I really liked how the orange flower was used to advance the theme and Naru’s character arc. She’s only able to win after she integrates the feminine wisdom she was resisting with the masculine wisdom she was pursuing. Ambition and tradition synthesized to make Naru whole.
I think that there's been a lot of bad faith criticism of the movie (and specifically Naru's abilities in it) from armchair historians whose knowledge of Indigenous peoples doesn't go further than a John Wayne movie. The reality of life on the Great Plains meant that many women knew how to fight, how to ride a horse, and would have been prepared to defend themselves and their families. Even some of the reviews about the Voyageurs base themselves on very romanticized ideas of French explorers - who by Indigenous accounts were smelly, noisy, and disrespectful. I found it refreshing to finally watch a movie that got rid of a lot of the stereotypes and assumptions about what Indigenous life looked like vs. what European life looked like. Also, thank you for pointing out what I thought was very obvious - Naru wins because she is a woman, not in spite of it! Yes she is a hunter, but she succeeds because she is more than a hunter, she is an observer. Her attention to detail is established so well that I thought it was implied her mother never actually taught her about the orange flower, she learned by observing her mother using it. I know there a lot of people criticizing this movie for having a female lead (yuck!), and you can really feel the racist overtones because the lead is Indigenous (double yuck!). Jokes on them though, because this is the highest rated Predator movie so they need to get used to watching movies and TV with Indigenous leads. Great review, I always look forward to your videos! Question, have you considered covering more Indigenous content made north of the border? I feel like Canadian productions get overlooked in the States when it comes to talks about representation, but there are some fantastic movies and TV that have come out recently by Indigenous creators or heavily featuring Indigenous characters (e.g. Beans, Night Raiders, Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Trickster)
Never been interested in the Alien/Predator franchises, but this film actually looks interesting after watching reviews like this. Plus I'm a bit of a history lover so watching pre-colonialism/indigenous movies is a joy (when they get it right).
@@nativemediatheory Did you already get to Edge Of The Knife or The Great Salish Heist? I know you got to Blood Quantum because you've mentioned it before.
This'll sound weird but, I really loved that every encounter she had with the Predator was reflected in the plot. She gets distracted by him when facing the lion, the one dude gets killed while insulting her and not paying attention. Facing off with the bear, and getting trapped and then you have her fight with the search party and the bear trap. Then you have the Frenchman being able to hide and Taabe's fight, where he relies on speed and ingenuity, ends up inspiring her final showdown with the Predator. The story goes out of its way to show Naru is able to learn from the failures of everyone else and can bring them all together in a way that no one else was able to. But not because women are superior or anything, it's because they were unknowingly working together to figure out how to beat the Predator. Sorry for the rant, but I just loved this film
I loved how they depicted her ability to put events into a pattern, and then solve that pattern. Its a really good way to show how women like to apporach problems from the side, rather than from the front or head on. Women often have to think about how to solve a problem not by tackling it directly but from walking around it and attacking it from the left or right instead.
One thing that I also think about when people complain about a woman killing the predator, is that they haven't read much of the aliens versus predators books where a woman joins a predator flight ship and becomes part of their hunting party.
And these guys obviously have not watched any of hte other Predator films. Maria Conchita Alonso is in the second film and holds her own, and Sanaa lathan stars in AVP, and joins the Predator on its hunt and gets trophied in that one.
I love her line as she eats the flower. Absolutely right, she won because she is a woman. Colonized minds/culture so often perceive us as weak. We can be scary if we need to. :-) Regarding the fur trappers, it reminded me of reading some of Peter Ogden's journals. So, I found it spot on just divided into multiple individuals vs. the "elite" one or two. Showed the dark depth of how those companies were. Especially to those employed by them. Essentially slave labor which had their employees owing them via debts. I loved this film!!! Should have been released in theatres. But glad to have access to more Indigenous film projects via the internet. As well, thankfully some good youtube videos of accurate history vs. what outsiders wrote of our ancestors. So on that note, hopefully more people saw Prey than would have if only released in limited theatres. p.s. Would love to see more films of our folklore/myths/legends & creation stories. Some being similar to other tribes, some different. As you mentioned, not any Native vampire horror movies and we have some wickedly cool stories to top that. Good to see more artists getting wider audiences.
