6 minute read
‘Prey’ Could be the Best ‘Predator’ Movie
from Sunday Signal 081422
by Signal
ENTERTAINMENT
By Richard Roeper
Signal Contributing Writer
(out of four) 20th Century Studios presents a film directed by Dan Trachtenberg and written by Patrick Aison. Hulu.
We might be damning “Prey” with faint or should we say semi-invisible praise by saying it’s the best “Predator” movie since the original. The testosterone-fueled, “Get to the choppa!” B-movie classic of 1987 was followed by a series of forgettable sequels that reached a nadir with the execrable “Alien vs. Predator” (2004) and the somehow even worse “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem” (2007), but this IS the best entry in the franchise since the first one.
Against all odds, we actually find ourselves looking forward to another “Predator” movie — if it’s a direct sequel to this chapter, and it features the return of Amber Midthunder, who gives a captivating, live-wire of a performance as the driving force of the story.
With a strong script that features terrific action and economically efficient dialogue from Patrick Aison and crisp direction by Dan Trachtenberg (who’s now two-for-two in the “There’s Something Out There!” genre after his debut with “10 Cloverfield Lane” in 2016), “Prey” is a deep cut of a prequel, set in the Comanche Nation in the Great Plains in 1719.
“A long time ago, it is said, a monster came here,” says Midthunder’s Naru, an independent spirit who shreds movie that has us genuinely worrying that even the dog might not make it to the end. One of the most intense sequences involves an enormous bear who is about to gobble up Naru when you-know-who shows up.
And while the chief antagonist is indeed the Predator (played by Dane DiLiegro) in all his metallic-fingered, dreadlocked, translucent and monstrous glory, he’s just a Predator doing what a Predator is programmed to do — unlike a group of vicious, sadistic and ruthless French fur trappers, who take sick delight in their violence, whether it’s against animals or humans. As much as we’re rooting for Naru to take down the Predator, there’s possibly even more satisfaction to be had when she has to outwit and outfight those rotten trappers.
Time and again, Naru is underestimated — by her tribe, including her own family members; by those twisted and violent fur trappers; by animals in the wild and by the Preda-
tor, who at times seems indifferent to Naru, perhaps because she’s a woman, perhaps because she has no firepower of any kind, just a hatchet and a bow and arrow, and her guile. How can one teenage girl hope to take down this enormous, often invisible, ferocious, emotionally intelligent extraterrestrial being with a wide array of weapons at its disposal? Let’s just say “Prey” comes up with ingenious ways to even the odds. Just a few weeks ago, we saw Laemmle Theatres • Santa Clarita Signal Midthunder give an authentic, im3col (4.75”) x 5.9” pactful, moving performance as a very modern 24-year-old in the gripAd insertion date: ping romantic drama “The Wheel.” Ad creation/delivery date: With her blazing screen presence in “Prey” -- moving with athletic grace through the wild, delivering her lines with power and wit and style — there’s little doubt we are witnessing the ascension of a true star. Copyright 2022 Chicago Sun-Times
Tuesday,August 9, 2022 at 11:28:16 AM CASCS _ LEM0814-0818.qxp
has honed her tracking, hunting and healing skills on her own, much to the amusement and sometimes derision of the male-dominated tribe, including her older brother, Taabe (Dakota Beavers), who is clearly protective of his sister and keeps insisting she’s not ready to go out on her first hunt and might never be prepared for all the dangers lurking in the wild.
“Why do you want to hunt?” says Naru’s mother, Aruka (Michelle Thrush).
“Because you all think I can’t!” comes the fast reply. (At times it feels as if Naru could be a live-action character in a forward-thinking Disney Sadventure — if that adventure included a giant killing being from the planunday-Thursday,August 14-18, 2022 et Yautja Prime.)
After a little foreshadowing involving some semi-cheesy, 1990s-level special effects that announce something wicked this way flies, with cinematographer Jeff Cutter contributing some terrific overhead shots, we’re plunged into a typical horror-movie storyline, with Naru the only one in the Comanche Nation who believes the tracks they’re finding are too big for a bear, and the carnage they’re discovering is too horrific to be TM NEWHALL caused by lions. After all, Naru is just a silly teenage girl, and the men are 22500 Lyons Ave. info Line 310.478.3836 skilled and fearless warriors! “Prey” features a number of Bringing the Finest in Film to the SCV! pulse-pounding set pieces, as when EMILY THE CRIMINAL E Sun: 1:20 4:20 7:20; Mon: 1:20 4:20; Tue: 4:20 7:20; Naru literally finds herself up a tree Wed & Thu: 1:20 4:20 7:20 and facing a lion, or when she is plunged into a pit of quicksand (!) and has to come up with an ingeEmily is saddled with student debt and locked out by the quick cash and illicit thrills of black-market MACK & RITA C 1:30 7:30 A disillusioned 30-something who is exhausted by of the job market due to a minor criminal record. Emily soon finds herself seduced capitalism, and increasingly interested in her mentor Youcef. societal demands and wishes to be comfortable in her skin like her grandmother. nious means of escape. Time and While at her best friend’s party, she stumbles into a “sound bath regression pod”and emerges as a 70-year-old again, Naru and her loyal dog escape BODIES BODIES BODIES E 1:00 3:15 5:30 7:45 danger, but this is the kind of rip-to- When funny a lo group of ok at bac rich 20-someth kstabbing, fake ings plan a friends, an h d urricane one part party y gon at a re e very, mote very family wrong. mansion, a party game turns deadly in this fresh and
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