blenderdumbass . org
Reviews
Prey 2022 tries to be annoying to concervatives
October 14, 2025π 17
https://blenderdumbass.org/reviews : π 1
https://blenderdumbass.org/reviews/tmnt_2007_is_borderline_suicidal : π 1
https://blenderdumbass.org/reviews/red_heat_1988_is_unintentionally_funny_for_those_who_speak_russian : π 1
#Prey #Predator #movies #review #film #cinemastodon #DanTrachtenberg
by Blender Dumbass
Aka: J.Y. Amihud. A Jewish by blood, multifaceted artist with experience in film-making, visual effects, programming, game development, music and more. A philosopher at heart. An activist for freedom and privacy. Anti-Paternalist. A user of Libre Software. Speaking at least 3 human languages. The writer and director of the 2023 film "Moria's Race" and the lead developer of it's game sequel "Dani's Race".
From 1 years ago.
Information or opinions might not be up to date.
8 Minute Read
The Predator franchise started its life as a masculine super-macho, mega-violent little B-Movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In my review of the first film, I even speculated, for a second, that it might have even been racist. Something that a certain side of political spectrum finds to be a quality of a movie. That certain side of the political spectrum really didn't get when Dan Trachtenberg decided, he is making a feminist, native-American movie in the same franchise.
β© Reply
The film Prey ( which is a very fun play on words, considering the story the movie is telling ) is set in America before there was USA. The entire movie there is not a singe modern type of American. You have a native-American tribe ( that speaks English only so the audience will understand them ) and you have French colonizers. That's all.
β© Reply
And more than that, the film's main character is a woman. A woman who is desperately trying to prove men, that she is as capable as they are. The film is asking way too much from the conservatives. Or even, it might be possible, the movie is specifically trying to be annoying to conservatives.
β© Reply
So here is main issue people saying about it. Remember how Arnold Schwarzenegger with a full squad of Rambos had a hard time killing one Yautja? In this movie the Yautja is killed by one girl. Unrealistic, isn't it? Also what... there is a super-trained girl assassin? What is this, Marry Sue? What is going on? Where is the "realism"? Where is the "logic"?
β© Reply
Well I guess Trachtenberg counted that conservatives would bring up specifically these issues. And he kind of made the movie in such a way as to almost count on the fact that conservatives would not watch it. So he could later giggle to himself with his friends, every time somebody brings up any of the criticisms I just brought up. Because those criticisms are kind of invalid when it comes to the movie itself.
β© Reply
I mean, yes. She does defeat the damn Yautja. And yes, she is trying to prove her people that she is as capable as the men. But it is not a simple Marry Sue story.
β© Reply
Our main character Naru ( Amber Midthunder who may know from Novicaine ) is a teenage-ish girl in a native-American tribe somewhere in the forest. She is a cook and a doctor. But she wants to be a hunter. For that she needs to graduate through a hunting ritual. She needs to hunt something that is hunting her.
β© Reply
By the way, her casting is fucking amazing. She is just about cute enough and just about angry enough to achieve the "short orgasmic blackout". A thing that happens to me when I see characters just like her. They make my brain very happy for some reason. Maybe I need to see a therapist. Anyway...
β© Reply
The funny thing is, she is kind of pathetic. She knows how to throw an axe. And she is rather smart. But her battle inexperience makes her rather clumsy in the beginning of the film. Only by the end of the film she becomes a descent fighter, through going through shit. So it isn't a Marry Sue story per se.
β© Reply
Now, does she become such a great fighter as to defeat a fucking Yautja? No. What we get is a her problem solving skills combined with the little bit of fighting skill she has. Which ultimately defeats the damn ugly motherfucker.
β© Reply
For example, in the original film, Arny defeats the motherfucker by getting dirty in cold mud, making Arny invisible for the Yautja. Leveling the playing field, so to speak. Since those Predators have an invisibility tech on them. Here in Prey Naru finds out that a drug that she is using to stop people from bleeding ( that makes their blood colder ) makes those people invisible to the Yautja. We do have a mandatory mud sequence. But that is used for a different thing.
