Cinematographer Jeff Cutter gorgeously and harrowingly accents predatory instincts reminiscent to Jaws, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and-picturesquely-the live-action The Lion King. The uncomplicated pleasures of Predator fight sequences shine on the merits of combat and combat alone. Given how we’ve seen Predators mutilate their way through law enforcement, military soldiers and Xenomorph enemies on repeat, the parallels between Predator culture and Native American traditions is slick connective tissue. There’s a scene between Naru and the French that gets a little wonky, with characters speaking through “translations” in the English version, but outside this understandably weird situation (American markets might pass on subtitles), Trachtenberg spotlights Comanche authenticity.Īnd it’s this environmental freshness that is Prey’s secret weapon. extraterrestrial), but that doesn’t bridge the extraordinary gap between Naru and her bug-ugly foe-which only enhances her uphill journey. There are technology downgrades on both sides (human vs. This 300-year-old action thriller is still intensely heart-pounding despite arrows and axes being the Comanche’s only weapons against an earlier-era Predator. Almost the entire cast is Native and First Nation talent, and a Comanche dub will be available to the public upon release composer Sarah Schachner beats rapturous rhythms backed by incensed howls and war cries that embolden the atmosphere. Trachtenberg’s attention to period details-from French fur trappers to Comanche combat strategies-favors originality. Trachtenberg humbly honors bloodthirsty and bone-crushing Predator mechanics while fiercely challenging the same genre norms Naru faces in Comanche Nation. Naru’s cunning and tracking skills are paramount to her success, as are her helpful allies in Taabe or timely distractions from other more dispensable Comanche search parties. Trachtenberg never shies away from heavy-handed representation strides, but it’s neither forceful nor disingenuous. Aison’s story is about insatiable determination, about not letting others dictate your fate and readapting Predator from the reverse empowerment of macho dudes-which flexes similarly entertaining muscles. Naru challenges her tribe’s adherence to domesticated roles, where men collect meat and women stoke fires under pots. ![]() Let’s not pretend Prey is a subtle war waged against gender norms. Only Naru can protect her family and tribespeople from the unknown Yautja threat since no one will listen, which will be the warrior-wannabe’s ultimate test. Naru’s chance to defeat a lion (thanks to Taabe) and earn her warrior’s rite of passage fails when a Predator’s alien technology distracts from afar-which no one believes. ![]() She’s dismissed by most for her gender, but not by Taabe. Taabe (Dakota Beavers) leads other boys on hunts while his sister Naru (Amber Midthunder) practices her deadliest skills in secrecy. Set in the Northern Great Plains of 1719, Prey pits a Predator challenging any species’ alphas-wolves, bears, people-against a Comanche tribe. Trachtenberg understands what Predator fans crave, and executes without mercy. There’s nothing wrong with going bigger, but there’s always been something missing in previous Predator continuations that get preoccupied elsewhere. There’s nothing scarier than the laws of natural hierarchies on display in their most elemental forms, and that’s what Prey recognizes with menacing regard. ![]() With brutal ease, writer Patrick Aison translates Predator codes to hunter-gatherer dichotomies in Native American cultures. ![]() The basics of Predator cinema boil down to skull trophies and rival combat, but most of all, the thrill of an uninterrupted hunt. Filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator prequel Prey succeeds by daring to embrace what prior sequels did not: Simplicity.
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