- Release year: 2022
- Director: Dan Trachtenberg.
- Producers: John Davis, Marty P. Ewing and Jhane Myers.
- Screenplay by: Dan Trachtenberg and Patrick Aison.
- Cinematographer: Jeff Cutter.
- Music by: Sarah Schachner.
Synopsis: a girl set on becoming a hunter for her tribe discovers a new predator has entered their territory. She goes into the forest to hunt it and prove herself.
Shotgun commentary: awesome Predator movie centred on different hunting strategies and one-on-one confrontation instead of meaningless secondary plots.
Review
This movie has the best of Predator (1987), namely, the one-on-one strategic confrontation, without the whole military macho nonsense. No shade to that, but this change really suited the franchise. It is encouraging to watch a Predator film led by a strong well-written female character, and it is even better that the writers did not fall into the use of disgusting hypocritical cliché moments that scream ‘look at us, we are feminists so give us your money’ like so many motion pictures have.
The final girl, finally a hero
The development of Naru, the girl who faces the Predator, is carefully and pragmatically built. She improves her hunting skills by trial and error, observing and learning from her and others’ experiences. This growth happens parallel with that of the Predator, who just arrived to Earth and begins to hunt increasingly more difficult preys to establish itself at the top of the food chain.
Source: Prey (Dan Trachtenberg, 2022).
These analogous evolutions set the circumstances for the one-on-one showdown, which is the main focus of the story: the struggle for survival among predators in the same territory; Naru vs Predator in a battle of wits and talent. The whole plot revolves around that, so there is no wasting time with meaningless relationships or conversations between characters. Only the absolutely necessary information is given for the spectator to understand and empathise with Naru’s situation.
The power of silence
The simplicity of the dialogues frees the viewer from giving attention to foolish, irrelevant data, which gives them the opportunity to easily immerse themselves in the intense hunting situations and appreciate the stunning visuals. The locations are breathtaking and the way they interact with the rest of the movie elements is utterly extraordinary, plus, the wardrobe and makeup work is remarkable, so it is a very clever move to emphasise on visuals instead of words.
Source: Prey (Dan Trachtenberg, 2022).
Animal love
Lastly, and merely as a subparagraph, this film earned extra points in my heart for [spoilers ahead] not killing the dog, who is face to face with death every five minutes of footage. I aged years watching him put his life in jeopardy all the time, so it was incredibly satisfying to see him alive and well at the end of the movie. Good job keeping your dog breathing, Naru!
Source: Prey (Dan Trachtenberg, 2022).
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