Prey review: Ben O’Shea on why Prey is the best Predator film to date

After the previous four franchise instalments and two spin-off movies, you wouldn’t blame even the most devoted fan for going into the fifth Predator film with low expectations.

Even the very first film, which matched Arnold Schwarzenegger against the franchise’s species of alien trophy hunter, was the kind of 80s blockbuster that we remember fondly as a classic, but is not actually all that good.

The fact the latest entry in the Predatorverse was released on Disney Plus with little fanfare certainly wouldn’t fill one with any more confidence.

But Prey is not only good, it must be considered the best of all the Predator movies.

For those who came in late, the villains (and real stars) of this franchise are a race of alien hunters, who travel the universe on their Pat Malone, looking for planets where they can match wits and weapons against the apex predators of those worlds.

In the original movie, the Predator came up against Arnie and his band of highly-trained mercenaries in the jungles of Central America.

The other movies follow the same format but are set in different times, places and even planets, although certain rules remain the same.

For example, the Predator only kills creatures it perceives as a threat, so if you don’t have a weapon, it probably won’t rip out your spinal cord, skin you or keep your skull as a spaceship hood ornament, which is something these aliens just can’t get enough of.

These ET executioners see in infrared, have advanced laser-guided weapons, blood that lights up like a glow stick in a nightclub, dreadlocks and a face even a mother would struggle to love.

All of this has left little space for originality in the franchise, but fans no doubt appreciate the defined parameters of the Predatorverse.

What Prey director Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) does so well is honour those parameters, while giving us a movie that feels entirely new.

He does so by setting his film way back in 1719 (that’s a huge Easter egg for franchise nerds), and setting up an encounter between the legendary alien hunter and a tribe of Comanche warriors.

Without any further context that’s objectively awesome, but this film goes even further by building the plot around a young female Comanche, Naru, played by Legion star Amber Midthunder.

Straight away you also get a legit examination of gender roles, while also exploring the impact of colonisation on Native Americans.

There’s a tonne of incredible action, to be sure, but this is by far the most intelligent Predator movie yet.

With a mostly Native American cast, Prey is a cracker of a film, and its young lead, Midthunder, is destined for even bigger things in the future.

3.5 Stars

Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp

Rating: MA15+

Now streaming on Disney Plus