YMMV / Prey (2022)

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Are the arriving Predator ships at the end there to get revenge on Naru for killing one of their own? Or are they there to offer her a proper trophy, like Greyback gave to Harrigan?
  • Is this Predator a proper Blooded warrior? Its array of weaponry seems to suggest so, but given the fact it outright cheats by cloaking when fighting with Taabe and is the biggest example of Combat Pragmatist out of any Predator put to film, does that suggest it's a younger and more arrogant warrior like the City Hunter in Predator 2? Could it even be a scout, there to gain information to deem if the hunt on Earth is worthy?
    • Alternately, its weaker behaviour compared to more stalwart, courteous Predators can perhaps be chalked up to coming from a divergent culture, evidenced by its markedly different physical features compared to previous entries' Predators. Unfortunately, this could also suggest that the ships coming back to the Comanche tribe at the end will NOT be honourable, and may yet exterminate the tribal people... or worse.
• And You Thought It Would Fail:
  • After The Predator proved to be arguably the most contentious and loathed entry in the franchise to date, many had little hope for this film, which seemed to be shared by the studio given the film was dropped on Hulu the same day as other notable properties with much bigger marketing (Bullet Train and The Sandman (2022)). However, this film became a surprise hit amongst critics and audiences, with many hoping the franchise would continue with more period-piece stories.
  • Some in the YouTube critic scene, particularly segments of the subsection that focuses on criticizing "forced diversity" content, spent much of the lead up to the movie's release declaring it a "woke failure", only to either say they were pleasantly surprised, begrudgingly admit it was better than expected (but still complain about their usual grievances), or quietly just full-on put their feet in their mouths about the movie.
• Awesome Music: There's a reason that Dan Trachtenberg hired Sarah Schachner after playing Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. The score is both beautiful and menacing all throughout, and features Schachner playing almost all the strings herself.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Comanche tribesmen Ania and Huupi and the three French trappers who are shown trying to reload after shooting at the Predator are all decently remembered despite their limited screentime and Jerkass moments. This is due to all of them displaying some notable valor against the Predator, Ania and Huupi briefly holding their own in close-quarters combat, and the French trio providing a moment of good Black Comedy.
• Evil Is Cool: It's the Predator, what do you expect? This time around, it also sports a bonefaced mask that adds to the 18th-century setting, and wields a shield that wouldn't look out of place in medieval times.
• Fan Nickname: The lead Predator in the film has already been dubbed "Boneface" or (following the naming convention of the Jungle Predator, the City Predator, and the Berserker Predator) "the Feral Predator" by fans.
• Friendly Fandoms: With other Native American-centered shows such as Reservation Dogs, Dark Winds, and Rutherford Falls.
• Genius Bonus: In the scene where Naru manipulates the Predator into killing Big Beard, she whistles to draw him to them. In Comanche culture, whistling at night is discouraged because it attracts spirits.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Controversial as the last film was for the fanbase, one point made in that movie is that the moniker of "Predator" for the antagonists functionally makes no sense when they are actually a species of sport hunters — although as a basis for a joke at the expense of their menace. However, here it serves as a point of drama, as the belief for a while from the human's perspective is that they are being hunted by a powerful predator of some kind, and the French hunting party makes a massive mistake of thinking the Predator itself is just dangerous game. It's only when Naru realizes it's actually a hunter itself do the tables start to turn.
• Inferred Holocaust: The fact the Predators possess Raphael's flintlock pistol in the future and the shot of additional Predators arriving on Earth suggests that Naru and her tribe did not enjoy their victory for long.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains:
  • The Predator is a vicious, bloodthirsty alien killer, but it has the typical Yautja sense of honor, and Evil Is Cool is firmly in effect. The same can not be said for the French trackers, a bunch of racist cowards who are introduced having slaughtered an entire herd of bison (property of the Comanche) for their furs and who beat and belittle Naru and Taabe and use them as bait for the Predator. Naturally, the audience is invited to cheer once the Predator starts putting the hurt on them.
  • To a lesser extent, Wasape from the Comanche hunting party also counts. Tasked by Taabe with bringing her back to camp, he shows Naru nothing but contempt and mockery, fighting and beating the shit out of her before tying her up like a prisoner. Her fellow tribesman though he may be, it's doubtful the viewers were shedding any tears when the Predator shows up and cuts him down with ease.
• Magnificent Bastard: The "Feral" Predator is a particularly vicious, yet no less cunning member of the Yautja race who arrives on Earth intent on hunting the most dangerous prey. Though wielding a more primitive arsenal than its later counterparts, the Feral expertly uses its weapons to its advantage in all forms of skirmishes with wolf, bear, and human alike. The Feral tears its way through all foes and outwits the attempt by the French trappers to ambush it, instead twisting their trap around and picking them all off with stealth and combat tactics alike. Maintaining the same sense of honor that the rest of its race possesses, the Feral faces down Naru in a final skirmish and overcomes almost all of her wits to nearly strike her dead.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Barbie vs. Predator." ^Explanation Fans of the film jokingly suggested that sequels should simply have the Predator invade other movies with absolutely no build-up. Given the Barbie (2023) film is already a ripe source of memes, many pitched the idea of a crossover between the two.