I would have also liked it to have been released in theatres, because it was definitely worthy of a theatrical release, but honestly going out to the theatre has gotten so expensive that I would rather stay at home and make my own popcorn 🙁
Naru's speech while she eats the flower (and the rampage that follows) resonates in such a familiar way after years as a woman in sports, especially in martial arts. Nothing invites an ass beating like some dude pulling back punches because he thinks you aren't capable enough to deal with it.
Wushu is the style that is most commonly linked to the rope dart, Jet Li has made a ton of Wushu movies if you want to check out some good Kung Fu, there's also an amazing film called Ninja Assassin where the main character uses a chain dagger. I myself want to see someone master a chain hammer. Sorry for the tangent but as a martial artist I love sharing the knowledge.
I know this weapon but the usage such long chains/rope in a forrest is a hindrance - you need space to work with that . The rope would be a lot on the floor and gets entangled. Also I think the tomohawk is much heavier than the knife. So the spear is the best weapon in a dense wood.
I'd never in my life seen a Predator movie, but heard this one was cool so checked it out, and man, this movie was freakin' awesome! Wow, it didn't occur to me that Naru being a women protected her from being killed by the Predator. I love how Naru held strong not only against the Predator but also against her fellow Comanche who felt she was trying to be above her traditional role. Also, the music was so killer! Man, that scene with the Buffalo was rough to watch, knowing that it was speaking to the real-life history of the colonists doing that to the Buffalo in real life. I think this is Oscar-worthy and I hope the Academy pays attention!
her speech to the trapper at the end was so key to the films end and how she was going to kill the Predator and the trapper. because neither one of them would think of her as threat. no why did she leave my gun where I could grab it. no this creature keeps showing up where I am maybe its hunting me.
I saw the way they handled the languages (in the English dub at least) as like an interesting way to bring the audience in. Like, assuming most of your audience speaks English, by having the main characters speak it, and the like side villains only speak in ways that were largely not translated, they were having the audience immediately be able to sympathize with the trappers less. They were like other-ed. Definitely plays into your gripe of them being monstorous, but I think like it succeeds in making them appear that way for sure
Very nice brother you pretty much covered all of my reviews on the film. One of my most favorite part was when the predator showed it's self after killing "Wasape" , comes out off camouflage and just gives a bone chilling roar. That did it for me I had chills on the back of my neck. I was disappointed when I found out that the character of the predator was not played by a Indigenous actor. Love the movie will definitely add it too my" indigenous Movie collection". BTW: I saw "Dark Winds" Let me tell you it is REALLY GOOD! Cant wait for you thoughts on it. Till the next one, Taati jurhiata meyumu.
@@chrissandoval7675 On the contrary. All of the predators are played by different actors from different racial back grounds, except for the first and second one. To me the "Symbolism" of the "Yautja" can be played by any actor that can play the role to a perfection. But because we are talking about a predator movie that takes place in Comanche territory with Comanche Characters and actors of different tribal back grounds. An indigenous actor playing the predator would of been brilliant or more valuable in it's own elements. At least to me.
I think there is a reasonable case to be made that the predator in this film is possibly the predator equivalent of Naru same equivalent age, doing the equivalent of rite of passage, but while their goals are the opposite to each other they are also exclusive to each other as Predator and Naru want and need to destroy each other as they both have something to prove but also imperatively must survive the other as well their future after their encounter comes to a close. From what I understand this Predator is specifically from a desert region of the planet he’s from and maybe there is some sort of conflict on his planet, a territorial dispute between the desert predator tribe and the majority predators of the planet, which may mean this predator further mirrors Naru and the Comanche nation in terms of what they will be up against in the early day of colonisation as what this predator’s tribe will likely facing to on his planet. Apparently some of those fur trappers the reason their bit hammed up is that either all of or some of them are or were pirates, they are apparently derived from a Predator comic set before Prey about pirates vs Predator. Perhaps the predator they faced was a predator that Prey’s predator would have oppose. A conflict on the predator planet would further explain why two predator visits were so close to each other as well.
That comic book french pirate connection is also the link to the flint lock pistol the cop is gifted at the end of Predator 2 that has "Raphael Adolini 1715" engraved on it. Prey is set in Comanche territory in 1719.
A lot of people didn't really notice but the Predator lost the fight with her when he found her in the trap set by the French. She was nothing to him after that small, weak not a threat at all . . . until she was and by then it was too late.
