Prey

Boys are so dumb. And Predators are cool again. With themes that simple, how can you go wrong? It only took 25 years, but someone finally found a way to make a really good sequel to 1987's Predator. Set in the 18th Century, our protagonist is a Comanche healer (Amber Midthunder) who wants nothing more to become a hunter for the tribe like her brother (Dakota Beavers). Struggling to prove herself, Naru (Midthunder) will come across our Predator cutting a bloody swath through forest creatures, the disbelieving Comanche, and the scummy French fur-trappers before turning its attention on our young warrior.

Returning our hunter to a natural setting, and setting it in the past against those with far less complex weapons, while offering a compelling emotional story focused on the human stars proves to be just the recipe for what is easily the best sequel of the franchise.

Prey may not be as good as the original, but it's not too far off. Amber Midthunder is terrific as a smart, and consistently underestimated, character we can root for (of course that is made easier given every man in the film is somewhere on a scale of kinda crappy to complete monster). The forest setting also provides a callback to the jungles of the original movie with a twist, giving our Predator plenty of room to hunt.

With a running-time of 99 minutes, Prey doesn't overstay its welcome (although you could probably shave off some of the interactions with the French). Director Dan Trachtenberg, who also co-wrote the story, makes several smart decisions here allowing Prey find its own footing rather that attempt to one-up whatever the last Predator sequel did. The tense, character-driven story, set in nature both acts as a callback to the original and sets the stage for something more dramatic than we've seen from the franchise before. 

Watch the trailer

• Title: Prey (2022)
• IMDb: link