β© Reply
In a way, she uses all the information she observes about the forest and the creature, to trick the creature. To play mind-games with the creature. To ultimately have a chance to defeat the motherfucker. Yes, she needs to use her body here and there to stub him and stuff. But that "fighting" was never a part of the killing plan. She didn't want to stab him to death. She wanted to stab him, to manipulate him into trying to kill her. Which she used to kill him. Kind of using his own weapon against him in a way.
β© Reply
When she saw ( toward the beginning of the film ) that this motherfucker can kill a bear with his bare hands ( shit... I want to say how I came with this pun intentionally. But unfortunately no pun intended. lol ), she knew that she can't fuck with him. There is no way in hell. She even says this to her brother later in the film. She literally doesn't believe anyone can kill it. But as her brother ( Dakota Beavers, I couldn't come up with a better name, lol ), does a reference to the first film, by telling her "if it bleeds, we can kill it", she starts to think that maybe she can possibly come up with something. Maybe some trap, or sorts. Something that she can do with her mind, rather than her physical strength. And that is exactly what ends up happening in the end of the film.
β© Reply
I could say that Trachtenberg made a slight directorial mistake. In the final battle, there are moments where Naru does fight the creature here and there, while trying to force him into the trap of hers. And you kind of start thinking about the fact that the creature isn't fighting as well as he used to fight when killing all of the unnamed background characters earlier. It is not illogical per se. She did take her drug, which makes her invisible for him. And therefor he is a bit clumsy when trying to kill her. But Trachtenberg seemingly forgets to show it clearly. There are no shots of the Yautja's POV during the battle, which reminds the audience that he can't see her. We kind of have to remember the fact that she took the drug earlier. And actually flex a little to understand how everything works.
β© Reply
The film does show the drug in action earlier, before the fight, once. There is a POV shot, where Yautja sees a different character, but not Naru, who just took the drug. Maybe, an argument could be made that refusing the constantly remind people of the fact that he can't see her, is Trachtenberg respecting the audience.
β© Reply
Or you can theorize a completely different thing. Maybe Trachtenberg refused to remind people of the drug, to catch conservatives.
β© Reply
Think about it, Trachtenberg specifically makes a movie that annoys the fuck out of the conservatives. The period of time is chosen to annoy them. The main character is chosen to annoy them. The main character's main motivation is chosen to annoy them. And then all of the criticisms that he knew they will have, are addressed, but are addressed in such a way that you actually need to watch the movie and focus on it to notice them. If you simply skim it, to make an angry post about how "unrealistic" or "illogical" it is due to all of the things the movie is going for, well... then... I'm sorry, but the joke is on you.
β© Reply
Happy Hacking!!!
β© Reply
0
Find this post on Mastodon
Kill Bill is quite a chill
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Kill_Bill_Volume_2.png)
Troler
π 11 β€ 2 π¬ 2
Kill Bill is a reference loaded film. The director lives in cinema, after all. At one point, the Bill of Kill Bill (David Carradine) reviews Superman, during a monologue with the presence of the protagonist Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman). The said review made sense inside of the given scene, it made sense within the given plot. What if anything it was a flex. Q. Tarantino spoke through Bill about Superman and millions of people heard him. It could be argued, his most popular review... was part of a martial arts movie.
#killbill #quentintarantino #tarantino #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Novocaine is way more melodramatic than I expected
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e8/Novocaine_%282025%29_poster.jpg/250px-Novocaine_%282025%29_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 13
The premise of 2025 Dan Berk and Robert Olsen co-directed film Novocaine is very simple: An action adventure about a dude who doesn't feel pain. On paper it sounds like a kind of absurdist horror comedy that is constantly shocking the audiences with something that is utterly fucked up, but the joke is, the main character doesn't give a damn. And there is this, if you are looking for this, in Novocaine. But there is also more.
#novocaine #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Black Hawk Down ( 2001 ) tries hard to beat Saving Private Ryan
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0c/Black_hawk_down_ver1.jpg/250px-Black_hawk_down_ver1.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 10 π¬ 2
In 1998 Steven Spielberg shocked the cinematic frontier with his film Saving Private Ryan which had one of the most brutal depictions of warfare, with its opening battle-scene. This caused a small shift in the ways Hollywood was trying to cinematically portray war. And who's better than Ridley Scott, to attempt at beating Spielberg at war footage. Which he tried to do with his 2001 film Black Hawk Down.
