the great Predator in the meadow

DISNEY+ – ON DEMAND – MOVIE

With its heroine who wants to take her place among the warriors and her antagonist dedicated to the extermination of all forms of life, Prey can be defined as a mashup of Mulan and D’Alien. It is also and above all, as Disney+ proudly proclaims, the « fifth opus of the saga predator »born in the last century.

In that time (1987), an American commando lost in a Central American jungle was diverted from his (dirty) mission by a bloodthirsty and almost invisible extraterrestrial that nothing could stop, except Arnold Schwarzenegger. Directed by John McTiernan, this first predator remains an exemplary specimen of Reagan-era cinema.

Read also: “Predator”, the alien stronger than “Schwarzie”

Three feature films devoid of interest later, predator returns – two centuries earlier. Director Dan Trachtenberg and screenwriter Patrick Aison convinced 20th Century Fox, now acquired by Disney, to shed the show’s urban, macho trappings to pit the high-tech warrior from outer space against an armed Comanche. of a bow and an axe, in the first years of the XVIII^e century.

You don’t have to be very cynical to see in the process a compliance with the ideological standards in force in Hollywood. But all it takes is a little good will to rejoice in its dramatic and aesthetic effectiveness. Transplanted in the meadow, the old monster finds a new youth, which feeds – figuratively and literally – on the biodiversity of a continent still spared by the surge of the European masses.

Proven formula

Naru (Amber Midthunder) may be gifted with great talent as a healer, but she only dreams of one thing: to join the young men of her tribe on the trail of wild animals and big game. His brother Taabé (Dakota Beavers) shows a little benevolence towards these aspirations, the rest of the brave deride them.

When she sees a luminous flying object between the clouds, Naru sees it as an omen. It is at this moment that the idyllic chronicle of the first sequences is grafted onto a proven formula. The thunderbird that the young Comanche thought she saw was of course the ship of the Predator, a biomechanical creature designed to explore and exploit the worlds it finds on its way. Naru, who has obtained permission to accompany a group of hunters on the trail of a ferocious puma, is the first to notice the aberrant nature of the creature that haunts the territory.

The title of the film reverses the perspective: it is no longer a question of predators, but of prey

As you will have noticed, the title of the film reverses the perspective: it is no longer a question of predators, but of prey. On the track that leads to the final confrontation, scenario and staging play with these two terms: the Comanche hunters respect their animal prey even in death, while a band of French trappers, driven by a mercantile logic, sketch the beginnings of the great extinctions to come. All fall prey to the intruder.

The historical ambition of the subject is anyway put aside once Naru and the Predator are face to face. The rules of the saga reassert themselves: bravery and pre-mechanical technology will prevail over the impersonal cruelty of technology. The figure is executed with energy and virtuosity, thus placing Prey very high on the charts of sequels surpassing their predecessors.

Prey, a film by Dan Trachtenberg. With Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro (EU, 2022, 100 min). Available on demand at Disney+.

Thomas Sotinel