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Review by E.C.McMullen Jr. |
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USA Release: AUG! 5, 2022 20th Century Studios Rating: USA: R |
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After 35 years the PREDATOR franchise suffers its first prequel.
Also its first Direct to TV movie.
I always go into a movie wanting to enjoy it, otherwise why waste my money? But movies that go direct to video or TV have an earned reputation of being lackluster or mediocre. The unexpected jewels like DUEL, ALIEN RAIDERS, or ALTERED are rare and wonderful, but first and foremost, they're rare.
The poster announces, From The Director of 10 Cloverfield Lane.
That would be Dan Trachtenberg, who did well with that movie and made his mark on many of us with his short film, PORTAL: NO ESCAPE.
So with Dan's only action film being a slow-boiling (even for a short film) cgi action movie, a handful of one-off single episodes of different TV shows, and with his only feature film being a non-action film, Dan was a bit of a risk to take something like the PREDATOR franchise on as both a Director and co-writer - along with co-writer Patrick Aison (WAYWARD PINES [TV]).
So how did he do?
Well, basically,
Dan Fucking Rocked It!
Most studio suit Horror movies don't start out out slow, but with a rapid fire 5 minute gotcha: An action-packed prologue ranging anywhere from two to ten minutes (the longer they are the worse they are), that's supposed to keep us cabbage head rubes in our seats while the next 20 to 30 minutes of movie are dedicated to slow character development.
Of course, Steven Spielberg is the king of the 5 minute Gotcha and opens nearly every one of his movies this way. But all of his gotchas set up the rest of the movie. Every single thing that happens next is as a direct result of his 5 minute Gotcha.
Young woman runs from a beach party and into the ocean at night? Her body is found the next day and Chief Brodey is hunting for a shark (JAWS).
Man is devoured while other workers are desperately trying to put a dangerous animal inside a walled off area that has a banner overhead that reads JURASSIC PARK? Wealthy park owner Hammond goes to get the best paleontologist on his payroll to protect him from nervous investors and the insurance company and were off to see the park.
Others who try to imitate this, often fail and this is particularly true for Horror movies.
The long-legged classics of Horror either started off slow and drew you in (DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN, KING KONG, GODZILLA, PSYCHO, THE BIRDS, THE HAUNTING, THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE EXORCIST, THE OMEN, ALIEN, THE SHINING, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, GREMLINS, SEVEN, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, 28 DAYS LATER),
Or the Gotcha is the inciting incident that directly causes the rest of the movie - within hours or days (Stephen Spielberg nearly everything, also MAD MAX, THE HOWLING, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, CHILD'S PLAY, THE LOST BOYS, TREMORS, HELLRAISER, THE MATRIX, RINGU and THE RING, FINAL DESTINATION, SAW)
Or there is no Gotcha and the movie starts right off with the action (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, CARRIE, ALTERED STATES, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE THING, THE FLY, PREDATOR, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN).
When you're talking about a sequel, that's a different beast. It's standard story telling practice to get the audience up to speed - as quickly as possible - on what happened in the previous tale that leads to where we are now.
PREDATOR movies never do this. Like James Bond or Indiana Jones movies, each PREDATOR is not a story arc, but a stand-alone, self-contained movie that doesn't require the audience having seen the first movie or needing a brief five to ten minute catch-up. It's not sequel but serial - there's a difference.
So if PREY is the first time you've ever seen a PREDATOR movie, no fear. Dan has got you and this movie starts slow and draws you in.
This tale starts off in the cold Northwest around 1722. The native peoples there are presumably warrior tribe Comanche (historically inaccurate but what Hollywood movie isn't?). They dress warm, hunt, search for tubers, and like many warrior tribes, they probably prey on agrarian tribes whenever they come across them. There's nothing permanent appearing about their homes. They're travelers or nomads.
Also, we never see them attack peaceful farming tribes as that would wreck the audience's compassion for them. At that point we'd want the Predator to kick their asses.
But yes, Warrior tribes called themselves Warriors for a reason and there was only one way you got to be a Great Warrior as opposed to a Great Hunter or a Great Chef.
Naru (Amber Midthunder: DEADLY SPECIES, NOT FORGOTTEN, 14 CAMERAS, ONLY MINE, LEGION [TV], ROSWELL NEW MEXICO [TV]) is the youngest child of Aruka (Michelle Thrush: THE DARK WIND, THE NORTHLANDER, PARALLEL MINDS). Her brother is Taabe (Dakota Beavers). From her Mother Aruka, Naru is a creative artist who knows her plants - food and medicinal - and knows how to search for signs on the ground that will lead her to root plants, like tubers, for food. From her brother, who hangs with the Chief's son and goes out on hunting parties or alone, she learns about hunting and how important it is to the tribe both for food and defense.
Naru wants to learn the hunt and her one keen skill, ground searching for clues in nature, has led to her to also being a great tracker. But being a great tracker isn't enough to kill her prey. She also needs to develop her skill with weapons.