I like monster movies best when the monster has some sort of internal logic. It can be flawed, but I need them to feel like a real character even if I can’t understand them. Think they nailed it!
Great discussion. This movie is so well-crafted it's amazing. I was interested when I saw the trailer, because I figured Naru must win in the end, but how do they defeat something with such advanced technology? The film was so great in establishing how observant Naru was, so when she laid the trap for the Predator it made total sense how she knew what to do. Even more amazing is how they kept the pace of the film up while still letting character develop. Like you said, the chemistry between Naru and Taabe is awesome. Lots of action, a lot of detail and character work, and the film is only about 90 minutes. I wonder if future films should explore the Yautja more? Or is it better to keep them mysterious?
Great review! Can't wait for your future content too, especially Dark Winds. And in my opinion, I think you're definitely one of the few that would do great on Twitter. You're very smart, thoughtful, and considerate. But I'll definitely go follow you over on Insta. Side note: My favorite part is when it's night and Naru whistles to get the Predator's attention. It reminded me of being told as kid to not whistle at night because you might get something's attention.
Yes! Before watching prey I actually came across some tiktoks on indigenous culture about not whistling at night. And when I saw it in the movie I was like 😲 it was subtle but if you know you know. Great film!
Thank you for this review. I was actually looking forward to your video because I did have an issue with what I perceived as "women good, men bad" in the movie, which is, unfortunately, a very common theme nowadays. Your views regarding Naru's competence and how and why she defeated the Predator gave me a new perspective on the whole thing and I will watch the movie again with this in mind. Hopefully in Comanche as I love to watch movies where people speak their language instead of English, be it only dubbed or otherwise. It would have been great though if they'd recorded it like they did with the Norsemen (they shot English and Norwegian versions of the scenes which was amazing). I hope this changes in the future and if they do make English versions, it would be English that gets dubbed onto the original.
A small thing that I thought was neat was that Naru lures in the Predator for the final confrontation by whistling. At night. As I understand it Amber refused to actually do it on set.
Fascinated with what said about Nauru’s gender coming into play here. She wins because she’s a woman and that messes with the Predator’s code. When she gave the monologue before her fight with the Predator, I didn’t realize that she felt that she had been ignored by the Predator. I did get how her observations of the Predator paid off in the end. Also, I like how you talked about the music. It’s not overbearing, it’s not “in your face,” but it’s just enough. Great context when you talked about the buffalo. Looking forward to your thoughts on Dark Wind. Been watching it now, and I’m enjoying it. It feels like a good detective story with characters who are in between and negotiate worlds and cultures. Zahn McClarnon brings this solid, steady presence to the show. Still, I’d like to hear Navajo perspectives on this. Keep up the good work bro!
One of the thing that I am a little bit skeptical about is the fact that French trappers ever hunt bisons. To my knowledge the French living along the lower Missouri River who had contacts with the Comanche were traders and if they did buy bison's furs from different tribes, they probably never massively hunt them, mainly in order to secure their alliances on which their trade system was based on (and Beaver skin was all the rage at that time, not bisons'). So that scene with the bisons skinned is probably an anachronism, but well, it is a predator movie after all :) Anyway it is a great movie and I really love your insights. Having an "indigenized" action/sci-fi movie and an Native perspective on it is a blast ! And I totally agree with your comments on the main character !
Anybody that says that the final fight was convenient obviously hasn’t seen any of the other predator movies. There is so much convenience in ALL of those fights because the odds are so tilted.
Great takes as usual, Elias. I finally saw it. Not a fan of violent films, but I did enjoy this one... Like you, I felt it was rushed. I would have liked a bit more character development and longer shots of the landscapes… Great catch on how Naru spears the lion as she fell. I missed that… She knew the Predator was too powerful to kill directly, so with her humility and creativity, she set it up so the Predator killed itself… And I loved the three spaceships at the end… Thank you for sharing your insights and enthusiasm with us.
I also liked how different motivations/reasons for hunting where in that movie. For the natives it's mostly survival for the French it's profit and for the predator it's fun. There is also the motivation of ritual/proving oneself, in which the native/Narus motivation overlaps with the Predators motivation, interestingly enough.