#blackhawkdown #ridleyscott #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Project Hail Mary is weirdly Von Tririan?
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3b/Project_Hail_Mary_poster.jpg/250px-Project_Hail_Mary_poster.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail)
Blender Dumbass
π 16 β€ 4 π 1 π¬ 4
Project Hail Mary is one of those few movies, which I read in the book form before watching. The book by Andy Weir in an absolute banger of a read. The plotting is awesome. The detail the book goes into is insane. Basically Andy Weir is one of the best contemporary writers living today. And Hollywood wanting to adopt Weir is and always will be bound to happen.
#projecthailmary #andyweir #ryangosling #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
June and John is Luc being Besson with a smartphone
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/49/June_and_John.jpg/250px-June_and_John.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 275 β€ 1 π¬ 1
It was nice to take a short break from the grind of trying to make CGI stuff all day long and watch a movie. And who could be a better film-maker to casually enjoy, but Luc Besson, who after all these reviews I did of his films, I start to feel like I understand, similarly to how a therapist might understand his client? His 2025 low budget film June and John is undeniably Luc Besson, even if the fact that the film was largely shot on a smartphone makes it look kind of weird and slightly amateurish.
#JuneAndJohn #LucBesson #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Oe Uniltìrantokx sÀfpìl
![[thumbnail]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/LQTGAD8VTJ01L59E.jpg)
Troler
π 11 β€ 2 π 1 π¬ 4
Pamrel si tsawl tspang oe, kolan, ya Eyweveng txum. Oe plltxe, filesngÀ'i rel arusikx kan eltu lefngap reltseo kurfyavi tawtute nemfa srer rel arusikx smaw meoauniaea Na'visì atxkxe.
#avatar #jamescameron #fireandash #avatarfireandash #movies #review #film #cinemastodon
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974 or the pioneer in ultraviolence
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/The_Texas_Chain_Saw_Massacre_%281974%29_theatrical_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 19 π¬ 2
If today we have a lot of films to choose from when we want to shock ourselves beyond believe: from barely serious, yet distrusting films by Eli Roth through intense hyper-violence by Coralie Fargeat or depressing looks at the world by Lars Von Trier all the way to deranged films like The Serbian Film, in 1970s you had probably only one true contender for such a level of derangeness. And it was the Tobe Hooper's 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
#TheTexasChainSawMassacre #TobeHooper #Horror #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Snake Eyes 1998 is De Palma's attempt at restoring his Hitch spirit
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/SnakeEyesPoster.jpg/250px-SnakeEyesPoster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 17 π¬ 3
Watching the opening scene of Brian De Palma's 1998 film Snake Eyes makes you realize that this motherfucker is trying very hard. We have 13 minutes of Nicolas Cage running around a very crowded set. The scene is clever with its camera, giving us multiple layers of exposition in the same time. Like there could be a TV on the foreground and Cage on the background. And they seem unrelated at first, but the scene establishes most of it's plot details right in this very shot. And then the shot ends ( 13 minutes later ) at the exact moment, the script drops the "inciting incident". De Palma is really trying hard to direct the shit out this movie.
#SnakeEyes #BrianDePalma #NicolasCage #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Please Don't Feed the Children 2025 shows that Destry Spielberg has more balls than her father
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/79/Please_Don%27t_Feed_the_Children.jpg/250px-Please_Don%27t_Feed_the_Children.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 17 π¬ 2
Steven Spielberg directed some rather intense movies throughout his career. He made Duel in 1971 about a maniac truck driver. He made a blog-buster sensation Jaws in 1974. And he made films like Schindler's List and War of the Worlds that could be considered horror films. But he never did a true, scary horror film. My mother used to say that "Steven Spielberg is too sentimental to make truly scary movies". But that statement isn't true about his daughter Destry. 2025 film by Destry Allyn Spielberg Please Don't Feed the Children shows that she is capable to rival fucking Eli Roth if she wants to.