Like any teenager Naru is at the age of independence, and carefully navigates between the Mother and Brother she loves, and the destiny she feels is hers.
It's a difficult path at the best of times, made worse by a primitive tribe where there are no other women who will support or understand her, and everyone wants to stand in her way.
What a time for an alien to drop out of the sky!
But that's exactly what happens and this alien Predator is taking his two weeks vacation (don't ask me how long a day or week is on the Predator's homeworld - the franchise hasn't got that far) to go trophy hunting on earth.
This Predator (Dane DiLiegro) operates a bit unlike all previous Predators we've seen so far and, because this takes place centuries before the previous movies, this varmint may be the first to hunt here. At least until the next Predator movie has their hunter crossing technologically advanced scimitars in ancient Persia or spears with the Mongol Hordes.
This predator's weapons and particularly camouflage are slightly primitive to the ones we've seen in the 20th and 21st century. Then again it's hard to tell how far advanced they actually are. When they hunt, their tech is only a few decades ahead of ours. But as they hop from planet to planet they appear to have Faster Than Light drives, travel through what could be space wormholes (as opposed to the worm holes we have on earth. Y'know, the ones made by worms?) and drill through solid rock as if drinking a warm milkshake through a straw. In short, like bow hunters and fly fishers, they intentionally limit their tech to increase the "Sporting" fun of hunting.
In PREY, this predator seems content to collect rattlesnake and wolf skulls. Its seen the Comanche people of Naru's tribe going through the woods, digging up roots and picking flowers. Predator sees but is uninterested. This hunting vacation is something of a bust.
Then the Predator sees Taabe go into the woods alone, track, attack, and kill a powerful mountain lion that's been preying on the tribe.
Wait! Some of these creatures are dangerous?
Now the Predator is interested and watches for the next group of hunters to enter the forest.
What happens next, unfortunately, is one of the Comanches gets snagged by a steel trap. Soon Naru discovers a field of dead buffalo, all skinned and their bodies left to rot. One buffalo could feed her tribe for weeks, but these were all shot with a single bullet to the head and discarded. There are French hunters in the area who are collecting pelts and are concerned about nothing else.
Once the tribal folk are gone, the Predator picks up a rifle shell, sees the hole in a buffalo's head, makes the connection, and suddenly this trophy hunting trip is on!
From here on in, it's all the thrill, suspense, tension, and Horror of the best PREDATOR movies. And like the best PREDATOR movies, it takes us to a new local both geographically and in time.
Yes, previous PREDATOR movies showed us how these aliens operate best in hot summers. But adding ALIEN VS PREDATOR to the mix, they've no problem bundling up and hitting the Arctic Antarctic. Like humans they hunt in the tropics or arctics. This particular Predator alien is going practically buck nekkid in the frosty foggy air, so it is really down for the Sport of the hunt.
Producer John Davis (FORTRESS, PAYCHECK, I, ROBOT, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, CHRONICLE, VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN), who helped launch the franchise from the first 1987 PREDATOR and has been the steward of them all, wanted a movie that could stand with the mystery, atmosphere, and bloody action of the first.
Speaking of stand alone movies, I'm a fan of nearly all of the PREDATOR movies so what didn't work for me may have no effect on you.
My expectations for DtV PREY weren't high, so you can imagine my delight at the unexpected fun of seeing this.
In PREDATOR and PREDATOR 2, there were non-English speaking people who spoke their own language to each other. If there was no translator nearby, tough. The audience had to deal with it and the movie was made in such a way that it slowed nothing down. In fact, the first PREDATOR had little dialogue and plenty of silent action, which was entirely cool.
So when I'm plopped into a story that takes place in the early 1700s among a tribe of native peoples that have only a cursory knowledge of white people and no knowledge of English speaking people, yet they are all speaking English to each other, AND keep popping in and out of English and their native language to describe a thing,
"Naru, you must earn your UKTU!"
"No way, Dude! I'll just ROCHAMBEAU you for it!"
For me it kept drawing attention to the fact that they shouldn't be speaking English at all. I felt like half the time they could have (and in some cases should have) spoke in a silent sign language that would be obvious in the heat of the moment (like we saw throughout the first PREDATOR) and, when it was absolutely necessary, have subtitles.
Also, there is a moment when Naru tells off a French fur trapper, her longest monologue in the movie. Yet while we're hearing it in English, we know she's really saying it in her 16th century Comanche language and in either case, the French hunter doesn't understand either language, so is probably wondering why this bitch is wasting her breath monologuing.
What makes this worse is the following part of the movie that's at its best, and so throws the previous into stark relief. All of the French hunters only speak French, and they speak a lot of it to each other with none of it translated or subtitled. Yet Dan's direction and their acting makes it pretty clear that whatever the hell they're talking about, it doesn't bode well for Naru.
Again, these inconsistent moments kept jerking me out of the movie, but it wasn't enough to kill it for me. When PREY hits the stores, I'm buying it!
I agree with those who say, PREY may be the best PREDATOR movie since the first!
Four Shriek Girls!
This review copyright 2022 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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