The Predator franchise has come a long way since 1990, and many fans argue that Predator 2 was the last good movie. Since then, the movies in the franchise have been trying to resurrect a style of film that was only popular in the '80s and '90s. The original Predator was a big action movie that featured a male actor sweating his way through huge explosions. of fire and senseless destruction. But the traditional '80s action movie has become a bygone genre only preserved in movies like The Expendables.
Now, fans are anticipating the newest movie in the franchise, Prey, which premieres on Hulu on August 5, 2022. If this Predator prequel hopes to play in today's cinematic climate, it's going to have to be more than a bloody hunt through of a jungle; although we hope that a bloody hunt will remain part of the film. That said, Prey is already shaping up to be more than just your typical action movie, despite the small amount of footage we've seen of it. Set in pre-colonial America, the film features an almost entirely native cast. And the producers seem intent on finding that elemental thing that made the original Predator movie work. So if the filmmakers have been smart enough to learn from previous mistakes, this may be the best Predator movie yet.
Prey takes place on the Great Plains of America in the 18th century. The trailer shows us very little, but we do see a Comanche girl running in terror through a forest into an open field, only to be caught by a hunter, presumably from her tribe. The Comanche hunter pulls on the bowstring as they wait in the tall grass. There's a startled look on the girl's face as we see the familiar three red dots of the Predator's sight appear on the hunter's forehead.
Although we only got 30 seconds of footage, we know that our story revolves around Comanches being hunted by this alien life form. The fact that the film is set in the 1700s dates back to the end of Predator 2 when an elderly Predator gives Harrigan a flintlock pistol from 1715. This was the first time we saw evidence that the Predator species had been using Earth as a hunting ground. for a long time. Now, in the prequel, we can travel back in time and see how these conflicts played out.
Perhaps the title of the film hints that his mood will be more focused on the feeling of being hunted. Perhaps instead of the explosions and special effects, what we will get from this film is the genuine fear of being left helpless in the face of a powerful enemy and the adrenaline rush that comes with the determination to survive such an encounter. Maybe this film will show us how the indigenous people felt when the Europeans started taking over their land.