“Prey” (2022) is a prequel and the seventh movie in the “Predator” franchise. Set during September 1719, the Comanche tribe lives on the Northern Great Plains. Naru (Amber Midthunder) notices some strange signs indicating that someone new is hunting in the area, but no one is taking her seriously since she has notions of becoming a hunter but is not good at it. She has other skills. Will she be able to save her people from this new threat? Come for the alien-human showdown, stay for the alien-colonizer showdown before Naru puts them both out of their misery.
“Prey” gives a standard heroine plot to Naru that a real-life Comanche woman would not necessarily have: the underestimated girl expected to adhere to gender normative activities. Director Dan Trachtenberg and writer Patrick Aison conceived of the story. While the story does resonate with audiences now because of the bias that women face because of their gender, that prejudice is not universal. Because they did not share such unenlightened notions of gender as determinative of destiny, indigenous people were often appealing to European women settlers. Remember, “Lord of the Flies” feels like a universal story, but upon closer examination, it was shocking to realize that in real life, a similar incident happened, and the community of six shipwrecked Tongan Catholic boys did not devolve but survived on an island for a year. Similarly, real life Comanche women fought in battle and hunted. The story suffers from the trope of there can only be one special woman because she enjoys engaging in activities normally associated with guys. Other than her mother, Aruka (Michelle Thrush), no other woman gets lines. Naru has no friends outside her family and trusted dog, Sarii (Coco), who does not die, or interests other than proving everyone wrong, which is relatable, but unlikely to be representative of a Comanche woman’s life of that time. It is fun, but pure sci-fi fun that may not reflect indigenous values if a Predator became a threat to the community.
Midthunder is always good in whatever role she takes so it is not a surprise that she can carry “Prey” even when her character is messing up, and the plot slows to stretch out the runtime. Many may liken Naru to Arya in “Game of Thrones” as her journey to discover a new threat is challenging, but she survives every threat with a narrow margin. Each time she overcomes that threat, it is a lesson that she will carry with her to the denouement and make her ready to fight and win, which makes the denouement feel as rewarding and autobiographical as that fight between Arya and Brienne. She has the time to observe others fail and learn from their mistakes.
Naru, a Cassandra figure, faces three obstacles, and one is that the guys in her community act like frat boys or cavemen who are contemptuous and often violent towards her. They are not individuated and without the benefits of subtitles, their names would be a mystery. Her brother, Taabe (Dakota Beavers), the best hunter in the group, is the exception to the bullying dynamic and gets treated like a character. Their sibling dynamic is the familiar teasing kind with Taabe ultimately devoted to protecting his sister and respecting her for her tracking and healing abilities. He gets a memorable battle scene, and if the Predator did not have tech, Taabe could have beaten him in hand-to-hand combat.
Viewers will recognize the metal physical foothold trap as a sign that Europeans have landed, not alien, specifically French trappers. They are depicted as barbaric with little to no positive attributes. For a change, the French are framed as foreign and savages because they do not speak English, and the subtitles do not translate their dialogue whereas the Comanche speak English and Comanche, which make the indigenous more relatable to English speaking viewers. There is a version of “Prey” which just has the indigenous characters speaking Comanche. In the French party, only Captain Raphael Adolini (Bennett Taylor), an Italian interpreter, is humanized, but he also serves as the personification of an Easter egg. His gun appears in “Predator 2” (1990) and “Predator: 1718” (1996), a comic book in which he is a character.
Obviously the reason that “Prey” exists is to see how the Predator (Dane Diliegro), Naru’s main obstacle will act in this environment. On a less serious note, the premise of “Prey” is that it is the Predator’s first time on Earth so he really is just observing the circle of life and killing anything until he can determine who is at the top of the food chain. It never occurs to him that someone is doing the same thing to him, which makes the title very subversive. Predators are prey for him, but the Predator is also the prey. The best fight is with a bear. The still advanced, but more rustic tech is satisfying. Aesthetically his drip matches the indigenous’ weapons and clothing, but there are still lasers and a personal cloaking device, which makes him seem swaddled in fire when it malfunctions. The French party’s weapons seem advanced, but if you enjoyed “RRR” (2022), then you will enjoy the Predator making light work of them, and they do not hold back. At times, the Predator seems to violate his own rules, but maybe part of killing the most powerful living being is committing to that role even after the person is mortally wounded and rediscovered long after delivering the fatal blow.
To Naru, the latter two are foreign and indistinguishable. “Prey” works because the story tacitly admits that the French are more of a danger to the Comanche and specifically Naru than the alien. Fortunately, and unrealistically, even when bands of physically violent men outnumber and threaten her, there is no hint of sexual violence. Naru can level up because of her keen observational skills, her knowledge of the environment, her ability to use new technologies and always being at a physical disadvantage.
It would have been nice if the Pia Mupitsi mythology was referenced in more detail. Basically, a cannibalistic bird or owl eats bad children. Some of the animal confrontations feel fake, but the landscape shots are gorgeous. Quicksand peril makes a comeback. “Prey” never got a theatrical run, and it deserved it. Imagine being able see the slightest rivulet of green blood. It was bad timing with the pandemic shutting down theaters and only slowly reopening. That final showdown would have been terrific to see on the big screen. The franchise is back, and Dan Trachtenberg is successfully injecting new life into the franchise without losing what made it special initially. While it is not as sanguine as old heads would like, it still checks the boxes.
