IR Film Review: PREY [20th Century Studios/Hulu]
The essence of reinventing the Predator franchise is very tricky in a way because the seminal piece of work was the original which was a graphic novel come to life with grit, 80s excess and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Subsequent Predator films have tried to recapture this in the modern era in certain ways and haven't come close. Shane Black's "The Predator" and even "Predators" really just didn't understand how to do it, though they tried in different ways. "Prey" in a way strips it down and takes away everything except the Predator itself. And what is its purpose? To hunt. And with its technology and interstellar capability, the creatures have probably been doing it for many millennia. That is actually a great starting point. Have this apex predator hunt in certain eras. "Prey" chooses the Comanche Nation in the early 1700s. It is an interesting approach and also inclusive and shows a different corner of the human experience in the context of this kind of genre film. While it takes a little bit to set up, "Prey" knows its angle and doesn't pull the punches.
What makes a lot of it work is that it uses certain sequences to mirror yet not copy certain aspects of the original film but in a slightly different way. This makes it feel familiar but also very new which makes it more dynamic. Amber Midhunter plays Naru which is the anti-thesis in certain ways to Dutch in that her approach to hunting requires a different mindset but the way the sequences are built with both proving herself to her brother but also engaging against her own will with other foreign speaking invaders is an effective texture before she fully encounters the beast. The language element is handled well and not explained but makes extreme sense.
The building of sequences from there work but at one point, the impact after one encounter has the mythic and metaphorical texture to let itself lie with a very powerful conclusion and let the audience walk away with what they have seen. The director and everyone decides to let it move on to tie up ends and try actually to up the ante which is really unnecessary within the context of the payoff. The addition is almost repetitive with less being more in this case. In that way "Prey" becomes a parable for its era. It does overstay its welcome a little bit but it is effective in what it brings and the eye it opens up for a new bevy of stories in this universe. B
By Tim Wassberg
