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Prey 2022 tries to be annoying to concervatives
October 14, 2025π 16
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#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".
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.
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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.
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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.
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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"?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Or you can theorize a completely different thing. Maybe Trachtenberg refused to remind people of the drug, to catch conservatives.
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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.
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Happy Hacking!!!
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Spontaneous 2020 invented a way to get horror fans to watch a teen drama.
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fb/Spontaneous_%28film%29.jpg/250px-Spontaneous_%28film%29.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 12 π¬ 1
The premise of the directorial debut of Brian Duffield ( the director of an amazing horror film about aliens called No One Will Save You ) is, on paper, very Post Cringe. It is about a class of teenagers who spontaneously explode out of nowhere, and how little those same teenagers care about the fact that their friends blow up.
#spontaneous #film #review #movies #cinemastodon #BrianDuffield
Pearl Harbor 2001 made me cry for 3 hours straight
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3c/Pearl_harbor_movie_poster.jpg/250px-Pearl_harbor_movie_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 16 π¬ 2
In my review of Bad Boys II I talked about how Michael Bay needed to discharge from Pearl Harbor and do a properly Bayhem! movie. This speculation of mine is largely based on some stories from the set of this movie, where it looked like Bay tried to actually make a properly directed film in the very beginning and then suddenly snapped and started setting up Bayhem! shots out of nowhere in the middle of production. And when people pointed that out to him he told them to "Shut the fuck up" and that he "knows what he is doing".
#PearlHarbor #MichaelBay #movies #film #review #cinemastodon
Cleaner 2025 is a feminist take on Die Hard
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5f/Cleaner_2025_poster.jpg/250px-Cleaner_2025_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 11
I heard bad things about Martin Campbell's 2025 film Cleaner starring Daisy Ridley. People found this movie dull or whatever. And then I found out that the director was indeed Martin Campbell, the guy who brought us films like Mask of Zorro and a some of the good James Bond films, like Casino Royal ( arguably the best film in the 007 franchise ). The bad things people say and the director's reputation didn't make sense together. I had to see for myself what the fuss is all about.
#cleaner #DaisyRidley #MartinCampbell #DieHard #movies #film #review #cinemastodon
Machete Kills 2013 is trying to beat Spaceballs
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/04/Machete_Kills.jpg/250px-Machete_Kills.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 10 β€ 1 π¬ 3
As I observed 2 hours ago in my review of Machete, the first film is about US politics of 2025. The second movie Machete Kills is something else entirely. If the first film is a semi-parody of exploitation films. This one is a full on spoof comedy, parodying not just exploitation films, but other things too. By the end of the film, the bullshit is so absurd, that you cannot stop laughing. And then Elon Musk appears out of nowhere to send Machete into space.
#MacheteKills #RobertRodriguez #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
The Sudbury Devil is when you mix Nicolas Winding Refn with Wes Anderson
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/40/The_Sudbury_Devil_poster.jpg/250px-The_Sudbury_Devil_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 18 β€ 2 π¬ 1
Andrew Rakich's self-distributed 2023 film The Sudbury Devil is quite a piece of cool horror film-making. Made for a mere $25 thousand, the film is surprisingly good. It is tense and intense. It is rather fucked up. And it is smartly written and directed.
#thesudburydevil #andrewrakich #atunsheifilms #film #review #movies #horror #cinemastodon
Juror #2 is 12 Angry Men meets Minority Report
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/be/Juror_No._2_%282024%29.jpg/250px-Juror_No._2_%282024%29.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 8
Imagine being born in the year 1930, starring in films since the 1950s and yet in 2024 ( at the age of 94 ) releasing a movie you directed. If you want to talk anti-ageism Clint Eastwood is the motherfucker you point to. Hell he even made a movie about anti-ageism in the early 2000s, called Space Cowboys which is a light rip-off of Armageddon. This time thought he swings at us with a great rip-off of a 1957 Sidney Lumet classic 12 Angry Men.
#juror2 #clinteastwood #nicholashoult #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood 2019 is Tarantino respecting the audience
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a6/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_Hollywood_poster.png/250px-Once_Upon_a_Time_in_Hollywood_poster.png)
Blender Dumbass
π 47 π¬ 1
People often complain about dumb movies with too much unnecessary spoon-feeding. We get so much explaining and over-explaining that the brain hurts sometimes. You already know what is going on. You are following the story. You don't need no god damned reminder of what you are watching. And yet the studio heads still think that you are too dumb to understand what's going on in front of you on the screen. Respecting the audience on the other hand is a leap of faith on a part of a film-maker and only the greatest do that well. Quentin Tarantino with his 2019 film Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood takes the hardest such leap of his career.
