A Hulu original action/ sci fi monster movie directed by Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane), Prey is the fifth film in the Predator franchise, but chronologically the first in the series. When a mysterious creature begins hunting her tribe, Naru (Amber Midthunder) must prove her own skills as a hunter to protect those she loves.
+ Midthunder is fantastic in the lead role, and commands the same sort of respect that Arnie did in the 1987 classic. You could even argue she now stands alongside Ellen Ripley from the Alien series. Dane DiLiegro takes over the portrayal of the Predator, and his movements are menacing and precise. DiLiegro previously performed as the Muscle Monster in Sweet Home, the Korean horror series on Netflix
+ there are numerous great action set pieces, including the scene with the bear from the earlier trailers. This all leads to a really satisfying final fight, whoever those combatants may end up being,
+ the music reminds me a lot of Far Cry 5‘s background music (and Wikipedia tells me that Sarah Schachner has worked on numerous Ubisoft properties in the past. So go me?). I’ve always loved the ‘clicks’ that the Yautja do in the movies, and they make a sort of return here
+ I am being intentionally ambiguous about some of the Predator nuances because it was something I was not aware of coming into this movie. I don’t know if they are specifically spoilers, but there is no harm in knowing less before you watch this
– some of the story points fell a bit flat for me. There is an early sort of ‘girls do the homemaking, boys get to do the hunting’ theme, but that actually gets proven as relatively true and fair early on. I might be over thinking it, as those classic gender roles clearly don’t include space aliens hunting you for sport
> I personally have never really got behind the idea of the Predators being ‘fair hunters’ and wanting ‘honourable duels’, considering they have cloaking technology and laser guided weapons. At least that is sort of remedied in this one
Should you see this film: I was fixing to hate this from the moment it was announced as another ‘woke’, ‘girl power’ movie to ruin a classic, personal favourite — but hot damn was I wrong. This was a great action movie, and (dare I say, finally) a worthy entry in the Predator franchise after the original.
MoshFish Reviews 