Encountered your videos today sir. Love them all that I watched about Prey. Agree with most all your points and love the care you put into your videos and commentaries. Only wanted to comment with my thoughts on the French - both as redshirts as you call them and the use of the language. I interpreted it as - by allowing them to only speak French and not translate it even in the subtitles - they were maybe intended to stay or be "The Other" and it kept them apart from both the Comanche as well as the audience (who in the film is allowed into this Comanche world for a time). Keep up your good work sir. Hope to see you in your own feature film one day. Keep growing out your hair.
I didn't see the predator's underestimation of Naru being her being a woman. I always figured it was because everytime he encountered her she was trapped or tied up so she was never a threat, so he just constantly wrote her off as weak. After Taabe died and Naru is holding the pistol on the Predator it seemed like a test or a challenge. "Ok let's see if I was wrong about you" kind of thing. It definitely could have been her being a woman though, who knows what the scans of her said so it could have been a bit of both.
Ok, I am a little sleep deprived and just watch the movie 1and half times, but hear me out: the whole arc is naru getting to the point where she can get the confidence to became a hunter, as she is Fighting the preconceived notion of the hunter, (this is a confrontation with the "will" of her tribe. she isn't told that she cant be a hunter, but that her skills are better suit to the role on medicine, as is custom to many societies to crush the aspirations of women, not by written law but by double standards and prejudice of women skills)the societal pressure of her tribe hinder her judgement, it's not a lack of skills or wit (her encounter with the mountain lion shows how good she is in the hunt, extra point for the tracking and whatnot) is that she second guess herself, all this encounters with the predator are product of her own doubt she is not a threat because she is not focus, she is second guessing, she is scared... When she point at the depredator with the gun she is thinking how much she can really do in that moment, and the predator is making a judgement on how much she can follow through with that threat, she is trap again amidst a flood of thoughts. She knows she cant kill it right there, she knows how to hunt and how it fights, thought her encounter with the mountain lion she recognizes that she needs a certain win or she would get serve in a silver platter to the predator.
On social media: such as Tumblr you'd get an interesting audience. Perspective would definitely be appreciated big time, but still - it is a bit more wild. I'd say look at Neil Gaiman's tumblr for how things could go. A while ago they had a "Ask Neil Gaiman anything!" But little did the staff know that he practically lives there, he's been answering asks for years. Just remember it does not have the algorithm that RUclips & Facebook has, it comes down to the reblogs as its truly audience driven.
This Yaujta is from another part of the planet; where the climate is different and Feral is a subspecies that has mandibles and jaws that can chew through bones. According to the designers on Instagram, Twitter, etc. I think Mr. H Reviews and Acid Glow goes over the lore for the Feral Predator! Otherwise! ALWAYS LOVE your reviews and perspective!
This Warrior knew what she was doing to defeat the feral predator. she knew where she wanted to fight the battle when she wanted to fight the battle and how she wanted to fight the battle. I love the final fight.
I watched the movie today! It was excellent! Great review as well! Naru's character was excellent! I really like the accuracy in the movie as far as the way the bows were held and the traditional dress as well. It's nice to see native representation in all aspects of a movie depicting natives.
love your video. She had the lion but she was distracted. It happens to her two or three times but you notice when she walks away from the French settlers and those explosions go off she doesn’t even look back at it because she’s more focused.
Your video helped me enjoy the movie more as I fail to notice these little details about the human characters in my 1st viewing. Someone said that when feral cloaks, her brother calls feral a coward. I also caught on that with every encounter feral had with her, she would always run or get captured so It's reasonable that feral would underestimate her. As an alternative ending without the medicine hiding her heat signature, she could also have placed a bear trap on her leg (as she kept bumping into them over the movie) and that would have tricked feral to turn his back as well. I call her rabbit-girl because over her journey (and the rabbit imagery) she starts as a rabbit and grows. I think her brother tells her not to get her bow string wet and she makes that mistake at the bear ambush. Feral is by now labeled as a young hunter and anyone with a hole in the back of their brain is excused from making smart decisions.
