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Yeah, I know it's surprising that there's someone who hadn't seen prey until now. I read y'all reviews and of course it really sparked my interest but I didn't get the chance to watch until today. Prey is a prequel of the franchise Predator and one must wonder why they had to take it to the native tribe. Since the creation of predators, a warrior tribe that finds glory in seeking out battles and testing their strengths with worthy opponents, there's been a lot of other movies based off of this creatures and it's normal to see copies of whatever becomes a success.
The movie industry is loosing a lot of originality nowadays, and you tend to see current movies which adapt the same story line of older movies and most times it tends to flop. That's what kept me a little skeptical about how well this movie would turn out. Since the creation of Predator, I think I was chanced to see Predator 2 and the Alien and Predator movie and I was quite young at that period but I can remember being decent movies at that time. Coming back with a fifth movie could have been a bit risky because most times movies tend to go out of context after their first two sequels and it kills the whole sense of the movie but with the way this one was created, each movie is unique enough to exist on its own.
Prey
What gives this movie a certain originality was the native setting, director Dan Trachtenberg and writter Patrick Aison didn't just bring back the predator but they took him to a time when native tribes used arrows and other crude weapons and a time when it took a lot of skill to use a gun. Like the movie Apocalypto this native setting gives you a certain chill fill, you want to see how well they can thrive against an antagonist who has a lot of sophisticated weapons.
The movie starts off by showing a Comanche tribe that thrives on hunting in 1719 in the Great Plains and the forest has come to be part of their life. Hunting is the only way to ensure they have food and survive the harsh realities of their environment. Then it points the light on Naru played by Amber Midthunder. I think no one can actually question Amber's role in this movie because she played the determined girl who wants to prove everyone wrong really well. Trained as an healer, she believes she can be a skilled hunter like her brother Taabe played by Dakota Beavers.
It starts to take form when she starts to see strange things in the sky and unlike the others she's lot more observant and pay attention to detail. We'll see that a lot later when the hunter eventually becomes the hunted. The movie builds up slowly and at each stage they show the weaknesses of Naru, surely not a worthy opponent to face a predator. She faces a lion and almost gets herself killed and still faces the situation where nobody believes her when she tries to point out that there's a bigger danger coming, one more dangerous than a lion.
Out of frustration, she goes into the forest by herself to look for clues and also to hunt down this new threat. I would have been worried at this point that they'll mess the story up but I would say that it just didn't go as I predicted. She actually encounters the predator more than once and is lucky to escape on there rare occasions, these encounters give her an edge as she notices a thing or two about this strange creature.
I like how the movie moved from Naru being in danger to her being in more danger when she's captured. All the while it just keeps setting her up for the big hunt that's coming and we see that take place eventually after her brother enters the picture again.
My take on the movie
For a movie which didn't star many popular A-list actors, it did pretty well. The casts Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp, Julian Black Antelope, Bennett Taylor had to be really natural to make the whole setting look real and they did try to a large extent and I loved how they mixed their native language with a blend of the English language, gave it that South African feel of originality.
Most movies however, even with a good story don't have the resources or the right directing to pull it off really well. But this one was an exception, first off, a lot of us ignore the dog but I think the dog was actually a big part of the success of the movie. Apart from create a companion for the protagonist, the dog's character was really well developed and you can see how vital his role was throughout the movie. I think Naru's strongest weapon wasn't her axe, it was having her dog by her side. They were able to make us see how amazing the relationship between a pet and it's owner can be
Then the setting wouldn't have come alive if the whole colors didn't blend with the surrounding. The colors reflected a lot of the existing situation, with really bright colors showing their feelings and danger came with a lot more darker color. It made the movie come out really well and especially the sound track. Action movies like these thrive on how good the sounds can be. Every slight movement, buzzing of the flies, the scared voices of the animals and the beating of someone's heart adds the more suspense to the movie and I must say the nailed it.
What I must say I enjoy the most was how gruesome the killings were. It just showed us how much danger lies in the forest, and I don't know how they were able to pull it off but the CGI was top notch and each animal they used came out very real. That originality and the fighting scenes, shattering of bones and the spill of blood is what I look out for. The ending was a little fast so I had to go back each time so I wouldn't miss any action. From a scratch to another scratch and a blow, I wanted to see it all.
I wouldn't say it was a perfect movie, they were moments when the sound didn't quite depict the action being performed or they over-exaggerated it too much. Some of the action too was a little too cliche. But it's normal for any movie, so I can say there's room for improvement. I'll give this one a rating of 8 out of 10 and strongly recommend you to see it if you havn't.
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