrior might be able to face, and possibly defeat, the Predator. 

 

Impossible odds, as we like it. Amber Midthunder facing the Predator in the 2022 prequel PREY.

 

Where PREY takes an extra chance, is by making that warrior a young woman (Amber Midthunder, in a star-making performance) who wants to prove herself by accomplishing Kühtaamia, a rite of passage involving hunting something that could kill her. Highly skilled and agile, she still remains as far a cry from the Austrian Oak as one could imagine. How such a slight person could face the monstrous predator makes for a fascinating watch. As the film progresses, and you witness her fierceness and determination in the face of impossible odds, you can't help but root for her and wish to see her finally confront the alien. In fact, as was observed by another reviewer, the film would still be engrossing even without the science-fiction element, as the tale of this young female warrior, facing various dangers and the derision of her fellow (male) warriors makes for a great film all by itself. The added Alien Predator is just a bonus. The film has to be commended for its attempt at being faithful to the Comanche way of life, and for avoiding whitewashing history with its casting consisting of members of the First Nations. Out of respect for the First Nations, there is actually a version of the film in the Comanche language.

 

(L-R): Dakota Beavers as Taabe, Director Dan Trachtenberg, and Amber Midthunder as Naru behind the scenes of 20th Century Studios’ PREY, exclusively on Hulu. Photo by John P. Johnson. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

 

The film is gorgeously shot by director Dan Trachtenberg who had previously directed the surprisingly good 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, and who should have had the opportunity to have the film play in theatres instead of streaming on Hulu. However, the financial bomb that was the 2018 instalment, which had a box-office of 51 million on a budget of 88 million, may explain Disney's reticence at releasing a film theatrically which has no well-known stars and is part of an apparently dying franchise. To be frank, it's a darn miracle this got made in the first place when you think about it. (Although, Disney DOES like to milk their franchises to the last cent. This could just be a calculated risk.)

 If I had to have one main issue with the movie, it's with the final confrontation, which in itself is thrilling and well-paced, and has some great fight choreography. But the final solution seems a bit far-fetched and hard to swallow. It doesn't really deter from the film, but it's a bit of overkill that stretched a bit the already tenuous believability of the confrontation. 

This said the film is a fun watch, and arguably the best PREDATOR film since 1987 (although I do have a soft spot for the 1990 sequel). I like to imagine that a new direction for the series could be to have the Predators show up in different eras and locales ; Medieval Japan (Samurais vs Predators anyone?), World War I, the plains of Africa during colonization, etc... (Although the animated end credits hint at a sequel taking place in the same context)

 PREY demonstrates that there still is vitality to be found in a franchise that had been on life-support for decades, and in itself, this is quite an accomplishment. 

 

The ledger artwork style end credit sequence, cleverly retelling the legendary fight Naru had with the Predator, has a last minute hint at a sequel.