  • Fight or Flight ^Explanation This tweet would end up gaining countless replies about Starved due to the fact that both Prey and Fight or Flight are the two names of Starved’s songs.
• Moral Event Horizon: An interesting meta example. This particular predator gets into a fist fight that he wins by using his cloaking technology to backstab the opponent. This move would probably be considered a hit below the belt by the standards shown by other Predator characters in different films. The sportmanship of such move and the possible implications of it significance in the larger setting are hotly debated by fans.
• Older Than They Think:
  • The idea of a female Native American warrior facing a Predator is not new: it was explored in Katmandu in the 1990s, though as a tongue-in-cheek one-shot image, where the main protagonist, Liska, killed a Predator herself with nothing more than arrows. Also, and overlapping with Hilarious in Hindsight, the image also depicts the same character also being ready to fight against two Predators, which is very similar to what happens in the end of the film, when the Yautja bring more ships to Earth and specifically to Naru's tribe.^note It should be noted, however, that Katmandu takes place in an alien planet far away from Earth, where their inhabitants are Native American-looking anthropomorphic felines, but their technology isn't far different from real human Native Americans, so it still counts.
  • Some, er, particular fans scoffed at the idea that a "primitive" Native woman could defeat a technologically superior foe through misdirection and trickery, apparently forgetting that that's exactly how Dutch defeated the Predator in the original film.
• Questionable Casting: It is very clear to any real French speaker that virtually none of the "French" characters, not even their leader or the one named character among them, is played by an actual Francophone. This is not a case of them having a strong French-Canadian accent or speaking in old antiquated French (as has been claimed); not only do they not know how to pronounce basic words, it is obvious their dialogue was first written in English before going through "Blind Idiot" Translation. The result is a mess of unintelligible people saying things no real human being would say, which begs the question of whether the production just didn't care or if a lot of people lied on their CV.
• She Really Can Act:
  • Many reviews singled out Amber Midthunder for bringing a great amount of subtle complexity to the character of Naru, as well as playing the first half of the movie completely straight as a period drama before the action horror part kicks in.
  • A He Really Can Act example. Plenty of people were surprised to find that this film was Dakota Beavers' acting debut, given how well he plays Taabe as a snarky, but ultimately loving Big Brother Mentor and his utterly heartwrenching death.
• Special Effect Failure:
  • The CGI wildlife (the snake, mountain lion, bear, and so on). While they don't look too bad, the way they're animated isn't accurate to how they move in real life, giving away that they're not real.
  • While not too distracting, the Feral Predator's facial CGI is notably rough when its mask is first knocked off.
• Strawman Has a Point: While their treatment of Naru is definitely abusive, her fellow tribesmen aren't entirely wrong about Naru not being ready to be a hunter, given how she nearly dies three times in the first half of the film. The raw wilderness is unforgiving.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: After the highly contentious fiasco that was the last movie, many fans had low expectations going into this film, only to come out pleasantly surprised, citing the simple yet effective plot, gory action scenes, gorgeous visuals, and most of all, "re-fanging" the Predator and making it truly terrifying again. Even the harshest critics of the more recent films, while not necessarily singing its praises, are willing to give this film a recommendation.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • The change the film makes, namely, making Raphael Adolini some random French tracker who is unceremoniously killed off rather than the expanded universe story of a pirate captain is a rather weak attempt to connect the film to Predator 2, and also acts as a bit of Continuity Snarl.
  • Some had this reaction to the new Predator, which has been established to be a different subspecies of Yautja in comparison to the others seen onscreen. A bulk of the criticism mostly went towards the Feral Predator's face, which was deemed hideous, even by Yautja standards. To the film's credit, they didn't just make a design they thought "looked cool", but had logical reasons behind every aspect of it (as a "Desert Predator" it has bigger heat sensing organs so its forehead is taller, it has heavier jaws for crushing bone, etc.)
• Too Cool to Live: Taabe is presented as The Ace and overall the best hunter of the tribe, seemingly effortlessly outdoing the rest of the cast. With such prowess, it's only fitting he dies after giving the Feral Predator a run for its money.
• Unexpected Character: Raphael Adolini, a character initially only referenced through the inscription on his flintlock pistol in Predator 2 and whose sole physical appearance prior to this movie had been in a one-shot comic book from 1996. Not many would have expected him to ever make his cinematic debut.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The special effects are top-notch for a mid-budget (approximately $65 million) direct-to-streaming installment of a major film franchise, particularly the practical effects, portraying the Predator as an imposing and threatening force as it leaps from tree to tree. It's not surprising, given Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. (the effects house on prior movies) returned to provide the effects for the Predator.
• Watched It for the Representation: The film received a lot of pre-release buzz for having a predominantly First Nations cast, and for being the first major Hollywood film to have a Comanche language dub. There was even some hope that the film could reignite interest in the language, which as of 2007 only had about 100 native speakers left.

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