Fridge / Prey (2022)

Fridge Brilliance

• The director's statements on how the Predator in this film is from a different tribe/culture than we've seen before serves as a parallel with the Comanche main characters: there have been unfortunate stereotypes in media for decades that all "Native Americans" are homogeneous, when the phrase is actually a broad umbrella term for hundreds of different cultures across two countries. Indigenous nations might have some similarities, but the Comanche, Sioux, Cherokee, Apache, and Algonquin (just to name a small fraction) are all distinct cultures, whose languages aren't even closely related.
• The Predator killed Raphael, despite the fact he was injured, because it is the one who injured him. Hunting injured prey is dishonorable, but injuring prey and leaving the job undone is worse.
• The Predator's development as a hunter is the opposite of Naru's, despite both being young hunters on their first hunts. She improves as a hunter by being patient, observant, and resourceful, and eventually learns the Predator's behavior and how to exploit it. Meanwhile, the Predator overpowers its prey with sheer brute force and superior technology, and becomes increasingly overconfident and reckless with each kill. This leads it to repeatedly indulge in melee combat, continually underestimate opponents, be wounded in almost every fight it gets into, and fall into traps it could've avoided by being more careful (as the more experienced Predator did with Dutch in the climax of the first film).
  • Naru's mother sets this up in the first act, telling her hunting isn't about honor or glory, it's about survival. It's not just an Aesop about only killing when you need to, but also respecting the fact that your prey can easily kill you if you're not careful. The French trappers who hunt for profit are sloppy and arrogant, easily killed not just by a superior prey who can fight back (the Predator), but even by a "lowly savage" (Naru) who sneaks up and easily captures a trapper who let his guard down, then falls for her trap as bait for the Predator by seriously thinking she would be stupid enough to leave a loaded gun within his reach. The Predator, who hunts for sport and trophies, stops being careful after some easy kills and starts acting like an unstoppable hunter, allowing Naru to outsmart it.
  • Naru also defeats the Predator by using more advanced technology than she's used to (such as Adolini's pistol and the Predator's spear gun and mask). This contrasts with how the original movie had Dutch exchange his modern weapons for simple traps and tools — both movies have their heroes defeating foes they are outclassed by, but while Dutch is a heavily armed and seemingly invincible soldier who is forced to go back to the basics with primitive tools, Naru's arc is about her gaining confidence in a field she is an outsider in, hence how she literally learns to use her enemies' tools against them. She also ends this coming-of-age arc as someone who's triumphant in her new role; compare this to how Dutch ends Predator humbled and traumatized.
• The Predator attacks its prey the way they would hunt theirs. It kills the snake with a quick strike before it knows it’s there, circles the wolf and waits for an opportunity to attack, kills the bear using brute strength, and uses tools and technology to kill humans. It also (usually, but not always) hits the humans with the same kind of weapon they hit it with: if a human shoots it, it shoots back. When a human throws a net over it, it throws a net over that human.
• The Predator in this film lacks the explosive Self-Destruct Mechanism possessed by Predators in the other films. Given its prequel nature and the reveal in the Creative Closing Credits that more Predator ships arrive, it is likely that they start taking humans more seriously as prey and begin equipping their hunters with a self-destruct mechanism for future hunts on Earth after this one's unfortunate fate. This is especially likely considering the Feral Predator died precisely because a human was able to use its own tools and technology against it.
• The equipment used by the Feral Predator is ingenious. First, there's a Bolt Launcher, which is basically an advanced crossbow, only it uses some kind of magnetism to launch its bolts. It's a brilliant stealth weapon for the time, especially since it helps conceal the Yautja presence on Earth. The Plasma Cannons we see in earlier films would have told surgeons and medical examiners all over the world that something is out there. Second, you have its polearm. It's a spear, shortsword, and war club all in one, a Swiss-Army Weapon that takes the best out of each weapon that medieval soldiers used all over the world and puts them together. Combine that with the Feral's shield, and you have an unbeatable close-quarters combo, and the Yautja love getting in close to finish their prey or fight them with honor. Finally, the laser guidance system on its helmet helps guarantee a kill shot. In the hunt, a quick kill is an honorable kill.
• According to Word of God, the Feral Predator is from a subspecies/culture that adapted for life in a harsh desert environment. This might explain why it hunts in the fall rather than the summer - On earth, cultures that live in warm climates often have a tradition of avoiding strenuous work when it is especially hot, since it can lead to overheating.

---