Prey
Prey is streaming on Hulu at the time of writing.
STORY: A-
Sometimes restaurants try to dazzle you with a humongous menu, offering a kaleidoscope of foodie delights.
Santiago’s is not that restaurant. Located in Denver, Colorado, Santiago’s makes breakfast burritos. Mouthwatering, perfect breakfast burritos. They must have other things on the menu, but I honestly can’t tell you what they are. Everybody goes there for the breakfast burritos. They don't try to do too much. They do one thing, and they do it near flawlessly.
The same thing can be said about Prey. Prey’s one item on its menu is Predator vs. Humans. The humans are, in this case, the Comanche tribe of the early 1700’s. Sure, Prey offers other stuff - good stuff that you’ll enjoy. But Prey knows people click on it for one reason. And like Santiago’s, it delivers.
ACTING: B
Most of the cast does a fine job. They neither elevate or diminish the movie. There’s obvious talent involved in Dane DiLiego’s performance as the Predator. I know I certainly couldn’t do it. But I find it hard to rate this type of performance.
Amber Midthunder is tremendous as Naru. She lives in a strict culture, where each gender has their defined roles. On one hand, she’s completely discouraged and angry. But she also loves her culture. Midthunder, like many great actors, is able to communicate those two opposite feelings seamlessly and genuinely.
Naru’s brother Taabe (played by Dakota Beavers) delivers a solid performance. His best moments are beside Naru. They capture both the volatile chemistry and the unbreakable bonds of siblinghood.
FILM NERD STUFF: B+
I lived in Colorado for 13 years. In addition to boasting unbelievable breakfast burritos, Colorado has some of the most stunning natural beauty on the planet. It seems you could close your eyes, point your phone in any direction, and take a breathtakingly gorgeous picture. Most of my own photographs prove that idea is false.
It’s not easy to take the beauty you see with your eyes and make it look great on screen. Director Dan Trachtenberg and cinematographer Jeff Cutter just make it look easy. Every second of Ptey’s 99 minutes looks stunning. The way the film looks affects us in many ways. It transports us from our couch to the high plains mountains. It helps us understand who these characters are, how they live, and what tools they possess to kill the monster. It makes a made-up, ridiculous story feel real.
NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY (Elective Class): A-
High school in the 80’s taught me very little about Native American society. I left school believing they were mostly a peaceful people. I learned they primarily grew corn (which they called “maize”). The men hunted buffalo (and used every part of it). The women weaved baskets and cooked the food (and every single one of them was totally ok with this because that’s just the way things were back then).
Naru is determined, defiant, and a bit of a snarkasaurus. Nobody taught me snark existed back in those days (that’s probably because a society without snark is a society that doesn’t complain, which makes the bloody conquest of their people easier for schoolchildren to internalize, but anyway …)
We’ll never know if snark existed back in those days. But why wouldn’t it have? Why wouldn’t complaining have occurred? Or dissatisfaction with the status quo? Many women likely did prefer the more domestic tasks, but there had to have been just as many who didn’t. Naru’s snarky objections may not seem “right” to you, based on what and how you've learned about history. But in a way, they also feel completely natural. They’re a reminder that every person you study in history was/is a person. Just like you. Just like me. It’s weird (and sad, really) that a movie about an alien killing Native Americans teaches me more about the experience of being Native American than anything I learned in school.
FINAL COMMENTS:
Like any good restaurant, Prey knows why we’ve walked through the door and sat down at a table. We’re here for the ingenious ways Predator murders folks. We’re here for the point in the story where all seems hopeless for the human race. We’re here for the humans finally out-clevering the deadly alien in the end. It’s a blast of a movie. Even though it’s got more on the menu, Prey never pretends to be something it’s not. Its authenticity demands your attention. Its quality keeps it. Fans of action films will surely offer up a chef’s kiss at the end.