(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Prey)
Doug (vo): Well, this is a Fox film, Fox is owned by Disney, so...screw it. I can talk about this for Disneycember. And thank God, 'cause I had so many people over and over saying, "Have you seen Prey yet? Have you seen Prey yet?". And sadly, I couldn't get around to it, I was just too busy. But then, when I found out I could watch it for work, it finally gave me the opportunity. And before I begin, I should let you know, I have seen Predator and the Alien vs Predator movies...and no other Predator films. I like Predator, but I don't love it like I do, say, the Alien movies. Even the bad Alien movies, I want to see. So just bear that in mind, when I talk about this film, I'm not gonna be able to compare it too much to all the other sequels. With all that said, yep. Everybody's right. This movie's pretty badass.
Story and review[]
Doug (vo): This time, the Predator is attacking Earth during the 1700s. Instead of the military, it's a Comanche tribe. The story centers around a girl named Naru, a young hunter who's very much encouraged not to be a hunter. This could get very preachy very fast, but the film really balances this out well. You already know what the lesson here is gonna be, and they don't dwell on it. They give you just enough that you see what she's up against, and you're rooting for her. They're also really good at not making her annoyingly over her head like, say, Taran or Kayley, but they're also good at not making her so perfect, she's boring, like the remake of Mulan. You see why she wants to be a hunter, she's naturally very good at it and very inventive, but she doesn't know everything. She's just starting to enter this world, and anytime she makes a mistake, which there are quite a few, everybody rubs it in. But it's not overkill, that's literally what the Predator is for. Every time someone or something in some way seems to tell her she can't do it, it isn't treated like a strawman scenario or a soapbox, it's treated like an obstacle. This is a movie very much about hunting, and there are a lot of obstacles in hunting.
(Footage showing the climax in Alien vs. Predator is shown)
Doug (vo): At the end of Alien vs Predator, I found myself having a really good time, because it was just a Predator, a human, and an alien, and that's all they were doing. There was no talking, they were just hunting each other. And I love that, and I said I wish I had a movie of just that. This is kind of the closest we get.
(Footage focusing on the Comanche, the Fur Traders and the Predator is shown)
Doug (vo): I guess you could say the Fur Traders are kind of the aliens in this. And I won't lie, every time other characters came into this, I thought it was gonna hurt the film, because I did want it to just be her and the Predator. But it quickly dawned on me, then you couldn't see the Predator take out his prey in so many various ways. It is still a Predator movie, we want to see him take out people in a cool way, and he definitely does. But what I like is, there's the quote-unquote "primal way" of hunting with the Comanche, the quote-unquote "advanced way" of hunting with the Fur Traders, and then the even more advanced way of hunting with the Predator. I love that it's three different styles of hunters in this movie, and they all kind of learn from each other or don't learn from each other, and we see the advantages and disadvantages. We see how some evolve, we see how some devolve. I love seeing essentially these three different tribes work off each other.
(Footage focusing on Naru is shown)
Doug (vo): Naru's struggle is a great one, because she's not seen by the Predator as a threat. On the one hand, that kind of saves her life a lot. On the other hand, she's kinda pissed off, like that's the whole idea, she wants to be a hunter, she wants to be a threat. But the conclusion she comes to with that and the way she utilizes it as an advantage is so goddamn clever. I think taking a step backwards in time really makes sense, and I know prequels are everywhere and a lot of them aren't really that great. But by going back to a time period where the hunter and hunted were constantly in battle, and constantly switched up who was the hunter and the hunted, this was really an inspired choice.
(Footage focusing on the Predator is shown)
Doug (vo): The Predator himself also has a really cool design. I like it isn't just the exact same one we've seen in the other movies, it actually does look a little different, but you can still recognize it as a Predator.
(Footage focusing on various scenes involving the Comanche tribe is shown)
Doug (vo): Any problems I have in this are nitpicks. I'd say the first thing that stood out to me is kind of the more modern speech that everybody has. It isn't too distracting, but every once in a while, they'll have a line like, "Oh, he led us to dog shit" or "I got this". The majority of the dialogue is pretty timeless, so sections like this do really stand out. Even the way they say some of these lines feels a little modern. I don't know, Amber Midthunder--that's the actress that plays Naru--I did buy her performance, but there is something about her look and even her voice that just makes me think of more modern day Hollywood. And the way some of the other hunter boys talk in this kind of similar, they sound a little bit more like skaters than part of a tribe.
(Footage focusing on the CG effects is shown)
Doug (vo): I'll also say the CG is a little hit-and-miss, and there's one mistake that the Predator keeps making that just seems a little out of character for him. It has to do with the little three laser beams on his helmet. When you see the film, you'll know what I'm talking about, but he literally makes the same mistake twice, and it just doesn't seem like that matches for a hunter that's this advanced. But again, these are nitpicks.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): I mean, again, it's a Predator movie, there's supposed to be some kind of corny moments and things that don't always add up, you're mainly just there to see something that's really badass and root for the main character, and that's really what I do here. I was actually enjoying the story of this tribe so much, I kind of forgot for a little bit that it is a Predator movie. And I think a lot of that comes from not trying to hammer in a message, but rather get across a theme or an idea. Her family doesn't want her to hunt because she's really good at medicine and they don't think she's ready and they are concerned for her, it all comes from a place of love. So when you do see her stumble, you get where they're coming from, too, but when you see her overcome it, you just cheer her on even more. I've seen a lot of movies that goof up this hero's journey where they either make the character too strong or too weak, and this really finds that right balance. It's a great flick. Everybody's right. You should check it out. Honestly, seeing this really does make me want to check out the other Predator sequels I haven't seen yet, even the bad ones. If you haven't found this wonderful movie on streaming yet, do so. It's definitely worth the hunt.
(A scene showing the Predator in a cave is shown)