Prey (2022)

When I first saw Predator all those years ago, I never thought it needed a sequel.  Keep in mind I was still young enough to want a sequel from a lot of movies I saw, but wanting and admitting there didn't need to be one are two different things.  It's something that a lot of executives in Hollywood would benefit from figuring out prior to the series getting so bad that it becomes yet another punchline.

It did occur to me, however, if a sequel needed to be done then the next one should be in a city.  That is exactly what we got with Predator 2, and it was okay.  It was nowhere near as good, and obviously there wasn't a whole lot of faith in it other than maybe they could make a few bucks back based on the fact the first one was a hit, but it was not awful.  What the second movie did, however, was start adding backstory, forgetting that the lack of such in the original was part of what made it so good.  The Predator had one mission: hunt and collect trophies.  The audience was left to make up its mind about why.

In Predator 2 Lieutenant Michael Harrigan, played by Danny Glover, is presented an 18th century pistol by an elder Predator for defeating the one that was collecting trophies on the streets of Los Angeles.  It also briefly showed that the Predator's trophy room included the head of a Xenomorph from the Alien series, thus linking the two universes.  It was at that point both series started circling the drain.  Alien 3 had not yet been released, so there was still all the good will from the first two classic films, and Predator 2 was halfway decent, so audiences rightfully hoped that the next movie would combine the two and really knock everyone's socks off.

That, of course, never happened.  Alien 3 was widely panned, while Alien: Resurrection wasn't much better despite being directed by one-half of the directing team that made Delicatessen and City of Lost Children.  Alien vs. Predator didn't show up until 2004, and it was directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, which is always a hint that the film is going to fall way below expectations.  One sequel to that, the whole Prometheus mess and two lackluster Predator movies later, and for the most part both series might as well just either be abandoned or rebooted.  Or, so it seemed.

Naru (Amber Midthunder) is part of a Comanche village in 1715.  Not satisfied with her role as a forager and healer, she wishes to hunt like the men, something her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) grudgingly accepts, even if the rest of the young men do not.  While out one day gathering herbs Naru begins her hunting practice and suddenly sees a strange sight in the sky, which she interprets as a sign that it is time for her to face the coming of age of a hunter. 

One of her first tests is against a cougar that has attacked one of the hunters.  When confronting the cat she is startled by lights she sees in the trees, and falls, leading to her brother completing the hunt himself and telling her she is not worthy.  Determined to discover what it was she saw, and considering it a threat to her tribe, she goes off on her own to pursue the creature, which turns out to be a Predator that has come to Earth to hunt.  However, she is not the only one to notice its arrival, as a band of French trappers are also attempting to bring it down. 

Whether or not the Alien franchise can ever be saved remains to be seen, but Prey has managed to finally give Predator a worthy sequel.  It also managed to do something that is almost a century overdo, which is casting actual Native Americans - and I believe all of the same tribe, as director Dan Trachtenberg worked with the Comanche Nation to try to make their portrayal was accurate and respectful - in a mainstream movie.  This shouldn't have to be a lauded accomplishment in 2022, but it is better late than never.  Amber Midthunder is the center of the action as Naru and, like Alan "Dutch" Schaeffer 272 years later, she manages to survive her encounter with a Predator largely through out-thinking it rather than brute force.  It helps that Midthunder is a good actor as well as someone who looks believable for the skills she is given, even if at points the stunts get into the usual Hollywood exaggerations. 

The plot is stripped down and simple, like the original, and although there are white Europeans in the form of the French the movie doesn't get bogged down with casting modern judgments on what happened in the past, other than what's wrong was wrong and human beings often treat each other poorly - although I will admit the outcome of French fur trappers versus a Predator is rather satisfying.  We also get to find out who the gun featured in Predator 2 belonged to, even though the circumstances are nothing like that movie (or a later graphic novel) led audiences to believe.  

Since this did not get a theatrical release, but was made for Hulu, there are budgetary considerations.  I mention that because the biggest problem with the movie is the CGI animals.  There are many, and everything looks bad, including the mountain lion and the bear.  At least her dog was real, and was a breed that indigenous people at the time would have used, and I think a few rats and rabbits were real up to the point where they get killed.  It makes both Naru's encounter with the cat and the Predator's fight with a wolf somewhat laughable, even if the bear isn't as awful as the others.  Most of the money was obviously put into the Predator itself, portrayed live and in motion capture by Dane DiLiegro.  While I wish some more attention had been paid to the animals so that they didn't look worse than similar creatures in Red Dead Redemption 2, at least Trachtenberg and company knew that if they had to spend the dough on one thing it should at least be the main creature. 

The other problem is that Prey does something I wish movies would stop doing, which is recycling lines or catch phrases.  I understand "I've got a bad feeling about this" carrying through the Star Wars films, but there was no reason to have Taabe say, "If it bleeds, we can kill it."  The pistol was enough of a callback to the original two, and I believe this Predator's mask is reference to a creature from Predators that is hunted on one of their planets.  The series, good and bad, already has enough history without the need to draw parallels, especially since at some point everyone should have known they finally hit upon a good story to tell in the series rather than just another money grab. 

Like Predator, I don't see that Prey needs to go forward with the story telling.  We already have four other Predator films and two Alien vs. Predator movies, and know that the creatures frequently return to our planet throughout the centuries.  While there are hints that a direct sequel may be made to this, it would be nice just to see it left alone, and see the whole series as a whole just end here.  Maybe someone will figure out how to make one last good movie for the Alien franchise and leave the Predators out of it, but there is no need to stretch this out for 35 more years in the hope of recapturing the magic of either this or the first film again. 

Prey (2022)

Time: 99 minutes

Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro  

Director: Dan Trachtenberg