“If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It”: Prey (2022) Review
When it comes to the Predator franchise, most of the films don’t reach the highs of a movie like Aliens, but are more quality-consistent than the Alien franchise. Installments like Predator 2 still greatly expand the franchise’s world and storytelling possibilities. I’ve seen nearly all of the films, but Predators is the only one I saw in theaters and remember loving it a lot. I’ve always been disappointed that a couple of the sequels somewhat wasted the storytelling potential set up by the basic premise. Particularly, I’ve been wanting to see a period piece installment for a long time as there’s so many possibilities with the idea.
Completely living up to those possibilities, Prey is undoubtedly one of the best franchise comebacks in recent memory. In Prey, an 18th century young Native American woman named Naru (Amber Midthunder) attempts to prove herself as a hunter among her tribe as the Feral Predator (Dane DiLiegro) arrives on Earth to hunt.
Far and away, one of the absolute best things about the movie is Midthunder’s performance as Naru. I watched the Comanche dub first before watching the English version and it’s cool to see how she conveys different inflections with dialogue between the languages. Her biggest strength is really her silent facial expressions in crucial scenes, especially towards the end.
Considering how well Midthunder is able to hold her own and convincingly sell the character’s determination, it would be a shame not to see her in more action movies. I’ve seen other critics suggest she should get a role in something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I understand why. It would be cooler to see what she can do in a movie directed by Chad Stahelski of John Wick fame.
Throughout watching Prey, I was surprised to find out this is Dakota Beavers’ debut film. He does really good with his role as Taabe, Naru’s brother. The character type he plays as the achieving older sibling could’ve easily been portrayed as more arrogant and condescending like similar characters in other films. However, Beavers’ softer, empathetic inflections humanize Taabe and strengthens his characterization. The dialogue delivery between Midthunder and Beavers effectively depicts their characters’ sibling relationship.
DiLiegro’s body language as the Feral Predator, chiefly in the fight scenes, is amazing. He establishes three modes of predator body language in increasing intensity throughout Prey: very stiff, curious body movements, a hunter on the prowl vibe and faster, aggressive movements that portray the Feral Predator’s rage. Based on that level of commitment to the character alone, there’s no question DiLiegro will have a big career as a creature actor in the same vein as Doug Jones or Javier Botet. He apparently wants to play Jason Voorhees in a new Friday The 13th movie next and the studio working on that should get him for the role.
I rather enjoyed director Dan Trachtenberg’s previous film 10 Cloverfield Lane and he outdoes himself here in his work on Prey. I specifically liked how he directs the action scenes that depict the Feral Predator’s brutal ruthlessness in Prey’s second act.
Cinematographer Jeff Cutter’s stellar cinematography heightens these scenes in Prey, with natural lighting reminiscent of the cinematography in director Chloé Zhao’s films. The use of natural lighting really sells the period piece setting and the Great Northern Plains’ atmosphere. It’s the creative use of overhead shots though that stand out the most out of all of Prey’s cinematography. Prey’s many overhead shots are incredibly well done in establishing perspective and tension between the main characters and the Feral Predator. It’s also great how the cinematography balances warm and cool color tones to fit the scenes perfectly.
The film’s score by Sarah Schachner is effectively minimalist, with it being primarily strings-based in orchestration. I especially love the new take on the Predator theme that plays over Prey’s credits. In general, the use of music notes similar to Alan Silvestri’s iconic score from the original to accentuate the Feral Predator’s presence is a really ingenious move. I’ve read many social media posts stating the classic themes aren’t in Prey. The themes are definitely in Prey, just not orchestrated in the familiar style and used more like leitmotifs than being the full themes.
Really, the only criticism I have is that certain sequences strain the film’s budget. Mainly in scenes with CGI animals such as when Naru witnesses the Predator fighting an obviously CGI bear. CGI bears are extremely common in films for self-explanatory reasons, but the fur’s texture as water splashes on the bear is unconvincing. Hopefully, the presumed sequel’s budget becomes a lot bigger to properly depict a more complex conflict.
On the other hand, the practical effects by regular predator designers Amalgamated Dynamics that bring the Feral Predator to life are incredible. It’s really cool how the majority of the creature’s weapons are clearly practical props, sculpted to look familiar, though more primitive as well to account for the time period.
I love how the Feral Predator’s less advanced weapons this time around like the arrow-like bolt gun parallel the weapons Naru uses against him. It’s almost like Prey suggests the predator’s species is at a similar cultural level to the Comanche. I have no doubt the likely sequel will foreshadow the predators’ more familiar weapons like the plasma caster. The previous sequels like Predators and The Predator mainly used a bigger, meaner predator to flesh out their species, but the way Prey shows how time changes the predators really makes them creatively fresh again.
Taking into account the Feral Predator’s behavior and weapons, the worldbuilding made me question if the Alien Vs Predator films are still canon. The ancient predators in Alien Vs Predator look almost identical to the classic design compared to Prey. It could be explained that the predators in Alien Vs Predator’s flashback sequence were part of a more advanced clan than the one the Feral Predator is apart of. This could track since part of the point of Prey’s Feral Predator is to show how the diverse the predators could be, like multiple kinds of reptiles.
Prey opens the door for future franchise installments beyond this storyline to also be period pieces. A samurai-focused installment set in Japan’s Edo period has gotten a lot of buzz recently on social media, with Hiroyuki Sanada imagined as the hypothetical movie’s lead. That idea would be really cool if done as well as Prey.
Ultimately, Prey is the best Predator film since the original and a surprisingly really good streaming-exclusive movie. Prey proves way more horror franchises should follow suit with period pieces. I’m now really excited for a potential sequel and where the Predator franchise can go from Prey.
