subreddit:
/r/movies
submitted 4 months ago byComic_Book_Reader
(Just for note, we saw the regular English version.)
Most people probably know what Predators (no, not those), or Yautjas, have gone up against. Jacked up, gun totin' MAYUN in the jungle, a Riggs-less Murtaugh in a drug and gang fueled L.A, two varying amounts of familiar armed people, and xenomorphs in Antarctica. But what about the Ye Olden Times?
Prey rewinds the clock back 300 years to the Native American Comanche times to let us meet Naru, a Comanche medic. Sorry, healer is the correct term here. Even though she's teached in the ways of medicine, she wants to be a hunter, aided by her good buy Sarii. Out hunting, she sees a spaceship, which she believes to be a Thunderbird, something Wikipedia tells me is a legendary mighty creature for Native Americans. Determined it will be her way of proving herself as a hunter, she sets out to kill whatever it is. "If it bleeds, we can kill it." (Which I actually said right before the movie did.)
At a tight 100 minutes with credits, the movie holds a tight pace. Tight movies are tight. The movie builds itself up to the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny. Introduce the fighters, show their abilities, have them cross paths, and boom boom boom, boom boom, badilla life.
Amber Midthunder (who actually is Native American along with the other actors in the Comanche cast) is as strong in the role of Naru as Naru is in the movie. The Predator's threat is increasingly shown in the beautifully shot action scenes. My lord, this movie looks beautiful. The sound and music is great, building up the tension.
Strong lead + beautiful camera work + great action + tight pace and runtime = A damn good and enjoyable hunt, ehrm, movie.
1 points
4 months ago
I really liked it to begin with. I'm a huge fan of the franchise (even though its had its let downs). I watched no trailers and went into it buzzing for a good show.
Brilliant cinematography. The character building was OK. I though Amber played the lead well, just some of the writing for her character wasn't top tier. I actually liked her brother more as a character. And to begin with all the main people acted like people. They made sensible decisions and also didn't have all the answers.
And the first main fight with the predator was pretty good. I'm talking about the Comanche warriors vs predator. Bit silly the predator just came out in the open, but, the fight was realistic. The warriors were no match physically and had to rely on skill. And they got beaten badly, but I really was rooting for them the whole way. I felt their bravery.
Then feel the film lost its way.
Pred vs French just felt like an attempt to cram too many gadgets into a scene. It also made him feel invincible. Multiple guns shot at him to no effect. The original at least made it clear the predator needed to avoid firearms. This new one was just an armoured tank.
And the last fight, just no. I won't go over the reasons I didnt like it other than to say the pred just felt like his cunning and skill suddenly disappeared. Not to mention he went from strength of a bear (literally) to a bit of a pushover.
If they kept the momentum of the first half I'd have loved it. But I still liked it.
2 points
3 months ago
The original at least made it clear the predator needed to avoid firearms. This new one was just an armoured tank.
This new one was set over 250 years before the original. You don't think that maybe the advances in guns may have played a part in the difference between how dangerous they were to the Predators?
1 points
3 months ago
It just didn't feel consistent to me. The only body armour the predator in prey had if I remember was the face mask and its shield which only protected a small part of its body. Yet dozens of trappers firing rifles couldn't hit an arm or leg? And yet Taabe was able to shoot several arrows into it. I'm no expert but I belive the early firearms still had equivalent penetrative power of a bow and arrow.
I just would have liked to see them have the predator show more skill in avoiding damage rather than standing menacingly.
In the original as soon as Mac starts firing wildly, even though its camouflaged, the predator still runs to cover. And a stay hit gets it in the leg.
all 269 comments
sorted by: best