The origin story of the Predator in the world of the Comanche Nation 300 years ago. Naru, a skilled female warrior, fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators to land on Earth.
After all the previous Predator films, good or bad, it appears that the studios just can’t let the franchise go. It’s hard to blame them when you look at the material on the surface. It’s full of many aspects that the average action-adventure junkie would love to tune into. The last few attempts weren’t received well critically or financially, but now Disney owns the rights to the property, and is taking another swing at it; with this time being an origin story of the Predator series in the world of the Comanche Nation over 300 years ago.
With a duration of one hour and thirty-nine minutes, it wastes no time to pique your interest and get the blood pumping. Immediately from the jump, you get to witness some of the tribal men and women live in a world that they’ve mastered. Their precision and accuracy with the use of weapons is one of the main reasons audience members are excited to see this film, and it doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. This is extremely important given that they’re facing off against an alien from outer space with all sorts of advanced technology and weaponry. In the past films, all the protagonists had automatic weapons and explosions and still were slaughtered, so it’s fair to ask the question of how our side has any chance of survival.

Our main protagonist here is Naru (Amber Midthunder) who is trying her best to prove herself to all the leaders in her clan. While the performance is fine, and the character is likeable the story surrounding her arc was not executed in the best of ways. I’m one to ignore others that whine about Hollywood being “woke” and trying to force a narrative for diversity, but the interactions that she had with the other male characters were awful. It may have been a combination of poor acting on their part, and lazy dialogue, but it didn’t seem natural in the least bit. From the dawn of time, there have been cases of men mistreating women because of their sex so there’s no problem with that being in the film, just make it natural and organic, and not as if you checked off a box.
That aside, when the predator shows up it means serious business. What’s great is the consistency with what we’ve seen before as an audience attendee from the past. Seeing all of the weapons put to good use in the heat of battle forces you to sit up straight in your seat. You don’t want to miss a frame of it. There are multiple locations to witness all of this grand action and it is a delight. The choreography used was splendid, and was easy to grasp too. This helps too because the film was also shot so well. It even stands out more with the contrast of everything. You’re in a dark forest with bright green foliage and it looks magnificent as the camera has a wide shot, or pans slowly behind the characters seconds before they engage in battle. It’s a wonderful experience to watch at home and would be even better in a large theater. Whether the scene was at night or in the daytime you’re in for a treat.

The only other takeaway was the actual language the film displayed in. There may be multiple ways to view the film watching on Hulu, but the version I was able to see was in English. With a few lines of dialogue spoken in the Comanche language subtitled. This should’ve been the other way around. The film in all Comanche would’ve been a better experience. The acting didn’t come off as strong because of this. Also, while I did like Neru, our main character, and all the skills she possessed; it took her too long in the end to use those skills when needed. Too often was she just standing there not attacking and people died for this leaving me frustrated as a viewer. However, there were still some redeeming qualities about her character so it can be forgiven.
Surprisingly this is still one of the best Predator sequels we’ve had since the original film in 1987. It’s far superior to the last two installments and is definitely worthy to watch on repeat viewings. It’s a simple short film that warrants more sequels and if so I’m excited for it. Under new management now it appears this franchise is headed in the right direction, and I couldn’t be more excited.
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