#OnceUponaTimeinHollywood #QuentinTarantino #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
The Neon Demon 2016 begs for a psycho-sexual analysis
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9d/The_Neon_Demon.png/250px-The_Neon_Demon.png)
Blender Dumbass
π 27 π¬ 3
Nicolas Winding Refn seems to be making only cult-classics. His 2011 Drive was a moderate box office success. But a banger of a cult-classic later on, as people understood that it is not a mere action film. Then he made Only God Forgives. A strange psycho-sexual movie where the plot lives in the crack-space between reality and dream-land. The film got misunderstood and barely made its money back. Yet those people who like it, like it very much. And then he made a straight box-office disaster The Neon Demon that made only half of its ( rather small $7.5 million ) budget back. Yet it is seems like it's the kind of movie that just begs for a deep analysis.
#TheNeonDemon #NicolasWindingRefn #movies #film #review #cinemastodon
Nomads (1986) is quentessencially 80s Citizen Kane
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Nomadsposter.jpg)
Troler
π 9 β€ 1 π 1 π¬ 2
The movie is not told by walking to various unreliable witnesses. The second protagonist, Dr. Eileen Flax (Lesley-Anne Down) just gets the pieces of the visions, as if this was some sort of Edgar Wright film.
#Nomad #BillConti #JohnMcTiernan #LesleyAnneDown #PierceBrosnan #AdamAnt #film #movies #review #cinemastodon
28 Years Later is secretly about the UK Age Verification bullshit
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/38/28_Years_Later_film_poster.jpg/250px-28_Years_Later_film_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 27
Today UK is leading the way towards apocalypse when it comes to stupid, ageist child-safety bullshit. And the 2025 Danny Boyle's film 28 Years Later is secretly about that motherfucking thing.
#28yearslater #28dayslater #ageism #privacy #ageverification #UK #politics #film #movies #review #cinemastodon
Is "The BFG" 2016 about the Epstein files?
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/The_BFG_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 45 π¬ 1
2016's Steven Spielberg movie The BFG ( or the Big Friendly Giant ) is about a relationship between a little girl ( played by Ruby Barnhill ) and a giant old man ( played by Sir Mark Rylance in his second collaboration with Spielberg ). At some point the movie becomes about a conspiracy to manipulate the Queen of England herself ( played by Penelope Wilton ) to use her help, so that haters of BFG's relationship with the girl will be defeated with military force. So obviously it begs the question: Is this movie actually about Jeffery Epstein?
#thebfg #RoaldDahl #StevenSpielberg #Epstein #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Pearl Harbor
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3c/Pearl_harbor_movie_poster.jpg)
Troler
π 7 β€ 2 π 1 π¬ 2
The movie is nothing like I've seen. It's a masterpiece of cinema. The so called critics are critical of it, citing similarities to James Cameron Titanic. They're right, but it is a dead serious film and by no one other than by Michael Bay. For the director, it a grueling experience to conduct. It's a good watch, it'll make you cry your eyes out.
#PearlHarbor #MichaelBay #movies #film #review #cinemastodon
Backdraft 1991 is a HOT film
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Backdraft_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 5 π¬ 2
Ron Howard is a hell of a director. He knows how to get the image that he wants. And he knows how to do it so that it will hold up practically forever. His 1991 fire-fighters movie Backdraft is not an exception. The fire sequences are so real and so visceral in this film, despite being done 3 decades ago, that perhaps this film is even better when it comes to planning shots that hold up than his Apollo 13 movie ( where he used real weightlessness to shoot the space scenes ).
#backdraft #firemen #firefighters #fire #movies #cinema #ronhoward #film #review #cinemastodon
Flight Risk 2025 is Mel Gibson failing to be Robert Rodriguez
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Flight_risk_2024.jpg/250px-Flight_risk_2024.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 6 π¬ 1
The first shot of the 2025 thriller directed by Mel Gibson called Flight Risk is an establishing shot of a location you might see on television, which already says a lot about the movie. But that's not all of it. The shot is also very much computer-generated. I wouldn't say it's Ai ( but anything's possible ). It looks more like a 2D composition using various elements. A modern matte-painting of sorts. It's hard to point out specifically what's wrong with it, but it looks obviously fake. And obviously put together on a computer. And then the rest of the film doesn't really shake off this fakeness.
#flightrisk #melgibson #markwahlberg #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Death Wish 2018 has a low rating due to politics
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/59/Death_wish_2017_poster.jpg/250px-Death_wish_2017_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 15 π¬ 1
17% Rotten Tomatoes score. The movie got to be shit, right? Well when it comes to the Eli Roth's 2018 Death Wish ( the remake of the 1974 film with the same name ) you are not quite correct. In my estimate the film should be no less than 60%, based on its execution. Eli Roth is a good enough director to pull something like this off. And you can see that he is trying. The actors are also good. And the music by Ludwig GΓΆransson is really fucking good. I mean this is the same guy who did the music for Tenet and Oppenheimer. He is really fucking good. Watching the movie, I saw that the movie is arguably a lot more watchable and a lot more satisfying than the 1974 original. What is different, is that the 1974 original was made in 1974. And since then the politics have changed.
#DeathWish #guns #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
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