Since it was announced I've been eagerly awaiting the release of Prey, the latest movie in the Predator franchise. As a life-long fan of the series (having first watched the original when I was way too young thanks to uncles that would let me watch any VHS they had) I've always likes the creature, and whilst I find enjoyment in all of its movie, game, comic, and novel outings, I have to admit that the films have been declining somewhat in quality over the years. The series needed something bold and new in order to make them decent again; and luckily, Prey is just that.
The concept is one that the comics and the books have tackled before; what if the Predator came to Earth in a different era. It's an idea that's so obvious, that allows for incredible creative freedom and for the franchise to try some bold new things; but i'ts never been put to screen. Instead, the films have tried to build on the same formula as the first film, and despite having next to no real connections to each other, have followed on in a loose continuity.
Prey bucks the trend of the other films in the series by going backwards in time some three hundred years, taking audiences to the Comanche Nation. The film starts slow, giving us the chance to get to learn about the characters and the life they live, and you hardly notice the absence of the big bad monster as director Dan Trachtenberg delivers a visually beautiful introduction that puts the human characters in the spotlight.
And compared to the other films in this series, Prey really does have characters as the focus. Whilst we all love the first film and it's group of muscled 80's action heroes, they're not really characters. Yes, they have big personalities and they're great fun, but they're broad caricatures at best. And this is something that continues on over the other films, with perhaps the closest the series comes to a well defined character being the second film's Lieutenant Harrigan. But here we get not just a well defined, enjoyable character, but a film that is actually dictated by them.
Amber Midthunder plays Naru, a young woman who wants more from life than the traditional role of caring for the young, harvesting plants, and caring for the men. She wants to hunt, like her brother Taabe, and has the skills to do so, if not the opportunity to prove it. And it's her desire to prove herself, and her ability to see what the other hunters miss, that drives the plot forward. It's likely that her tribe would come into contact with the alien hunter without Naru's intervention, but they wouldn't beat it, they wouldn't pursue it through the forest, and they wouldn't begin to understand it in the same way.
This is one of the things that makes Naru such a compelling character, that she thinks, she analyses what she sees and uses that to grow. Naru is being called a Mary Sue already, by people who don't even understand what the term means and just thinks it means a strong female character, but she's easily one of the more human and realistic action heroes in a long while. Naru beings the films with skills, yes, but she isn't on par with the Predator at all; not even close. Naru fails across the course of the film. She makes mistakes, she takes losses. But she also learns. We get to see the small pieces of information she learns that all builds towards her being able to finally take on this monster.
Speaking of monsters, the Feral Predator might be my favourite one to appear on screen. Personality wise, he's pretty nasty. The scenes where he's actually killing his prey are some of the most brutal kills in the series. He doesn't always quickly dispatch his opponents, and seems to revel in the brutality of what he can do. He doesn't just hit them once and kill them, he beats them with his weapons again and again, long past the point of them being dead. And his weapons are great; I love the fact that this Yautja has equipped himself to his prey, that he isn't just using a plasma caster, and has more simplistic weapons such as his blades and spear. That being said, the film does give us some new weapons, such as a harpoon gun and a razor shield, which are extremely cool.
I've seen some criticism about the design of the creature, but have to say that for the most part I really liked it. The bio-mask is fantastic, and makes for one of the most unique looking Yautja designs we've ever had on screen. His body is slimmer than some of the others, and he has an almost sleek quality to him that works really well. Part of that might also come from his much thinner dreadlocks, which are more numerous than in previous creature designs. I think the biggest issue that some people have is with the face, and whilst it is definitely a different look to the classic it's not bad. People seem to want the same design over and over, with the differences being only in colouration, but we know the species has some big differences in them, and also, just look at people. Humans can have a huge range of different looking faces, so why not the Yautja? It's face isn't my favourite look for sure, but I'm not going to say it's bad by any means.
Another way that this film really stood out for me was in the visuals. Prey is easily the best looking film in the series. The environments that we get to see are absolutely stunning, with some amazing vistas and landscape shots that had me with my jaw dropped. And the stunning visuals aren't just for the big shots either, as the film seems to take the time to make every scene look impressive in some way. None of the scenes felt like they just turned up in a location with a camera and started shooting. It always felt like thought and attention was given to how to make it look its best at all times; and the results speak for themselves.
The music is also another area that impressed me. The first film is the only one in the series that really felt like it had much of a distinct audio identity. It had some strong music and an audio feel that would go on to be emulated and copied across the rest of the series, with the other films trying to sound similar at times, or just outright copying the score. Prey sounds different, it has music that feels grander in scope, that has emotion to it, and that compliments what's happening on screen, rather than just going 'this is a Predator movie, you can tell because it sounds like a Predator movie'. The film also has come cool audio tricks up its sleeve, like the entire feel of the sound in the scene changing when the characters extinguish their flaming torches and they plunge themselves into darkness. The entire soundscape alters, and you suddenly realise that the flickering, crackling of the flames had infected everything you were hearing, and only noticed when it was removed.
Prey also takes the time to make sure that it's being respectful of the Comanche people, and does a particularly good job at representing them well on screen thanks to the heavy involvement of native people both in front and behind the camera. The fact that you can also watch the film with a Comanche dub, where some of the scenes were even re-shot in Comanche, is amazing, and gives a great excuse to re-watch the movie. Not that much of an excuse is needed.
A lot of people are saying that this is the best film in the Predator series since the first one, and I cannot disagree with that. From a storytelling stance, from a visual perspective, to the acting, the editing, the visual effects, the music, everything here is better than any of the other sequels. This film is receiving high praise, and it very much deserves it. However, my spanner in the works for those sentiments is this, are we only saying it's the best since the original because nostalgia won't let us say anything is better than the first film? I love the first movie, it's one of my favourite films ever, and whilst Prey is not yet beating it for sheer love and favouritism (yet), I think that it is a better movie. It's objectively a better film, and I think people's blind love to the original is preventing a lot of people from saying the same.
Prey is an astonishingly good film. It's the best entry in the franchise, and my favourite film of the year. It's a shame that it wasn't released in cinemas, as I'd have loved to have seen it on the big screen; but perhaps if the critical reception and viewing figures are high enough Disney may choose to release it in cinemas later on. I hope they do, and I also hope that they look at the success of this and give us the sequel that's teased at the end, as well as other films set in different time periods that can take big chances like this did.
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