Even though it’s been months since the movie was released, “Prey,” the prequel to the Predator franchise,  is still number one trending on Hulu. This is the seventh  movie in the series including Predator vs Alien movies. I really liked both movies, however I favored “Prey.” (This article will contain spoilers.)

The original movie, “Predator,” follows Dutch (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), a soldier who was hired by the United States government to rescue a group of politicians  from South America. Upon arrival Dutch and his team find the men they were meant to rescue killed. The group soon discover they are being hunted by an alien with superhuman abilities. The movie “Prey” is set 300 years before the first movie, but about a young Comanche girl, Naru, trying to protect her tribe from the same highly advanced alien that hunts humans for sport we encountered in the first movie. 

Right off the bat, “Prey” starts off significantly better than the “Predator.” We get a background of the characters at least a little bit, which is different than in “Predator,” where Dutch and his men jump straight into South America to rescue hostages, this is no background of the characters whatsoever. 

In “Prey,” we understand that Naru (played by Amber Midthunder) is part of a Comanche tribe in 1719. We get to see her practicing to become a hunter, even if it’s against the wishes of some of the women of the tribe. We get to see the actual ship that the predator arrived on Earth in at the beginning of the movie. I like that we aren’t just thrown into action right after the movie starts, as opposed to “Predator,” which was lacking in material other than action and fight scenes. We get to see life before Naru has to deal with the predator. 

Another thing I noticed was that the predator’s behavior has changed from the first movie. The old predator killed people and people only. The new predator killed animals and people alike, however it only killed animals and people who posed a threat. For example the predator killed animals like bears, wolves, and a rattlesnake, but left a rabbit alone. There are also scenes where the predator kills someone who had a weapon, but left Naru alone, who at the time didn’t have any sort of weapon. The new predator still collects the skulls of the things he kills, although it’s not shown if he collects the skulls of the people he kills like the old predator. It’s never explained in either movie why he collects the skulls or what he does with them. 

The graphics in this movie are also a lot better, considering that it was made earlier this year. For example in the first movie when the predator would become invisible, it was very obvious that he was still there.  The effects were choppy at times and in general unbelievable. The sound of guns firing didn’t always sound like real guns. However in the newest movie, you almost have to look for the predator when he’s invisible.

I also really liked the redesign for the predator, he’s scarier and more realistic, though the realistic-ness comes from the recentness of the movie. This movie also highlights the technical imbalance between the predator and the Comanche people. In the first movie, Dutch and his men had machine guns and grenades, whereas Naru fought the predator with axes, bows and arrows. This movie was set almost 300 years before the first predator which is just another way that this movie highlights that technical imbalance.

Something that really irked me about the movie was that the predator fought off and killed tons of colonizers that were hunting him, but Naru killed him all by herself. To me it was just unrealistic, the predator is strong and smart with all of this alien tech, the colonizers had guns and bear traps  and still didn’t even stand a chance against the predator. However Naru, a young girl with an ax, outsmarted and killed the predator. 

One thing I do appreciate though is that the dog portrayed as Naru’s best friend was never killed. Too many movies and TV shows have a dog in the film just for it to be killed off later, so it was refreshing to have a thriller movie not kill the dog.

I definitely recommend this movie for those who have been fans of the franchise for a while, or those who just enjoy thrilling sci-fi movies. Even with parts of the movie that I didn’t necessarily agree with everything that happened in “Prey,” it was certainly worth the time to watch.