I , could not agree more her brother was awesome in the fight sequence I do believe he could have killed the Predator if it weren't for the Predator cheating and cloaking himself very sad part of the movie however his death being tragic as it is really helped his sister follow through in everything she did after that great freaking movie and that being said I love movies that have badass women in them like the movie Lucy, Salt, Anna and Monster Hunter check all these movies out there awesome too
It's interesting that you mention about Naru being a woman made her not being a threat. No Predator has ever killed a woman on screen that I can remember. But I haven't seen the second AvP film. Now there were some close calls. In AvP the Yautja Chopper was about to kill Alexa as she tried to fight the first Predator with an axe. Chopper extended his wrist blades but was killed by a xenomorph. When Alexa went looking for Scar, Scar snuck up behind her and pulled out his spear. It looked like Scar was going to kill Alexa to get the plasma weapons from her. In Predators Isabelle was shot with a blade from Beserker Predator but only after she shot him with her sniper rifle first. In Predator 2 it did look like the City Hunter Predator was going to kill Leona before he scans her body and discovered she was pregnant. In the train attack scene I guess we can infer that a few women were killed. When the passengers pulled their guns on the gang members two of the gun yielding passengers were women. After the attack one cop commented that both gang members and civilians were killed.
I would love to see you do a breakdown of Apocalypto, or even a comparison between these two. I do think Apocalypto's use of Yucatec really helped with the immersion, I wish they could have done something like that for Prey but I also understand why they didn't, and I guess at the end of the day, it's better for this film to reach as broad an audience as possible.
Apocalypto did come to mind when the French were introduced in Prey. I watched the film again in Comanche and loved it but it definitely left something to be desired there. When Apocalypto came out, my mother had a few things to say about it - mostly good. She was pleased to see anything remotely having Mayan in it (having Mayan and Pipil ancestry herself). Unfortunately, her Christian side caused her write off much of the rest of the film for its violence. Over the years, I've heard many gripes with Apocalypto ranging from Mel Gibson being racist to the film ultimately falling short in accuracy. But it always felt like most people really enjoyed it and appreciated any pre-colonial representation. I'm pretty sure Mel Gibson had the actors speak in Hebrew and Aramaic in The Passion of The Christ and I really appreciate efforts like these. I think it's why many of us prefer the Japanese version of Anime films. It's entirely possible that there is no one true reason why decisions like those made for Prey are made. It's a can of worms when you really think about it. I think the best thing for me personally is to be grateful that Prey was even released in the first place and that there is a dub. It's a HUGE leap in the right direction, and hopefully its success causes others to model their works after it. Besides, if we're going to make comparisons, Apocalypto may have featured a Yucatec Mayan language but it also featured that horrible animal scene... the one with the black panther I think? I couldn't believe that made the cut lol. The bear scene in Prey was incredible. Take a look at the scene again when the bear gets wet. It is truly incredible that Prey featured such quality work. I'm grateful indeed. Give and take. I hope that your channel continues to grow and that you find much success. I feel that your work is rich and sincere.
Great in-depth review. Have seen the Comanche version of Prey a few times now. It's the only version I watch. Am still feeling a little miffed that it isn't an alternative filmed version, but just a dub. They should have done it for real, as there really aren't that many talking scenes anyway, so it feels a little lazy. The Comanche version should have been the version they made and then they could have made the alternative version dubbed in English for those who cannot handle subtitles. Good movie. I hope they make more Predator movies with that kind of quality instead of the lame-ass stuff they've made ever since the second one. Though... would kinda love to see the further adventures of Naru and her tribe - doesn't have to be Predator related. Maybe the experience resulted in her seeking out other mysterious encounters or they sought out her.
Always wondered what the ships in the end credits were all about. With the Predator honor system I doubt as many think that they are there to annihilate Naru's tribe. Seems more likely they are there to honor her victory and to retrieve the body and perhaps exchange gifts. Would be cool if the Elder Predator is there as a youth and that's how he gets the gun. Also, if they do a sequel, I've been wondering how they could continue as I do not want to see Naru and her tribe die at the hands of the Predators - I'd prefer to go on more adventures with Naru, but then it would feel weird to be another Predator hunt. But if it is a Predator movie... wouldn't it seem repetitive if it took place in the same time frame and location as Prey? I do hope they break the mold of the Predator franchise - it can be so much more than a simple hunt movie like the first one and which Prey did very well. Could be cool if the Predators were interested in learning new ways to hunt by the victors, but would Naru and her tribe be interested in sharing skills with the Predators when one of theirs killed so many of their people, as well as Naru's brother? Could be interesting with a team-up - Naru and the elder Predator as a youngling going on an adventure together, but the big question would be what they would have to deal with. It could start out antagonistic, with Naru being forced to work with the Predator, and then later it could turn into respect. But then... would that destroy the reason why the Predator species keeps coming to Earth to hunt, if they develop any kind of relationship with the prey? Guess that's a bad idea then. Though the comics do have instances where a Predator does team up with a human.
