blenderdumbass . org
Reviews
Prey 2022 tries to be annoying to concervatives
October 14, 2025👁 17
https://blenderdumbass.org/reviews : 👁 1
https://blenderdumbass.org/reviews/tmnt_2007_is_borderline_suicidal : 👁 1
https://blenderdumbass.org/reviews/red_heat_1988_is_unintentionally_funny_for_those_who_speak_russian : 👁 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.
↩ 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.
↩ 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.
↩ 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"?
↩ 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.
↩ 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.
↩ 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.
↩ 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...
↩ 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.
↩ 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.
↩ 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.
↩ 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.
↩ 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.
↩ 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.
↩ 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.
↩ Reply
Or you can theorize a completely different thing. Maybe Trachtenberg refused to remind people of the drug, to catch conservatives.
↩ 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.
↩ Reply
Happy Hacking!!!
↩ Reply
0
Find this post on Mastodon
Predator: Killer of Killers knows how to do a lot with very little
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9c/Predator%2C_Killer_of_Killers.jpeg/250px-Predator%2C_Killer_of_Killers.jpeg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 60 💬 4
It seems like the movie Trachtenberg was going for here was way too risky and way too ambitious for a studio to green-light it normally. But if he can do that on a fraction of budget. As animation. And not a budget, something like Pixar uses for their ultra-realistic stuff and fluent motion. But on a fraction of that. He can use the trend of animating on-twos and making everything painterly, to cut all of the corners necessary to make this insane movie with the small amount of money that he is given.
#predator #killerOfKillers #PredatorKillerOfKillers #animation #film #movies #cinemastodon #review #DanTrachtenberg
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
👁 15 💬 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
Lethal Weapon is what happens when a good screenwriter writes his first script
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d9/Lethal_weapon1.jpg/250px-Lethal_weapon1.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 13
Directed by Richard Donner ( Superman, The Goonies ) from a script of Shane Black, Lethal Weapon is a film about cops. On the surface there is no concept to the movie what so ever. It is just simply a regular, straight forward police bromance. Yet somehow the movie moves.
#lethalweapon #film #review #movies #action #cinema #cinemastodon
Dressed To Kill 1980 is a cinematic treat
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/11/Dressed_to_kill.jpg/250px-Dressed_to_kill.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 5 💬 99
I saw an interview where Quentin Tarantino praises the 1980 Hitchcockian Bryan de Palma film Dressed to Kill. And now after actually watching it myself, I can totally understand why.
#dressedtokill #bryandepalma #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Weapons 2025 should be nominated for best picture
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6d/Weapons_film_2025.jpeg/250px-Weapons_film_2025.jpeg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 27 💬 6
It is not often that a horror films appears to tickle the right nerves from the high-brow crowd of cinema critics. With 93% Rotten Tomatoes score though, it is safe to assume that Zach Cregger's Weapons from 2025 is one of those rare movies.
#weapons #horror #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
👁 16 ❤ 1 💬 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
Blow Out 1981 is De Palma's take on The Conversation
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/ce/Blow_outENG.jpg/250px-Blow_outENG.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 17 💬 2
47th Academy Awards from 1975 ( giving awards to movies from 1974 ) was an interesting spectacle. Francis Ford Coppola's film The Conversation ( which was nominated for Best Picture ) lost to The Godfather Part II also by Francis Ford Coppola. In 1981 Brian De Palma, one of the people who hanged out with Francis at the time, decided to remake a 1966 Italian film Blowup, but doing it like Coppola's The Conversation. Where sound plays a critical role in the plot of the picture.
#BlowOut #NancyAllen #BrianDePalma #JohnTravolta #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Final Destination 3 is a return to form
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Final_Destination_3.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 12 💬 1
Final Destination 3 is yet again directed by James Wong who is a very needed return. The second movie in the franchise seemed almost like the parody of the genre. With the third film, came back the suspense and the good acting and most importantly, the movie suddenly hits again.
