Direction: Dan Trachtenberg
Country: USA
10 Cloverfield Lane’s director, Dan Trachtenberg, proposes a prequel to the first four installments of The Predator franchise. Although he doesn’t properly innovate in Prey, he also doesn’t complicate, embracing narrative straightforwardness and modernizing through spectacular imagery and effects.
The conventional yet functional screenplay by Patrick Aison takes us to the 18th-century Great Plains, describing the feminist conquest by Naru (Amber Midthunder), a relentless and brave young Comanche warrior who wants to prove to her family and tribe that, like her acknowledged brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers), she’s ready for big hunts. She tracks down no lion but a horrific alien predator (Dane DiLiegro) armed with technically advanced weaponry.
This sci-fi horror action flick is exactly what you think it’s going to be, nothing more, and certainly nothing less. It doesn’t aim high, but from a rhythmic point of view the film never stops; it’s brisk in the moves and the director, showing off a luster for filming handsome, explores the possibilities of his story with technical accuracy.
Flawed as it is, with a minimal narrative and a charismatic heroine, Prey is a suitable entertainment for a Sunday afternoon, doing simpler but better than those previous spinoffs and turgid sequels such as Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), and The Predator (2018).