Spot on brother, this is and previous reviews. I really like this movie, for everything. It is a beautiful film in all aspects, yeah you hear (read) me right, a predator movie beautiful! I cannot stop thinking about it. It is my top one in the franchise 🤷♂️, no disrespect to first ones.
"It sHoUlD hAvE beEn aBouT HiM!" Well, congratulations the movie ends in the middle because the protagonist is dead and the predator wins. Naru is a much more interesting character to have as a protagonist than him, even though he is pretty cool.
I haven't read the Predator comics, but I like to speculate on the Yautja culture. Do all of them come to Earth for a hunt? Do they go to different planets? Is the whole Yautja culture based on hunting, or is this some small cult on Yautja-world that wants to stay in touch in the with their roots? Are they the Proud Boys of Yautja world?
When you say unity are you referring to unity consciousness or something else? I too felt that Naru was a hunter while mantaining her female qualities, to be blunt, she wanted to be a hunter ,not to be a man and I can appreciate that. In fact she used her female strengths noticing things than men being more linear in their thinking coulndt notice. Taabe too was a well balanced man, he was confident but not arrogant, he reminded me of Dutch in the first one in thst he always listened to his men like Taabe listened to Narus feedback. At the end this would not have been such a good movie without the casting , both Amber and Dakota were perfect, next time you interview Amber pleas ask her about the warcry at the end, you see that scene and I dont see an actor, I see Naru after killing a seemingly undefeatable foe!!!!
Every time I hear the endless whining about a woman of small physical stature defeating the Predator, the first thing that pops into my mind is the Vietnam War. The average height and weight of a Viet Cong/North Vietnamese soldier was roughly 5'6" 140lbs. and, oh by the way, look it up yourself, at least 20% were women, who were even smaller. The most technologically advanced military in the history of the world, with infantry and riflemen commonly running 6' 170lbs. or larger was fought to a standstill until ultimately resigning from the battlefield. Actually surprising how many people still assume conflicts are decided by who is the biggest and the strongest.
Exactly! When (sexist) people question how a small (smart, competent, observant, dexterous, creative) woman could beat the big bad monster, I just want to ask them, "Did y'all actually see the original movie?!?" John McTiernan's original Predator film goes out of its way to set up Butch's team to be big, tough, macho men with big guns (arms) and big guns (the kind that shoot bullets). And that movie then goes out of its way to show that none of that matters. To beat the Yautja, Butch relied primarily on cunning, not strength. In a strength vs strength competition, no human can match the monster. But, by hiding (with mud or medicine), by undermining the monster's ability to see (with fire or by stealing their mask), and by luring them into traps, a human can stand a chance.
Since you mentioned the French dudes speaking in their language messed with your immersion: I speak French natively and I'm pretty sure it was far more immersion breaking for me because it was pretty obvious that the actors didn't actually know the language. It's not even that they were Canadian French, which is often the case in American productions whenever they need French speaking actors and would have made total sense in this case. The pronunciation, intonations and sometimes even grammar were completely off and I don't think it matches any version of French that exists today or back then. Mind you, it's not even a criticism, I love the movie and I don't care that much about how my language is represented in American movies, I just thought it was funny enough to point it out. I really enjoyed the movie otherwise. I can't really talk about the Native representation, as you already did it yourself and I'm not Native myself so it's certainly not my place, if it's an accurate and positive representation I'm really glad, so I will talk about something completely unrelated: I thought it was really cool to show the Yautja go after animals and not just humans, to show that we're not the only ones on this planet that could get his attention! A little bit of a nitpick, I thought it was a missed opportunity not to show that the rattlesnake has a heat vision just like the Yautja, and I thought the wolf's behaviour was maybe too blindly aggressive (maybe the other animals and even humans too, but wolves are known to be quite cautious when they face danger). Also, I think it's worth mentioning that the puma and grizzly bear attacked Naru because contrary to the Yautja, the French guys and even the other Comanche hunters, they didn't understimate her and they saw her as a possible threat. I don't know if it was intentional, but I think it's quite meaningful.
kinda bothered me when the predator killed beavers' character that the blades where too far apart. dismissed it as a continuity error. just realized he was pierced in the manner and lifted into a position akin to a sun dance. 30 years in the plains, i should've caught it sooner.
