Warning! Contains SPOILERS for Prey.2022's Predator, saving the once-mighty franchise. Predator (1987) starred action heavyweight Arnold Schwarzenegger and is beloved for its unrelenting action, campy '80s charm, and of course, its villain, who became a cinematic staple. Predator's success meant that a sequel was inevitable, and while some Predator sequels have enjoyed healthy box office success, none had rated as highly as the original. The Prey 2022 soft reboot marked an end to this. Here's why.
The original Predator's simplicity is what made it a hit, among other things. The tale of highly trained soldiers against an advanced alien hunter is intriguing, and it's a setup that the film pays off well. However, subsequent Predator franchise entries suffered from the inability to deviate from this plot in a meaningful way, with every future installment following the same outline. Since the 1987 hit, each film has followed a male hero who is the leader of a squad of soldiers or police officers, with the team in question killed off one by one before the final showdown, which sees the main hero victorious. Despite all the Predator sequels otherwise bringing fresh ideas to the table, the franchise has struggled to move on structurally.
The highly anticipated Prey 2022 release, whose name alone already indicated a change in direction for the franchise, was touted by franchise fans and critics alike as the first Naru fighting the Predator was a crucial change, presenting a warrior who knew her surroundings but had a different fighting style, backstory, and motivations.
How The Movie's New Setting Works In Prey's Favor
While Prey's forest setting isn't a new idea for the franchise, the time period of the Prey 2022 soft Predator reboot is. Predator 2 established that the Predators have a long history with humanity, but Prey is the first time that history is explored in a canon Predator timeline movie. Prey's prequel setting also raises the stakes for Naru in of weaponry. The Feral Predator in Prey may not have the plasma cannon of other Predator movies, but it still has advanced alien gear including a laser-guided bolt thrower. Naru is armed only with a bow, a stone ax inherited from her father, and her knowledge of the territory. As a result, the Comanche Hunter facing the Feral Predator with period-accurate weaponry introduced an intriguing problem for the hero. Whereas all main human Predator characters have previously been armed to the teeth, Naru in Prey had a lot less by way of technology to help her win. However, the name Prey may alternatively have hinted toward the inexperienced Predator entering the lands of the Comanche. Though technologically inferior, the Comanche know the world around them and outnumber the alien invader, which in the end created an almost even match-up.
With its new setting Prey managed to inject life into the increasingly stale Predator property. Predator sequels had focussed too much on building lore, and too little on creating new and inspiring stories that follow unique heroes. Prey broke away from this, and it already seems to have spelled success for its future. Replacing the original system and stepping away from the archetype established by Sci-fi legend Arnold Schwarzenegger and the rest of Predator's cast over 30 years ago in favor of something new was the right move. Everything from the removal of automatic rifles, to the female protagonist, to scenes like the field of skinned buffalo (a sacred animal to Naru and her people), gave Prey a sense of place and purpose no other entry in the Predator franchise can match (even the first).
Prey's Main Difference Was Making The Audience Care
Prey made several changes that achieved a feat never before seen in other Predator movies: making audiences want the characters to live and care when they don't. By stripping out even contemporary modern weaponry (neither Naru nor the French Trappers had any success with the musket also seen in Predator 2) and adding an extremely talented canine actor to the mix, Prey raised the stakes immeasurably. Naru also had something to prove as a female hunter constantly relegated to medicine (which comes into play during the hunt by using a blood-cooling herb to avoid heat detection).
The Feral Predator landing so close to the peaceful Comanche village created real tension, and there were some unexpectedly heartbreaking moments. The death of Naru's brother and village War Chief Taabe – ive in the face of derisive male hunters who were laughing at Naru for wanting to hunt despite her obvious skill – inspired more than a few audience tears based on the online response to Prey. Prey's ending and story beats added a much-needed emotional core to the franchise which didn't in any way detract from the action and actually made it much more kinetic and tense. It kept the leanness of the original but markedly improved on it as a standalone movie.
