The advent of a revival for the legendary Predator in Predator: Prey – 97%, already available exclusively through Star +, has bequeathed us, above all, expectations. Nostalgia, which takes us back to Predator – 
78%, Predators – 64% and Predator 2 – 25%, makes the franchise – which you can see in its entirety on Star+ – one of the most beloved in space horror, with a great character, an intriguing premise and a graphic proposal that has even invaded Batman himself and his Gothic, with some illustrious stories to its credit.
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The Predator Adventure: The Prey – 97% is told from a female point of view with a female protagonist, back in the early 18th century. The film, which can be interpreted as a prequel to the film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is set in the Comanche Nation 300 years ago, which means, as we will see in the film, that the alien’s advanced technology still has some details to resolve. .
The central story centers around Naru (Amber Midthunder), a fierce warrior who has been raised with some of the Great Plains’ most legendary hunters. The prey he stalks and ultimately faces turns out to be a highly evolved alien with a technologically advanced arsenal, resulting in a bloody and terrifying showdown between the two adversaries, with tons of action and limbs flying around. airs.
This film introduces us to the Predator’s origin story in the world of the Comanche nation some 300 years ago. There, Naru (Midthunder) fights to protect his tribe against one of the first highly evolved predators to land on Earth. The Yautja, the biological name of the species, come down to the planet to hunt humans for sport, traveling the galaxy in search of prey worthy of their skills. The film features the participation of Comanche Native Americans and can be heard in this centuries-old language.
If the first Predator movie works as a horror movie, Predator: Prey – 97% can go back to those sci-fi horror roots with an excess of action and combat that mixes war premises with hunter psychologies. The director, as can be seen, takes up an episode and a time when nature was a primordial and unborn mystery in culture, not an exploitable resource. Give it a feminine touch, a reaction to danger with the strategy of retribution that can only be achieved by changing the optics.
In addition, here we can appreciate three forms of predation: a) by culture of life (the Comanches), b) by lifestyle (the Yaujta) and c) by exploitation (the French troops). In the collision of the three, it is that we will finally see why it is important not to lose the ceremony as the essence of an activity such as hunting, where violence, not calibrated by the spirit, becomes a sport or an extension of greed. . The producer Jhane Myers he explains it as follows:
The predator always hunts the alpha. When you first land in this time period [siglo XVIII], start with the animals, leveling up and leveling up. Every thing has a code; the Predator has a code, Comanches have core values, and French hunters are hunting to monetize fur in Europe. You see? There are many different types of predators, you see different shades of different predators.
In this sense, what the leading actress Amber Midthunder herself exposed in an interview for the magazine is endorsed. Silencewhere she states that, in effect, part of her acting work involved assuming a responsibility in terms of gender representation —and, more importantly, representation of a Native American culture:
All people know are these stereotypical tropes and that’s to the credit, or debunking, of the lack of gender representation in film. So that stereotype, whether accurate or inaccurate, goes around the world. Then we must consider the impact that indigenous peoples and, specifically women, have a prominent character; as such, they may be proud to be represented. It is a huge responsibility. She thought about it constantly.
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Something important is that, as she herself points out in that interview, this could be taken as the definitive version of an archetypal movie for the franchise, because here:
He is not a villain seeking world domination or something very far-fetched; And it’s not just an aimlessly violent destructive monster; he’s actually quite intentional and focused like his laser; that’s what makes it an interesting level of intellect for the creature, what sets the Predator apart.
Predator: The prey – 97%, which is now available on Star+ marks, thus marking the first time that a solo Predator film stars a heroine who goes through a more complex process than the warriors of the previous films: she fights the creature without its own firearms (the French will take care of that milestone, without a doubt), without lasers, without armor or technological resources to protect it against the Yaujta arsenal.
This bet by Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Avenue – 90%), director of this story of combat between humans and Yaujtas, is a simple and efficient narrative with a unique setting, a compelling protagonist at the center of a terrifying gore-tinged mystery, and some finely choreographed murderous action. With those elements and a filmmaker who knows how to weave them together, the film manages to subvert the franchise’s tropes while also playing with them. So to achieve the desired effect, the casting was a crucial element.
During this experience, Amber Midthunder (Legion – 90%, Risk below zero – 40%) the one selected for its acting versatility. The director tells us about her experience with her:
The moment I met her, I knew it would surely be her. She has a unique talent for saying so much with so little. This movie doesn’t have much dialogue. It is mainly told through action. In one of the auditions we had, there was like a physical obstacle course component. And she really wasn’t just crawling and jumping on some mats and whatever. She was telling a story while she was doing these physical feats and that’s what this movie needed. Much of the story is told within set pieces and only through physical action. I think when you look at her for the first time, see her behavior and hear her speak, you immediately connect with what she is experiencing. And not everyone can do that. It took a long time, but once you’re up to the brim in mud, that’s it.
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Something indispensable, as we noted in Predators – 64%, so that the dialogues are the least of it. Perhaps that is why the critics have highlighted his performance so much, agreeing with the director in choosing him. For example, Tara Brady of Irish Timesnotes that:
Midthunder’s compelling lead character goes all-in on her narrative arc, rather than parachuting in, elegantly armed with a full arsenal of ass-kicking abilities.
For her part, Linda Marric, from The Jewish Chronicleconsiders that:
Bolstered from the start by Midthunder’s unparalleled delivery, the film feels like a genuine and conscious new departure from the usual repetition and repackaging of the same old ideas.
Similarly, James Dyer of Empire Magazine indicates that:
Effortlessly the best Predator movie since the original, Predator: Prey proves that, against all expectations, there is still life in the franchise, not to mention an exciting new lead in Amber Midthunder.
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From this experience, Midhunter herself credits her process to convince herself of her nature as a Comanche warrior:
Every morning I would first do my makeup and then comb my hair and then put on all my outfits; then I had this moment every morning: my trailer had a big mirror right next to the door, where I saw myself every morning; and he wasn’t looking at me anymore: he was looking at Naru.
Also, here the fights require more choreography, melee bidding. Hence, the director himself, also taking advantage of the generational gap between this alien and the Yaujta who visits planet Earth in 1987, has decided to eliminate a classic from the Predator arsenal:
The first thing he wanted to remove was the plasma launcher. Just because she felt so much like an instant win button. I wanted to make sure the fight could be as exciting as possible without taking away from his advantages. It doesn’t have all the tools that it has in the newer movies. But he has amazing new gadgets for people to see.
Do not miss it. You can see it NOW on Star+. And in the meantime, they can enjoy a sovereign marathon to see the Yaujta bump into soldiers, police and xenomorphs.
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