Home » Entertainment » Uncompromisingly brutal Predator: Prey is the best predator film from the legendary number one

Uncompromisingly brutal Predator: Prey is the best predator film from the legendary number one

Jan Studnička
August 7, 2022 • 12:00 p.m

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photo: Disney+



In 2016, Dan Trachtenberg’s first film, 10 Cloverfield Street, hit theaters. From a very modest budget, the novice director managed to blow a solid hundred and ten million dollars and establish himself as a talent for limited budgets. And that same year, he went to offer 20th Century Fox his idea for the next Predator movie. The studio more or less agreed, but wanted to launch a new era of the iconic monster with a safe bet, so director and screenwriting legend Shane Black was the first to go to market with an alien skin. And he failed.

The movie Predator: Evolution from 2018 basically did not satisfy anyone. Critics were embarrassed, loyal fans of the series were disillusioned, and the producers at 20th Century Fox were disappointed. So the logic of Hollywood dictated that the much more uncertain project of Dan Trachtenberg should not go to cinemas, but go straight to the much safer streaming services, where the money is secured.

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And it’s a shame. Because the only thing that bothers me about the new Predator: Prey is that I couldn’t see it on the big screen.

Vinnetou vs. Predator

The plot is essentially simple – it is the beginning of the eighteenth century on the American frontier, and the young wounder Naru from the Comanche tribe wants to prove to her village that she can do more than just sew up wounds and process hides. That he can hunt. But in the vast expanses of the still untamed American wilderness, worse things than wolves and bears roam. That’s pretty much it. You know where the story will go, Trachtenberg doesn’t hide it from you, but he can work very skillfully with how it will happen, when it will happen… and how many people and animals will die.

You’ve figured out the Predator, haven’t you? So there you have it. You basically don’t even wait ten minutes for the monster to appear for the first time and it’s always a joy to watch the ultimate hunter at work. Our latest addition to the family with a “nice grip” has some deviations from its predecessors, or better said followers, it does not yet have such fancy armor or weapons. Which is maybe smart, and maybe completely stupid, when he’s still flying superlight in a spaceship anyway… maybe it’s just a seasonal fad of the predator planet’s hunting rings.

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In any case, you will spend much more time with Naru, who is likeable, smart, capable, makes basically only reasonable decisions, and therefore you can’t help but root for her. Amber Midthunder, who plays the Indian huntress, has an oddly civilian take on the role, which is basically a cross between the classic horror final girl and Arnold Schwarzenegger. In general, everyone plays well, and this also applies to animals. Specifically, Naru’s dog Saari is the heart of the film. Wildlife is mostly computer generated, which are also the only moments where the film’s smaller budget peeks out a little. But that is quite possibly the only flaw in the beauty of this pleasant surprise.

Do you know how that movie makes you feel? It’s like you’re reading an exceptionally successful predatory short story. It’s a small self-contained story (though the credits sensitively hint at a sequel), clocking in at just over an hour and a half, it’s smart, snappy, stompy and uncompromisingly brutal. It’s just exactly what the Predator needed. Thirty-five years already.

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