Prey is A Step in the Right Direction for the Predator Franchise
WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW
The Predator franchise isn’t really a franchise. It is one classic sci-fi horror film followed by five pretenders (if you include the AVP movies). Personally, I liked Predator 2 but it generally isn’t remembered fondly by others despite Gary Busey’s masterful performance. Everything that followed was awful. There was little reason to hope Prey would be any different. Yet, to the surprise of most, Prey is actually a decent movie.
Before getting to the movie itself, let’s address a serious issue with the Predator franchise: the shock value is gone. We’ve seen the alien monster. Several times now. It is the same issue the Alien franchise faces. The shocking appearance of the monster isn’t really a shock. You need to scare, shock, and awe your audience in other ways. They still haven’t figured out how.
For the sequel, the franchise moved the hunt from the jungle to the city, with some interesting consequences. A predator moving about an urban area presented some cool new scenes. Gary Busey’s government team was a good addition, showing that someone is actually aware of the predator and have a mission to capture it.
The Alien versus Predator movies came next, stepping it up with a monster versus monster battle royale. The problem is it was shot in darkness with unsatisfying hunts and head-to-head battles in Antarctica and rural North America. The characters made stupid decisions and were utterly unlikable.
Predators went bigger and multiplied. Three super predators and one regular one on some unknown forested planet. The cast was impressive, the acting was a little better, but the battle was even MORE lopsided. Some of the scenes were cool while others were just… what were they thinking?
The Predator isn’t worth discussing. That movie should be forgotten.
Prey decided to move away from modern era and from the “bigger is better” approach. Set in 1719 North America, the predator is now pitted against pre-industrial age Comanches and French trappers. At first, this sounded even more hopelessly one-sided. If special forces, CIA kill squads, mercenaries, and xenomorphs struggle to kill a predator, what hope does a 90 pound Comanche girl living in the 18th century have?
Well… the movie didn’t quite overcome that problem but it did well in many other areas.
Visually, Prey is more impressive than the previous movies largely because most of it happens in daylight or with sufficient lighting to see what the hell is going on. The setting is unique and takes an original step away from where Predator movies were going (modern era, bigger predators, darker places).
Most of all, the movie takes itself seriously. The previous films had stupid characters, ridiculous dialogue, and action sequences that felt like they were written by teenage boys. The plots were basic and relied entirely on the monster kills and gore. It was as if the screenwriter said “fuck it. This is a predator movie. I can kick this out over a weekend.”
In contrast, Prey spends time developing the premise, the setting, its protagonist and her tribe. It’s all still a little thin, but it is a significant improvement on the previous movies. The tribe, the setting, and the non-monster scenes all felt authentic and serious. In other words, the movie managed to generate interest and tension beyond the predator itself.
The predator design itself was also a nice change, a bone mask rather than silver alloy. Not to mention the predator arrives with downgraded weapons (to a limited extent).
It would’ve helped the unbalanced battle to further downgrade the predator; for example no targeting system for the darts. However, The predator is not invincible, unlike the last movie. It gets injured and slows down.
It is difficult to remember anyone’s name but the human characters in this movie are not as hopelessly stupid and stereotypical. Unfortunately, the time taken to develop the protagonist and her tribe really didn’t go in depth. It seems the writers decided they could avoid the awful characterization from previous movies by keeping it as simple as possible. They were right although it would’ve been nice for characters other than the protagonist Naru to be fleshed out a little more.
Naru suffers from the bad strong female character stereotype. Somehow a rude, entitled brat is tolerated within an 18th century Comanche tribe. She seems able to do whatever she wants with her time, which doesn’t seem authentic for a hunter-gatherer society. The female empowerment scenes with her pushing back against the patriarchal culture was forced. Naru sounded more like a modern college-educated woman returning to her conservative rural hometown ready to upend society.
The movie also makes the unfortunate approach of making the male characters around her ignorant or incompetent in order to elevate Naru. She is a better hunter (of the predator), tracker, healer, and fighter than everyone else.
At the same time, she isn’t quite a Mary Sue. The plot does seem to bend to her a little, with her discovery of the predator and managing to run into it or stumbling into opportunities to learn about the it without getting slaughtered. Her skills are not unrealistic, nor is she loved and adored by everyone around her. Just the opposite actually. The movie also shows her failing in her first attempt to be a celebrated hunter. Failure is something that never happens to Mary Sues.
Another obvious problem: it was baffling that no one was utterly terrified and shocked at the sight of the predator. It is an eight foot tall monster from another planet, yet the Comanche warriors and French trappers treat it like it’s just a really big bear. The way they march into a buzzsaw, attacking the predator in small groups despite watching all their comrades get utterly massacred in front of them, is silly
The unbalanced conflict leads to a final battle that isn’t credible. Naru devises a brilliant trap for the predator and defeats it. It came off as ridiculous that anyone, let alone someone from 18th century, could masterfully figure the predator out and having a magic plant that lowers your body temperature, making her invisible. Even with the magic flower, a 90 pound woman with a tomahawk up against a predator alone? Come on.
Clearly the writers wanted her to defeat it single-handed, no matter what. Having someone from her tribe or the French trappers help just wasn’t an option. It would’ve been a nice change of pace to have a small team take down a predator rather than another one-on-one. Only Arnold was a credible action star to take on such a creature.
Having said that, the climax is better than the previous four films. The protagonist Naru is a better character than anyone from the previous four films. The premise is flawed but is executed far better than the previous four films. The non-predator scenes are forty times more interesting and tense in comparison to the previous four films. Visually, it is superior with stunning shots of North American badlands of Montana.
There is no denying it is much stronger than Predators, The Predator, Alien vs. Predator, and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. It is refreshing to see writers and producers try something new in this failed franchise.
Perhaps there is hope. Maybe this is a sign that those who own the rights to this franchise are willing to try something new and maybe make something of this terrifying monster.