Review of Prey (2022) by Tetrumo — 05 Aug 2022

It manages to be just barely better than the 2018 film, but that's not saying much. First off, the film is woke. All the men of the tribe are incredibly dumb, to the point that it's insulting. Heck, there are trappers that appear halfway through, and they more intelligent than the Indians - which doubles the insult.

The protagonist's brother is only 'smart' when it suits the story, and in all other areas he is nearly as dumb as the other men. Speaking of the protagonist, she runs away from fights way too much and doesn’t even try to engage at key moments.

I get they were trying to go for the 'coming of age' story, but they've failed. She is simultaneously stronger than everyone and yet weaker than everyone - and I'm talking about her will, not her physical strength.

The film actually gets her physical strength right, which is saying something for Hollywood. She can't win on strength alone and most of her fights are not won by simply overpowering her opponents. It's one of the few highlights of the film.

There is supposed to be a big reveal towards the end of the film, I'll leave that out of this review, but needless to say it is probably the wokest part of all. You'll know it when, or if, you see it.

The Predator is another part of the film that was done very well, especially in its arsenal. I was worried at first when I found out the Predator would be using more 'primitive' weapons, but they're actually pretty awesome and work well within the setting.

I also like the look of Predator's armor, the incorporated bone is a really nice touch. This film would have been an absolute failure, ridiculed to high heaven, if the Predator was not done right. I'd say the only thing to critique about it would be that it bleeds just a little too often.

The fights in this film, as I alluded to earlier, are pretty good. I can't say there is anything particularly bad about them. The final fight with the Predator is great, and I like how it was done. The Protagonist does not try to use her physical strength, as she is a woman and naturally weaker.

She uses her brain, and I like that. Though I will say that I wish some of the characters would have lasted a little longer. The very last scene leaves a little to be desired, because, again, wokeness plagues this film.

Overall, the film suffers from several inconsistencies and wokeness, which bring down the film's score considerably. There are references to the first two films, and both feel out of place. One of the two references doesn't even make any sense.

A lot of this film could be fixed by simply changing the dialogue in several places, and it would have made the film way better. Unfortunately, this is yet another franchise sacrificed at the alter of wokeness.

Which is a shame, because underneath all the crap is a great film, that will never see the light of day.