#finaldestination #jameswong #film #movies #review #cinemastodon
Pulp Fiction 1994 is kind a amateurish actually
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3b/Pulp_Fiction_%281994%29_poster.jpg/250px-Pulp_Fiction_%281994%29_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
🔐 4 👁 75 ❤ 4 🔄 2 💬 2
Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary at some point in their early film-maker lives came up with a bunch of tiny little stories that they wanted to develop into movies. And one day a stroke of genius struck these two. Those little stories could be told together as one film, with interconnected characters. Quentin took off with the concept and wrote the final script. And then took off with said final script and made the movie itself. A movie that a lot of people consider to be one of the greatest masterpieces ever made. Yet, with that, re-watching it for this review, it struck me how amateurish the movie feels, despite its greatness.
One of things that slightly annoyed me on this re-watch...
#pulpfiction #film #review #cinemastodon #movies #quentintarantino #tarantino #stevenspielberg #spielberg
Mission: Christmas is a fusion of joy
![[thumbnail]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/Y4P5OK3D02KVJN5X.png)
Troler
🔐 2 👁 18 💬 2
Christmas is all about spreading joy and happiness to all. Sometimes the festivities pierce your heart, other times you feel as about die from loneliness. The 3 movies reviewed here feature a wide spectrum of emotions. At the end, all end on a happy note.
#IgnasMeilūnas #AaronBlaise #KęstutisDrazdauskas #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
One Battle After Another 2025 is PTA doing a Machete remake
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5d/One_Battle_After_Another.jpg/250px-One_Battle_After_Another.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 47 ❤ 1 💬 7
In my review of Robert Rodriguez's film Machete Kills I speculated that Quentin Tarantino introduced a small reference to Grindhouse movies in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood to fulfill a rather outlandish promise from the fake trailer of Machete 3 in the beginning of Machete Kills. That there would be a Grindhouse movie with Leonardo DiCaprio. I think Paul Thomas Anderson just beat Tarantino in this regard. His 2025 film One Battle After Another ( starring DiCaprio ) is a straight up remake of the first Machete.
#OneBattleAfterAnother #PaulThomasAnderson #LeonardoDiCaprio #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Death Wish 1974 is a Superhero movie
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Death_wish_movie_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 11 💬 1
Who is this character, who's family suffered from the hands of lawless criminals, and who wanders the nights in search for some of those criminals, to have his revenge? Who is this character, who is a wealthy gentleman during the day, while the "vengeance" itself during the night? Batman? No... it is Paul Kersey played by Charles Bronson in a Michael Winner 1974 film Death Wish.
#deathwish #charlesbronson #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
The Disappointing Impressiveness of The Sugarland Express 1974
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/97/The_Sugarland_Express_%28movie_poster%29.jpg/250px-The_Sugarland_Express_%28movie_poster%29.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 10 ❤ 3 🔄 1 💬 4
Steven Spielberg's first true theatrical feature film The Sugarland Express didn't make much money. It was a minor success since with the budget of just 3 million dollars it was able to gather 12 million in box office. But it is nothing like his next film Jaws, which on a budget of just 9 million made a whopping 495 million in box office. Yet with all that said The Sugarland Express is still a very interesting movie to try to take apart.
#theSugarlandExpress #sugarland #spielberg #stevenspielberg #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Mandy 2018 tries to out-do the weirdness of Only God Forgives
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Mandy_%282018_film%29.png)
Blender Dumbass
👁 14 ❤ 1 💬 2
In 2019 on the Cannes film festival director Nicolas Winding Refn ( the director of the 2013 film Only God Forgives ) released episodes 4 and 5 of his ( then ) new multi-episode picture Too Old To Die Young. Episode 5 titled "The Fool" contains a car chase scene. Some argue it is one of the most romantic car chases in cinematic history. The joke is, that the car chase is set to a romantic Barry Manilow's 1974 hit "Mandy", making the juxtaposition rather hilarious in nature. But given the ass-born theory specialist that I am, I must suggest an interesting twist to this whole ordeal. During the principal photography of the first episode of Too Old To Die Young another film-maker Panos Cosmatos released a film, strangely similar in style to whatever Refn is doing. And his film was called Mandy. We can theorize that maybe Refn responded, in his strange way, recognizing the stylistic similarities, so to speak.
#mandy #nicolascage #panoscosmatos #nwr #horror #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
No wonder The Fabelmens takes place in the desert
![[thumbnail]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/0SUX9D9NIS9XH9EH.jpg)
Troler
👁 13 ❤ 3 🔄 1 💬 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
Powered with BDServer
Plugins
Themes
Analytics
Contact
Mastodon