Sundaymail Editor
Film Review
Tinashe Kusema
READERS who have followed this column for the past decade probably know three things about me now. Firstly, I am a huge Marvel fan and unapologetically so.
Also, I hate prequels, reboots and belated sequels as they hardly do justice to the original and, quite frankly, are nothing more than a cheap ploy to milk the last dollar out of hugely successful films and television shows.
The third and most important thing to note is that I happen to be among the minority who believe that Kevin Hart should stop acting and stick to stand-up comedy. The guy basically plays the same character in every movie he appears and it is becoming a bit motonous.
While I generally do not like reboots, prequels and some of these belated sequels, there are exceptions to the loathing I have for the movie genres, and “Prey” is one of them.
Based on “The Predator” movie franchise, “Prey” takes us to the great plains of North America, in the year 1719, where we meet a young Comanche woman by the name of Naru (Amber Midthunder).
When we first meet this Comanche girl, she is on the cusp of adulthood. However, rather than go the traditional route and follow the footsteps of the women who came before her, she challenges the norm and sets about proving her worth as a hunter and tracker.
While on an expedition with her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) and other men of the village to hunt and kill a mountain lion said to be terrorising the village, Naru notices something.
She begins to suspect the presence of an unknown creature when they start coming across dead animals that have been meticulously killed. The creature is an alien predator that landed on the Comanche land a few nights earlier.
Naru decides to return to the forest after her brother kills the lion and the hunting party rescues a hunter who had been abducted.
It is here where Naru, and later the men of her village, square off against the alien.
There are a few things that make “Prey” stand out and more entertaining than other prequels out there.
For instance, the storyline is short and easy to follow. It does not rely on the strengths of source material such as Easter eggs, nods and references. They are few and far in between.
This is refreshing.
Women empowerment is at the forefront and this theme is well-handled.
Apart from the fact that the alien refuses to perceive the film’s heroine Naru as a threat, there are hardly any other examples of blatant misogyny in the film.
What makes it even better is that the alien’s prejudice is what inevitably leads to its undoing as Naru exploits this and finds a way to kill it.
The performances of the film’s leads, Midthunder (Naru) and Beavers (Taabe), are exceptional. They are what really drives this story-driven film.
The action is well-choreographed and suspenseful, while the computer-generated images are well done and add to the aesthetics of the film. If one is to have a grievance against the film, and this is me nit-picking here, then it is the fact that everyone seems to speak fluent English, which does not really go hand-in-hand with the setting of the film.
Fortunately, this takes nothing away from the movie. Besides, this is a fictional piece of literature and not a factual account, so 20th Century Fox gets a pass here.
Online Reporter