(2022) Prey - The Prequel to Predator Movies with a Simpler Story but Enough Excitement

I was aware of this movie when I saw it in the Coming Soon section of Disney+ and found out later that it was a prequel to Predator franchise. Since I like this sort of movies, I was definitely interested and gave it a try on Monday (not sure though when it was actually released on Disney+). Anyway, we'll get right to the movie then.

Brief Story Line

Set in the year 1719, a young Comanche woman named Naru (Amber Midthunder - The Ice Road, Roswell, New Mexico TV series etc) wanted to become a warrior even though she was actually trained to be a healer by her mother Aruka (Michelle Thrush - Blackstone TV series etc). When a lion attacked her village, Naru joined her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) and other hunters to hunt despite their objection.

While hunting the lion with the rest of the tribe people, Naru noticed there was something bigger than even a bear and she decided to hunt it by herself, without knowing that it was actually an alien Predator (Basketball player Dane DiLiegro).

So what would happen to Naru? You can find them all in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Since I already know that this is a Predator movie, my main anticipation was definitely waiting for the Predator to arrive and start wreaking havoc. At first though, the story focused on the lead character Naru who was of Native American descent (though I am not sure if she is a Comanche tribe). Anyway her character was shown as a strong willed woman who was not satisfied of becoming traditional healer and wanted to be just like her brother the hunter. And as the movie progressed, it became very clear that the story would have the ultimate showdown between Naru and the Predator.

This new (or old since it happened in 1719?) Predator was shown to be quite similar with the predators from previous movies. Except obviously the special effects were better than the older ones. But his characteristic remained the same, i.e. vicious, powerful, very fast and a constant danger to the people, although his weaponry might be less sophisticated. It was entertaining to watch him hunting and at some point in time being hunted as well. In general, these were the moments that excited me.

As a Predator movie, I felt this to be having the same formula as the other films. But what set it apart was the main protagonist was a single female and it has a simple enough story but quite engaging character. Which is probably the reason this one got a much better rating than the previous movies. It has a duration of 100 minutes with an interesting enough climax. The movie was directed by Dan Trachtenberg whose other works were 10 Cloverfield Lane and the pilot episode of The Boys which were highly regarded as well. So he definitely knew what he was doing. Btw, there was no mid or post end credit scene, but during the closing credit you can see something interesting from the pictures on the wall of the cave.

Overall to me this was a pretty entertaining action sci-fi movie. It has some nice action though not an absolutely spectacular kind. The formula was almost the same like in the preceding movies and a much improved story compared to the 2018 The Predator. So if you are a fan of the franchise, you can certainly give this one a try and likely you would enjoy it. But if you have not seen a Predator movie, I think you need to at least watch the original 1984 that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger to give you better perspective. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars