Prey (08.12.22)

It’s tough to be a fan of the Predator franchise. Although Predator 2 and Predators have their defenders, the only thing we in the fandom can unanimously agree on are the facts that the original 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film is the only truly better-than-average film of the bunch, and that the less said about 2018’s The Predator the better. To me it is truly a series of diminishing returns, each entry being at least a little worse than the last (I don’t count the Alien vs. Predator crossover movies, which are schlocky fun at best). It is perhaps for this reason that Disney/Twentieth Century Studios opted to release Prey on Hulu rather than the big screen, which is a darned shame, because the latest film in the franchise has turned out to be by far the best sequel (well, technically prequel) of the entire lot and may even be better than the original when adjusted for nostalgia. 

            In Prey we see a member of the extraterrestrial Predator species menace a Comanche tribe in 1719, but the line between who is prey and who is predator is thrown into a constant flux when Naru, a young warrior from the same tribe, takes it upon herself to end the creature’s hunt once and for all. It is a back-to-basics approach to the franchise that I greatly appreciated after the bigger-yet-dumber escalation of the rest of the sequels, and the film is all the better for it (you don’t need to know anything about the previous movies going in as well, which is a nice change of pace from the universe-building that most films lean into these days). The action is fluid, well-choreographed and predictably brutal, and there is a frightening menace to the Predator that has not been present since the original. The soundtrack is creative and a joy to listen to, a sentiment that I do not often express when it comes to horror/suspense films. Perhaps the coolest moments are those where there is no soundtrack at all, however, and we are left to sit there in suspense as we wait for the tranquil sounds of nature to be interrupted by the iconic clicking growl of the beast that has haunted many nightmares since its 1987 debut.  

            Director Dan Trachtenburg of 10 Cloverfield Lane fame brings a cinematographic flair to Prey that often creates an interesting juxtaposition between the beauty of the setting and the carnage that happens there, whether it be alien-made or man-made. This director’s eye for detail is greatly helped by the hopefully star-making performance by Amber Midthunder, the actor who plays Naru, as well as a thoughtful story that actually has something to say other than “monster kills people, people try to kill monster.” 

            I racked my brain trying to find faults in this movie and couldn’t really find any big ones beyond the fact that it 100% should have been enjoyed in theaters rather than on the small screen. I don’t know if it was this format that sometimes made the nighttime scenes sometimes extremely difficult to see or if it was a problem with my T.V. in particular, but all the same Prey would have been a blast to see in theaters. Regardless, you should definitely check it out if you’re a Predator enthusiast, and even if you’re just a fan of action/suspense/horror films in general you could still do much, much worse.

            Prey is now available on Hulu.  

This review was first published in the Keizertimes on August 12th, 2022. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/

The Gray Man (07.29.22)

 

I, like many other reasonable people in this world, do not like raisins in my trail mix. M&Ms go together with nuts like a hand in a glove or a metaphor in a movie review, but throw some raisins into the blend and I instantly start to regret my choice of snack. Raisins by themselves are fine. Everything else in trail mix is quite good; it is the combination that is less than the sum of its parts. The Gray Man, Netflix’s newest original movie, has some real M&Ms and peanuts in it in the form of cool action scenes, admirable directing, and even a few bearable performances here and there. What it has in equal measure, however, are some undeniable raisins—a boring plot, boring characters, and a whole lot of bad dialogue.           

              With an insane budget of $500 million (which makes it one of the two most expensive Netflix movies ever made, tied with Red Notice) and a glut of famous names and faces, Netflix clearly spared no expense when it came to this Ryan Gosling-led thriller. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the wunderkind brothers behind Cherry and a few obscure indie films like Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, The Gray Man does actually have a lot going on for it. The action is exceptionally choreographed and well-staged throughout, if occasionally a bit hard to follow. These fights all have fun and creative gimmicks, with one taking place amongst a bunch of fireworks as they launch, one involving heavy use of an extension chord, and a plethora more. The film is filled with cool camerawork and a who's-who of great actors, with big names such as Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard, and Rege-Jean Page joining in on the action.

              One of the raisins that taints this film is the fact that none of these talented people have much to work with in the way of plot or character. Ryan Gosling shows all the emotion of a particularly withdrawn member of the Queen's Guard (you know, the guys with the hats), the supporting characters don’t really have any personalities and seem to exist only to fulfill their one predestined narrative function, and only Chris Evans seems to be having fun as the thoroughly evil and mustachioed villain in the movie’s sole memorable performance. The plot is cookie-cutter, the twists nonexistent, and I could tell you that I certainly didn’t care about any of it. The biggest raisin of all has to be the dialogue, however; when fed into Google translate I’m sure most Gosling’s lines would be a variation of “I’m cool. We’re all cool. Oh please think I’m a cool action man.”

            Overall The Gray Man does a decent enough job of doing what it sets out to do: Entertain. You won’t have a delicious time and you won’t have a nutritious time, but there’s at least enough chocolate in it that you won’t mind the empty calories.

            The Gray Man is now available on Netflix.

This review was first published in the Keizertimes on July 29th, 2022. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/