{"id":1592962,"date":"2022-08-07T09:03:50","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T13:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1592962"},"modified":"2022-08-07T09:06:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-07T13:06:22","slug":"prey-2022-review-a-mediocre-predator-film-playing-up-representation-and-female-empowerment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prey-2022-review-a-mediocre-predator-film-playing-up-representation-and-female-empowerment\/","title":{"rendered":"Prey (2022) Review \u2013 A Mediocre Predator Film Playing Up Representation And Female Empowerment"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprey-2022-review-a-mediocre-predator-film-playing-up-representation-and-female-empowerment%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1592962&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Believe it or not, some film critics have been tossing around the word \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/tv-movies\/tv-movie-reviews\/prey-movie-review-predator-series-1389185\/\">masterpiece<\/a>\u201d when describing the new <em>Predator<\/em> film \u2013 which Disney didn\u2019t even have enough faith in to give a theatrical release \u2013 and I think we all know why.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_167096\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-167096\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-167096\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2022\/08\/03\/prey-star-amber-midthunder-says-she-considered-predator-a-side-piece-of-the-movie-because-the-representation-is-a-hugely-important-part-of-this-story\/\">Prey Star Amber Midthunder Says She Considered Predator A \u201cSide Piece Of The Movie Because The Representation Is A Hugely Important Part Of This Story\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While some critics will choose to focus on praising the film\u2019s Native American representation, the fact is <em>Prey<\/em> is nothing more than a movie made for to give streaming service subscribers content to consume.<\/p>\n<p>However, it can\u2019t be any worse than the <em>Predator<\/em> film Olivia Munn torpedoed in 2018, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_175344\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-175344\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-175344\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.08.05-11.30-themixnet-62eda8003899f.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-175344\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: The Predator (2018), 20th Century Fox<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The last time Hollywood tried to put a <em>Predator<\/em> film at the box office, the film got off to a rocky start with audiences after Olivia Munn exposed the director for casting an actual child predator. Later, after they actually got to watch the film, it got terrible reviews from critics and audiences alike.<\/p>\n<p>Seemingly not wanting to risk another $90 Million dollars on a <em>Predator<\/em> film that no one wanted to see, with\u00a0<em>Prey<\/em>, 21st Century Fox opted to release the new prequel straight to the<em> Hulu<\/em> streaming service.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_167090\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-167090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-167090\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.06.07-06.30-themixnet-629f9935b0714.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-167090\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2022\/01\/12\/champions-of-pop-culture-1-predators-dutch-schaefer\/\">Champions Of Pop Culture #1 \u2013 Predator\u2019s Dutch Schaefer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"email-signup inarticle\">\n<h4>Subscribe and get our daily emails and follow us on social media.<\/h4>\n<div class=\"terms-privacy\">\n<p>By opting in, you agree to receive emails with the latest in Comic Culture from Bounding Into Comics. Your information will not be shared with or sold to 3rd parties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The biggest reason for relegating the film to <em>Hulu<\/em> is that instead of someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Glover, or even Adrien Brody leading the pack against one of cinema\u2019s most iconic monsters, for better or worse we have a 25-year-old CW actress at the helm.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_175351\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-175351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-175351\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.08.05-11.30-themixnet-62eda801ef841.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-175351\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Set in the year 1719, <em>Prey<\/em> centers on Naru (Amber Midthunder), a young Comanche woman who has been trained to be a healer but has dreams of becoming a great hunter like her brother, Taabe (Dakota Beavers).<\/p>\n<p>Naru wants to prove her worth to the rest of the tribe, but they believe she should be a tracker rather than a hunter.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_175021\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-175021\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-175021\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.08.03-10.46-themixnet-62eafaaf51ffe.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-175021\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"cb-post-title\"><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2022\/07\/12\/director-dan-trachtenberg-justifies-creature-design-as-first-image-of-the-predator-in-prey-surfaces\/\">Director Dan Trachtenberg Justifies Creature Design As First Image of the Predator In Prey Surfaces<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Later, while tracking deer with her dog Sarii, she witnesses the arrival of a \u201cthunderbird\u201d in the sky, though she is completely oblivious to the threat heading her tribe\u2019s way.<\/p>\n<p>When the tribe creates a search party for a mountain lion that they believed attacked one of the tribe\u2019s hunters, an unknown stalker begins to follow and observe them.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_175020\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-175020\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-175020\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.08.03-10.46-themixnet-62eafab1c629c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-175020\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It isn\u2019t until the stalker starts killing larger animals that the threat begins to materialize in the form of the Predator.<\/p>\n<p>Soon after, Naru is found to be the only person who has the tact to outsmart the monster before it wipes out the tribe and anything else that gets in its way.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_167082\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-167082\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-167082\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.06.07-06.30-themixnet-629f9930baa35.