REVIEW: PREY

4/5

Let Us Prey.

100 Mins. Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp, Julian Black Antelope & Dane DiLiegro. Director: Dan Trachtenberg. 

Mountain lions, Predators and bears, oh my! Rapper Young Jeezy once said, "I'm a predator, I pray three-times a day." Now that's got nothing to do with anything, it's just a great line. 'Prey' on the other hand (out now on Hulu and Disney + worldwide) has everything to do with the legendary 'Predator' franchise. All as it taps in and rips the spinal column out, straight to the skull. Taking it back to the flesh and bare bones bloody forest of the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger original that briefly starred Jean-Claude Van Damme as the monster in this movie, that was one ugly mother of a classic. All the way to the hand thunder-clapping, coming together muscled-up meme before the creed of Carl Weathers' lost that arm that still shot first like Han. '10 Cloverfield Lane' script-flipping director Dan Trachtenberg of 'The Boys' fame knows a thing or ten about stripping-down and changing the blockbuster game to a better, more nuanced narrative. And with this 'Prey', he traps the best film in the franchise since 'Predator's' classic closing credits. Despite the fun of the streaming service search selection confusion of 2018's 'The Predator' from the kiss, kiss, bang, bang of original star Shane Black for your buck. The even worse one (but actually a good movie) of Adrien Brody's 'Predators'. And the classic Danny Glover sequel that took us from the jungle to a concrete one in a gang infested Los Angeles, before we got too old for this s### (there's an epic Easter Egg here that cracks the flint). And let's not forget all the 'Alien v Predator' monster-mash for your Godzilla vs King Kong big blockbuster brawlers. Now in classic cloaking and the familiar noise of wood cracking reveal that will have you seeing things here, this Predator comes out of nowhere, after a dreaded summer of busted blocks. Aside from a 'Maverick' 'Top Gun' sparing sequel that takes us back to the same 80's 36 years ago. 'Lightyear' failed to garner much buzz, even with the American as Cola, Chris Evans piloting it. Whilst the only thing the last 'Jurassic World' movie held 'Dominion' over was people jokes...despite it being better than the dino dung it's being s####ed on as being. This apex predator's chronicle on the other clawed hand, really roars. Huffing, puffing and blowing your house down, nuclear through the trees. 

Hulu may be about to take a whupping from Mike Tyson like that guy on the plane (see Twitter for both), but they find a halo here for this angel of the heat-seeking franchise in new colour. Richly cinematic across the plains, armed with a beautiful backstory and the compelling compassion for a community, this is more than the lights out action caught on camera. But oh how the action goes balls deep before ripping yours off like a Raptor in its rapture, no Baby Blue. Just don't go into the tall-grass as this one swims through the blades faster than Jaws with blood in the foliage. This alien making its own crop circles without its vessel, putting three iconic red dots on your head from the helmet and the mandibles that lie beneath. There's a brutal and scary grizzly bear scene that makes the necessities of the one in Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar winning 'The Revenant' look like a hug...and that had people embracing the latrine. Getting into the grey with scary snarling white wolves like Liam Neeson. And there's an even better running scene that hierarchy shows a black widow being ate up by a rodent that gets struck by a snake (in scary whip quick realism), all before that cobra gets skinned by the new species changing the food-chain. All this and we haven't got to the bow and arrow of the human condition yet for a massive movie making its way to the small screens that needs a bigger audience. There's even woman's best friend here in a beloved dog and a head turning moment that you pray nothing happens to. Lest we all get John Wick on the Parabellum of this chapter. 

Comanche, make sure you select that language with subtitles for this warrior song and watch it in the native dub (see extras). Because this fifth film that will start its own run of sequels (just check the closing credits, even if there is no post scene) demands that respect and genuine consideration. Because it's the real deal like that native Americans that this land belongs to. No matter what alien tries to take over. Keeping you safe in the wilderness against those who hunt for sport, this is your tribe. No imitation. But representation. This is the evolution. Of a film, franchise, blockbuster and hopefully industry. It's more than the visual that has its effects. 100 minutes sharp and to the two pronged point, 'Prey' has an axe to grind in action sequence. Soaring like a Thunderbird, with a rope chopper like Hiroyuki Sanada's Scorpion stinging garden trowel for this 'Mortal Kombat', Amber Midthunder brings it all in a storm, on go. Anything but the name of this movie, as the supposed hunted becomes the hunter with neon blood under her eyes as camouflage. The star of this show and her own new vehicle, armed with nothing but sticks, stones and her wits to break bones, after stealing the one in Marvel's X-Men story 'Legion'. About to inspire a definition of that namesake in fandom after the code name of this picture debuted at Comic Con in San Diego, California. The Comanche community will also cry out in unity for the call of the wild career we're about to receive from Dakota Beavers, as we are introduced here to his influence to come. We hope this movie does what Neill Blomkamp's movies did for an 'Elysium' of actors, from strange new alien worlds, to helming their own 'Star Wars' seasons, coming next month. Same song for the legend of Michelle Thrush, the Gemini Award winning 'Blackstone' actress and First Nations activist for Aboriginal Canadians and other indigenous people of the Americas. The heart of this and so many other stories, still to be told by the warmth of her fire. Stormee Kipp stalking for toxic blood and Julian Black Antelope's chief are further rhyme to the reason, movies like this should never be washed in white with Hollywood blood money in the hands of those who think they control the narrative. Whilst former basketball player in Italy and Israel Dane DiLiegeo ('The Walking D(r)ead') scales new heights as the Predator itself. All six foot, nine inches of him. But we all know what stands the tallest in the heat of a new signature. Killing it, this more than bleeds. Arnie may have never returned to his other franchise like friendly rival Sly Stallone did in 'Rocky' and the fellow forest hunt of 'Rambo'. But 'The Terminator' he keeps replicating and tinkering with could learn something from this back to basics blueprint. This big game changes everything for a floundering franchise. This Predator is nothing without 'Prey'. This is the apex. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Predator', 'The Predator', '10 Cloverfield Lane'.