#PleaseDontFeedtheChildren #DestryAllynSpielberg #StevenSpielberg #horror #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Ballerina 2025 did what Spy Kids should have but couldn't
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f6/Ballerina_%282025_film%29_poster.jpg/250px-Ballerina_%282025_film%29_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 13 π¬ 2
When I reviewed Havoc I wrote about this strange feeling that I dubbed "short orgasmic blackout" when I see a stupidly serious, angry face of a female character that is really cute. And one of the most cutest actors living these days is fucking Ana de Armas. Let me illustrate. We see young Victoria Comte playing Eve ( the main character ) while being 11 ( Comte was born in 2013, do the math ), and then the film says "12 years later" so now she is 23. Yet de Armas playing her is 36 ( at the time of filming ). She plays somebody almost half her age and it works. Why? She is fucking cute! That's why. And because of that I knew I was probably getting the "short orgasmic blackout" the movie.
#balerina #johnwick #anadearmas #movies #film #review #cinemastodon #action #cinema
No wonder The Fabelmens takes place in the desert
![[thumbnail]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/0SUX9D9NIS9XH9EH.jpg)
Troler
π 13 β€ 3 π 1 π¬ 6
In the year 2022 Steven Spielberg directed a film about his own life, in a little known feature The Fabelmans. Although not a full documentary, it's semi-fictional nature was still education. The movie was teaching the audience how to make movies, how a single spark of The Greatest Show on Earth inspired Spielberg to become a director.
#TheFabelmans #MichelleWilliams #PaulDano #SethRogen #WarOfTheWorlds #TomCruise #DakotaFanning #StevenSpielberg #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Was the 2014 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" directed by Michael Bay?
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/09/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_film_July_2014_poster.jpg/250px-Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_film_July_2014_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 16 β€ 1 π¬ 4
While Steven Spielberg was producing a Michael Bay film Transformers 4, Michael Bay was producing a Jonathan Liebesman 2014 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And like with a Spielberg-produced film The Poltergeist by Tobe Hooper about which people started claiming that Spielberg himself directed the movie in question. With the 2014 TMNT people started claiming Michael Bay was the actual director on this film. It is absolutely and utterly poetic that both Tobe Hooper and Jonathan Liebesman also made movies in the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise.
#tmnt #michaelbay #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Crimson Tide 1995 is a stupidly smart movie
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/ff/Crimson_tide_movie_poster.jpg/250px-Crimson_tide_movie_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 185
Before Jerry Bruckheimer was obsessed with telling all his directors to be like Michael Bay and before Don Simpson had passed away. The duo of Simpson and Bruckheimer were obsessed with Tony Scott, the director of such classics as Top Gun, Days of Thunder and Enemy of the State ( which coincidentally were all produced by Jerry and Don, apart from the last film, which was produced after Don's passing ). But Tony Scott didn't only work with the duo. For example in 1993 he made a film not produced by Jerry and Don called True Romance from a screenplay of Quentin Tarantino. Which makes Crimson Tide the second collaboration of the two
#CrimsonTide #TonyScott #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Death Proof 2007 is a genius art house action film that people didn't get
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Death_Proof_USA_Poster.png/250px-Death_Proof_USA_Poster.png)
Blender Dumbass
π 31
Quentin Tarantino's 2007 film Death Proof is considered the only bad movie written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. For the uninitiated the film seems like a boring film where 90% of the time nothing happens. And for those who know Tarantino it feels like Tarantino is trying too hard to flex his dialogue muscle while forgetting to tell an actual story.
#DeathProof #QuentinTarantino #film #review #movies #grindhouse #horror #action #cinemastodon
Predator: Badlands 2025 is like Avatar 2009 but Horror
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/90/Predator_Badlands_Poster.jpg/250px-Predator_Badlands_Poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 8 β€ 2 π 1 π¬ 5
Predator: Badlands is Dan Trachtenberg's third Predator movie after Prey 2022 and Killer of the Killers 2025. And strangely enough non of these movies have any kind of connection to one other. They are not sequels. They are stand alone films, different in style and tone. Telling different stories and having different structure. The only thing that binds them together, so to speak, is the fact that they are all technically a part of the Predator franchise.
#predatorBadlands #predator #ellefanning #DanTrachtenberg #horror #action #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Powered with BDServer
Plugins
Themes
Analytics
Contact
Mastodon