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Prey 2022 tries to be annoying to concervatives
October 14, 2025👁 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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Prey 2022 tries to be annoying to concervatives
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f4/Prey_2022_poster.png/250px-Prey_2022_poster.png)
Blender Dumbass
👁 16 💬 114
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.
#Prey #Predator #movies #review #film #cinemastodon #DanTrachtenberg
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
👁 10 ❤ 1 💬 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
Disclosure Day 2026 is quintessentially Spielberg
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Disclosure_Day_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 10 ❤ 3 🔄 1 💬 7
"Listen" is the message of Steven Spielberg's 2026's alien picture Disclosure Day. Why would Spielberg do this specific movie, about this specific subject matter? What should we listen to? What is the Disclosure of the Disclosure Day?
#disclosureday #stevenspielberg #spielberg #emilyblunt #et #movies #film #review #cinemastodon
Lucy 2014 Pretentious or Profound ?
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/14/Lucy_%282014_film%29_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 11 💬 2
On the surface level 2014 Luc Besson film Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson is a scientific thesis that is trying to say some grand truth about the world, while pretending to be an action film, to make people go see it. On the other hand though, it is an action film that injects a lot of profound-sounding pretentious pseudo scientific bullshit, to make itself appear as something better than it is: a dumb action movie. Which one of them is it? Or did I miss something?
#lucy #lucbesson #ScarlettJohansson #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Predator 1987 was always a B-movie
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/95/Predator_Movie.jpg/250px-Predator_Movie.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 20 💬 3
As I observed in my review of Predator 2, the Predator films feel very B-movie-like. And the first film, John McTiernan's 1987 Predator is not an exception.
#predator #horror #ArnoldSchwarzenegger #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Schindler's List 1993 and how Spielberg was perfect to tell this story
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Schindler%27s_List_movie.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 26 ❤ 5 🔄 1 💬 1
As a kid I did not understand the need for movies like Schindler's List. Growing up Jewish I knew about the Holocaust. I knew about the Nazis and heard stories about stuff they did. But movies in my childhood brain were firmly just a form of entertainment. What entertainment is there if you are watching people suffer? Yet as I explain in my other article at about 14 I got to a rather strange point in my life, when everything dark and real became important. That's when I saw Schindler's List for the first time. That's when a film that is not made for entertainment suddenly started making sense.
#schindlerslist #oscarschindler #stevenspielberg #spielberg #holocaust #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
So Did Avatar 3 Use AI?
![[thumbnail]](/pictures/thumbs/avatar_ai.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 40 ❤ 3 🔄 1 💬 2
While James Cameron has denied that Avatar 3: Fire and Ash used any generative AI. On January 24, 2026 Joe Letteri ( the visual effect supervisor from Weta Digital ) sat with the Corridor Crew for their weekly show of VFX Artists React where he said that the facial animation for the hero characters for both Avatar 2 and 3 involved a neural network. A neural network? Isn't that a fancy way to say "AI"?
#avatar #jamescameron #fireandash #avatarfireandash #movies #review #film #cinemastodon #ai #art #mastoart #aiart #neualnetwork
F1 is suprisingly relatable
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/38/F1_%282025_film%29.png/250px-F1_%282025_film%29.png)
Blender Dumbass
👁 16 💬 2
As you probably figured out, the movie is about racing. It is kind of similar to Ford v Ferrari where you have an underdog team trying to compete on a race with Ferrari to win the race. In this case though, Ferrari was not the fastest car on the track. The fastest one was from Red Bull. And not just from Red Bull. It was Lewis Hamilton who is an actual real F1 driver, who also played himself in the film and who was one of the producers on the film.
#F1 #racing #movie #film #review #movies #cinemastodon #BradPitt #JavierBardem #JosephKosinski #formula1
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
👁 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
The Running Man 2025 is Edgar Wright being better than Eli Roth
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/49/The_Running_Man_2025_poster.jpg/250px-The_Running_Man_2025_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 15 💬 3
I have not seen the original 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film yet. But I did appreciate the small cameo of Schwarzenegger on the new dollars used for money in the world of the 2025 Edgar Wright's political action-horror-comedy The Running Man.
#therunningman #edgarwright #GlenPowell #movies #review #film #cinemastodon
Le Dernier Combat 1983 doesn't need subtitles
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/35/Le_Dernier_Combat.jpg/250px-Le_Dernier_Combat.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 38 💬 2
French 1983 Luc Besson film Le Dernier Combat has 2 spoken words throughout its 1 and a half hour runtime. Both of those words are Bonjour, which I bet you already know the meaning of. The film is about a post-apocalypse future where humans lost the ability to talk. The one time two characters in the film have an exchange of Bonjours doesn't even require the understanding of the word to get the impact. It's about them finally being able to utter a word. It is not about them exchanging information.
#LeDernierCombat #LucBesson #Feminism #politics #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Taken 2008 is Luc Besson's revenge for Man on Fire by Tony Scott
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ed/Taken_film_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
👁 10 💬 2
On the surface, the 2008 movie Taken directed by Pierre Morel and written by Luc Besson ( he was busy directing Arthur cartoons ) is about how it is dangerous for little girls to be in the world. And about how awful the human trafficking is. And about how good, people who fuck up human traffickers are. But then, out of nowhere, it makes people cheer when a guy is buying an underage girl at a human trafficking auction. As if, it makes you think: Is Luc Besson just trying to show Quentin Tarantino that he is a master of corrupting the audience?
#taken #liamNeeson #LucBesson #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
👁 47 💬 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
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