It’s a great movie.

Prey is one of those films on Hulu I’ve been meaning to watch since it released and now it’s two years later and I still haven’t watched it. Funny how time flies like that. But the important thing is that I watched it, which should be obvious because I’m writing this review of it roughly two years after it’s been relevant.

The seventh film in the Predator series, Prey was directed by Dan Trachtenberg who you may know from 10 Cloverfield Lane and the pilot of The Boys. I’m surprised this dude doesn’t get more work, but apparently he has an episode of Stranger Things coming out that he directed. Give this man more work!

Serving as a prequel to the series, Prey stars Amber Midthunder (oh hey, Princess Yue) as Comanche warrior Naru. Naru is a woman in her tribe and thus has the little problem that nobody sees her as a capable warrior despite her being kind of a badass. Her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers), while absolutely skilled in his own right, overshadows her at every turn in the tribe. Can she prove herself a warrior worthy of respect and title? I hope so, she’s on the cover.

You know how this thing goes. The Comanche tribe lived in mostly peace until one day a creature of unspeakable ugliness showed up on their part of the world. And who was that creature you might ask? You guessed it, Frank Stallone. Nah it’s Dane DiLiegro as the Predator. It’s neat seeing the predator on what is clearly the species’ first appearance on Earth, or probably close to it.

Also I just really enjoy seeing the predator beat the crap out of random wildlife trying to find a suitable enemy. The predator here is similar to the ones we see in later films, however while its technology is more advanced than what the humans have it is also quite primitive. This is the first film in the series to not feature the signature Plasmacaster, although I’m fairly certain it may have just not been invented yet if the Predator is using crossbow bolts. Either that or maybe it just left its gun at home next to the coffee.

My favorite thing about Prey is that it’s a prequel that doesn’t suffer from prequel syndrome. By that I mean an overwhelming need to explain why things are the way they are in the later films. Why does Han Solo call himself Han Solo? Why does he carry that pistol? Why come his pants have stripe? That sort of stuff. There’s only one explicit connection between this movie and the later films and the predator in this movie is also obviously a different one. It does seem to be the first time a predator comes to Earth to hunt humans though.

This is a fantastically shot film (don’t go online and look up the historical inaccuracies), with a lot of gore and a ton of people and animals getting ripped apart. Up until the end of the film Naru is constantly on the defensive and out of her league. The prosthetics and blood effects are beautiful, and the actors all pull their weight and give off a great performance. With the technologies being closer and the Predator being far more outnumbered than in later films, he actually has a hard time of his own.

It’s neat seeing side characters get their shots in even if we know they’re eventually going to meet a grisly fate. For a film that is about 100 minutes long Prey goes by fast. And I’m not just saying that because I watched it in a pretty sleepy state, so the fact that I didn’t fall asleep is a testament to the quality. My only complaint is that the final battle against the Predator could have been a little longer.

Extra points for all the dead French colonialists.

Rating: A-