A young Native American woman in the 1700s hunts down a vicious other-worldly predator terrorizing her tribe’s land. Or is it hunting her?
Prey proves that bigger isn’t always better. Though the sequels to the original Predator each try to one-up the last — most hilariously with the aptly named Predators — director Dan Trachtenberg does the exact opposite with his stripped-down period coming-of-age. He still keeps the fun energetic action that the franchise is known for — the eponymous predator retains all of its ridiculous and ever-advancing powers — but by setting it in the 1700s, the movie has to find innovative ways to keep the audience entertained — and it certainly does. Wrapped up in a poignant tale of female empowerment, Prey is a perfect popcorn blockbuster to turn your brain off to for a lean 90 minutes.
We’ve seen many long-running franchises return in the past few years with varying degrees of success. On one end of the spectrum, we had Scream, a celebration and satirization of the very thing that made the original film a classic. Then there was Texas Chain Saw Massacre where the only successful change in this modernized version was removing the word “the” from the title. The main problem with Massacre was the filmmakers’ — or studios — attempts to make the movie bigger and bloodier than its predecessors. Instead of the original’s relatively sparse plot and sending, it opted to bend itself to trendy sensibilities in horror resulting in a maximalist incoherent mess. Prey, a reboot of the long-running Predator franchise, does the exact opposite.
Prey doubles down on the original’s simple plot and characters and strips away any attempts at modernization. On the contrary, it sets the movie back in more primitive times.
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Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.
Just saw this movie last night..This was an awesome trailer it showed enough to make you want to see the movie but gave away very little of the actual movie. The movie was a thrill to watch. It was exciting from start to finish and a rollercoaster ride of adrenaline jolts with an ending that made you feel ten feet tall with satisfaction ..It’s a great ride. In addition, the Predator stuff was very cool and creative. I audibly laughed and grinned at some of the kills.