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-167082\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"cb-post-title\"><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2022\/07\/08\/thor-love-and-thunder-review-a-hanna-barbera-cartoon-about-cancer\/\">Thor: Love and Thunder Review \u2013 A Hanna-Barbera Cartoon About Cancer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Director Dan Trachtenberg understands how to put together a story that revolves around psychological terror. The tone of the film resembles a classic<em> Predator<\/em> movie in terms of its presentation, though in an effort to utilize as much of its smaller budget possible, the action is pretty basic.<\/p>\n<p>The cinematography is one of the film\u2019s strongest aspects, with some beautiful exterior shots taken in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_167084\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-167084\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-167084\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.06.07-06.30-themixnet-629f992f3743f.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-167084\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The term bait-and-switch has unfortunately gained a lot of steam in Hollywood over the last few years due to the industry\u2019s practice of marketing a production to audiences as something they\u2019d actually want to see, only to give them something completely with the final product.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_175014\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-175014\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-175014\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.08.03-10.46-themixnet-62eafab7c9ba8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-175014\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"cb-post-title\"><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2022\/06\/13\/jurassic-world-dominion-review-at-least-its-better-than-the-last-one\/\">Jurassic World Dominion Review \u2013 At Least It\u2019s Better Than The Last One<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To that end, as previously hinted by <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2022\/08\/03\/prey-star-amber-midthunder-says-she-considered-predator-a-side-piece-of-the-movie-because-the-representation-is-a-hugely-important-part-of-this-story\/\">Midthunder herself<\/a>, <em>Prey<\/em> offers a stronger focus on its characters over the monster \u2013 a fact which could be a negative depending on the level of carnage you desire.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, despite the film being a <em>Predator<\/em> movie, you don\u2019t get to see much of the hunter until the film\u2019s 45-minute midway point.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_175018\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-175018\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-175018\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.08.03-10.46-themixnet-62eafab5a9a9c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-175018\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Instead, we get to know Naru, who is your typical \u2018strong female lead\u2019 looking for ways to overcome gender roles in the name of \u2018female empowerment\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, the movie doesn\u2019t seem to know how it wants to portray its protagonist, bouncing between strong and weak whenever it is convenient for the plot.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_167083\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-167083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-167083\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.06.07-06.30-themixnet-629f994031282.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-167083\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"cb-post-title\"><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2022\/05\/25\/top-gun-maverick-review-tom-cruise-sets-a-new-standard-for-all-film-sequels\/\">Top Gun: Maverick Review: Tom Cruise Sets A New Standard For All Film Sequels<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While the film portrays her as a strong character who is capable of taking out an army of men single-handedly, we are at the same time constantly told through its storytelling that the Predator refuses to kill her because he doesn\u2019t see her as a threat.<\/p>\n<p>This inconsistency of Naru\u2019s portrayal leads to numerous plot holes within the story.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_167088\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-167088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-167088\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.08.05-11.30-themixnet-62eda8048d7ad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-167088\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When you get to the meat and potatoes of <em>Prey<\/em>, it isn\u2019t necessarily a bad film, but the uneventful nature of its story leaves it as nothing more than a mediocre adventure that will just leave you empty. Just like eating a large bag of chips.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_167089\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-167089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-167089\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022.06.07-06.30-themixnet-629f99340caa6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-167089\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Prey (2022), Hulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While calling it one of the better <em>Predator<\/em> movies isn\u2019t exactly the biggest endorsement given this franchise\u2019s track record of the franchise, <em>Prey<\/em> is a much better film than 2018\u2019s\u00a0<em>The Predator<\/em> on the sole basis that this film does not attempt to insult you by being a comedy.<\/p>\n<p>But don\u2019t be gaslit into thinking that the film is a cinematic masterpiece. If it was, Disney would have put it in theaters rather than just sitting back and watching <em>Lightyear<\/em> help their reputation go up in flames.<\/p>\n<p class=\"cb-post-title\"><strong>NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2022\/06\/15\/predator-what-every-sequel-did-wrong\/\">Predator \u2013 What Every Sequel Did Wrong<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Believe it or not, some film critics have been tossing around the word \u201cmasterpiece\u201d when describing the new Predator film \u2013 which Disney didn\u2019t even have enough faith in to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1593176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1592962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1592962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1592962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1592962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1593176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1592962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1592962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1592962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}