The franchise’s sixth big-budget movie, Prey, acts as an intriguing prequel. It follows the life of Naru, a young Comanche healer, and warrior who is set in 1719 in the Northern Great Plains of North America. Naru is played by Amber Midthunder. As a woman, Naru is responsible for taking care of the injured. Frustrated by her position in the tribe, she is constantly looking for opportunities to hunt in order to gain respect. Naru aspires to be a great fighter, and by revealing this early on in the movie, the audience is hooked on her journey for practically the whole duration of the movie. In order to establish her mettle, Naru plans to track down an unknown bloodthirsty alien species. Her tribesmen make fun of her during this process because they find the idea of a “female hunter” amusing. She still perseveres with the aid of her dog Sarai, who is portrayed by Coco, a dog who was not even trained, making his performance all the more endearing to us all. Prey follows the same structure as the films in the franchise that came before it; a Predator comes to Earth to hunt humans who are at first outmatched by the extraterrestrial and now must figure out how to fight it. The equation works. In actuality, Prey’s success comes from character development and a straightforward premise. Action movie enthusiasts are familiar with the standard “hero’s path” that Naru follows.
The way the tribespeople are portrayed by the camera is significant; they are treated with respect and are not put into stereotype-based categories. To give the spectator a sense of reality in world-building, the Comanche language is also employed on occasion. Not to mention the part that the colors and tones employed in the makeup and clothing for the same performed. As a fitting tribute to the tribespeople, Prey also makes history by becoming the first Hollywood film to be made available in Comanche. While highlighting the stories of the Native Americans, Amber Midthunder, an actor with indigenous heritage and an enrolled member of the Fort Peck Sioux Tribe, was chosen to play the lead role in a high-profile Hollywood production. This decision demonstrates that the creators have done their due diligence in appropriately platforming the characters who are at the center of the story. In this case, their story might help a well-known Hollywood franchise regain its former splendor. Even though the politics of the movie are subdued, they should be brought up when we discuss it.
The director made an intelligent choice to disguise the alien, which benefits the younger audience for whom Prey may also double as a franchise introduction. The viewer is really prompted to read the movie in a way that appeals to their sensibilities by the Predator’s cloaking combined with the plot’s predictability. Prey provides a metaphor for a generation beset by climate anxieties. It also tells the story of past tragedies whose repercussions have spilled over and are still present in today’s political climate. Scenes of the French trappers slaughtering bison are deftly inserted into the movie to lend credibility to the heroic tale of the native people and to the authenticity of their accounts. Despite being wonderfully captured, animal hunting scenes come out as cocky. All of this is overshadowed by Amber Midthunder, who nearly flawlessly captures Naru’s enthusiasm and shines throughout the movie’s battle scenes. Prey is a wonderful location to start your hunt if you’re new to the Predator franchise (no pun intended).
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