1987’s Predator set a high bar not only for any possible follow-ups in that same franchise but action movies, in general, with Prey striking many fans as a rare worthy successor.
The 20th Century Studios film that released exclusively to the streaming service Hulu on Friday has taken the same formula of a jungle survivalist going head-to-head with an alien warrior and set it 300 years in the past with members of the Comanche Nation using their skills to fight a Predator who is perhaps an ancestor of the antagonist monster from the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring original film.
Instead of a special forces soldier, played by Schwarzenegger in the original movie, being the protagonist in Prey, it is Amber Midthunder’s Naru, a “skilled female warrior” who “fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators to land on Earth,” according to the movie’s synopsis on IMDb.
Many fans praised Midthunder, in particular, with one Twitter user calling the film overall a “Must watch.”
“Wow🔥😯 Finally a Good predator movie after a long time!!”
Another fan went so far as to call Prey the “Best Predator movie ever.”
Another commentator called the movie “a true return to form for the series,” in a franchise rife with mediocre entries from the Alien vs. Predator duology, among others.
“Such a shame it never got a theatrical release.”
The “violent and shockingly brutal” action was described as “some of the best in the whole franchise,” according to one movie fanatic’s assessment, while also calling Midthunder an overnight star and the film itself being their favorite in the entire series.
People were even comparing Midthunder’s Naru to another legendarily powerful female warrior character in a horror-leaning franchise about extraterrestrials, Aliens‘ Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver.
Another Twitter user called the film nothing short of a “masterpiece.”
In terms of the acting, plot, and action, one viewer was convinced the film was a “10/10.”
Check out Prey on Hulu now.