Prey (2022) is an action adventure movie directed by Dan Trachtenberg and starring Amber Midthunder as Naru. It deals with the origins of Predator as seen through the eyes of Comanche Nation 300 years ago. Below is my Prey (2022) movie review
In the beginning we meet Naru and her brother Taabe as they go about their life of hunting in their Comanche tribe. Naru tries to fit in but always falls short of becoming one of the warriors. Not long after she notices a new warrior not from this planet killing various animals in the woods. After that, she becomes very invested in killing the big Predator and proving to her tribe that she can fight/compete with other warriors from her tribe.
Once we are introduced to the Predator we can see that he is more lean and has less advanced weaponry than the later Predator movies. However he is still strong as is evident in his killings of a snake, wolf, and a bear. He is on a hunt for the ultimate prey, which he eventually finds in Naru. The movie does a great job in revealing one thing at a time, pacing back and forth from predator to Naru and her struggles. While nothing too surprising is revealed, the overall plot keeps the audience guessing on what is coming next.
In terms of action, there is a good amount of it. The Predator starts taking out Naru’s people as well as some French fur traders. The blood as well as all the animals killed were all CGI. Some of it looked really bad and can potentially take the audience out of the whole experience. The action overall was good and well choreographed. I especially liked Taabe’s fight with the predator.
The director went to big lengths to make a lot of the movie feel authentic. Naru’s dog Sarii is a Carolina dog, a descendant of dogs that lived 16,500 years ago. They followed the first humans to cross the Bering Strait. On top of this, the costumes are very accurate as well. The Comanche language was so important that Hulu dubbed the whole movie in Comanche. It is available in the options menu for a spoken language.
There are few nods to the original movies, such as the pistol, flower power, some direct Arnie quotes, as well as some nods to Native American descendents. Being a completely new setting, the ending of the movie is also a huge nod to the original. However, overall the movie is fun and exciting. It pays homage to the original but the director made it his movie. The setting is beautiful with a bunch of sweeping shots of the environment. The acting is good too coming from an all Native American cast.
This is a Hulu exclusive and one of the biggest movie debuts.
Thanks for reading my Prey (2022) movie review