I really liked how the orange flower was used to advance the theme and Naru’s character arc. She’s only able to win after she integrates the feminine wisdom she was resisting with the masculine wisdom she was pursuing. Ambition and tradition synthesized to make Naru whole.
I think that there's been a lot of bad faith criticism of the movie (and specifically Naru's abilities in it) from armchair historians whose knowledge of Indigenous peoples doesn't go further than a John Wayne movie. The reality of life on the Great Plains meant that many women knew how to fight, how to ride a horse, and would have been prepared to defend themselves and their families. Even some of the reviews about the Voyageurs base themselves on very romanticized ideas of French explorers - who by Indigenous accounts were smelly, noisy, and disrespectful. I found it refreshing to finally watch a movie that got rid of a lot of the stereotypes and assumptions about what Indigenous life looked like vs. what European life looked like.
Also, thank you for pointing out what I thought was very obvious - Naru wins because she is a woman, not in spite of it! Yes she is a hunter, but she succeeds because she is more than a hunter, she is an observer. Her attention to detail is established so well that I thought it was implied her mother never actually taught her about the orange flower, she learned by observing her mother using it.
I know there a lot of people criticizing this movie for having a female lead (yuck!), and you can really feel the racist overtones because the lead is Indigenous (double yuck!). Jokes on them though, because this is the highest rated Predator movie so they need to get used to watching movies and TV with Indigenous leads.
Great review, I always look forward to your videos! Question, have you considered covering more Indigenous content made north of the border? I feel like Canadian productions get overlooked in the States when it comes to talks about representation, but there are some fantastic movies and TV that have come out recently by Indigenous creators or heavily featuring Indigenous characters (e.g. Beans, Night Raiders, Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Trickster)
Never been interested in the Alien/Predator franchises, but this film actually looks interesting after watching reviews like this. Plus I'm a bit of a history lover so watching pre-colonialism/indigenous movies is a joy (when they get it right).
Yes, there is plethora of content from up north I wanna check out.
Oh I loved Trickster. Georgina Lightening is awesome.
@@nativemediatheory Did you already get to Edge Of The Knife or The Great Salish Heist? I know you got to Blood Quantum because you've mentioned it before.
This'll sound weird but, I really loved that every encounter she had with the Predator was reflected in the plot. She gets distracted by him when facing the lion, the one dude gets killed while insulting her and not paying attention. Facing off with the bear, and getting trapped and then you have her fight with the search party and the bear trap. Then you have the Frenchman being able to hide and Taabe's fight, where he relies on speed and ingenuity, ends up inspiring her final showdown with the Predator. The story goes out of its way to show Naru is able to learn from the failures of everyone else and can bring them all together in a way that no one else was able to. But not because women are superior or anything, it's because they were unknowingly working together to figure out how to beat the Predator. Sorry for the rant, but I just loved this film
I loved how they depicted her ability to put events into a pattern, and then solve that pattern. Its a really good way to show how women like to apporach problems from the side, rather than from the front or head on. Women often have to think about how to solve a problem not by tackling it directly but from walking around it and attacking it from the left or right instead.
One thing that I also think about when people complain about a woman killing the predator, is that they haven't read much of the aliens versus predators books where a woman joins a predator flight ship and becomes part of their hunting party.
And these guys obviously have not watched any of hte other Predator films. Maria Conchita Alonso is in the second film and holds her own, and Sanaa lathan stars in AVP, and joins the Predator on its hunt and gets trophied in that one.
I love her line as she eats the flower. Absolutely right, she won because she is a woman. Colonized minds/culture so often perceive us as weak. We can be scary if we need to. :-) Regarding the fur trappers, it reminded me of reading some of Peter Ogden's journals. So, I found it spot on just divided into multiple individuals vs. the "elite" one or two. Showed the dark depth of how those companies were. Especially to those employed by them. Essentially slave labor which had their employees owing them via debts. I loved this film!!! Should have been released in theatres. But glad to have access to more Indigenous film projects via the internet. As well, thankfully some good youtube videos of accurate history vs. what outsiders wrote of our ancestors. So on that note, hopefully more people saw Prey than would have if only released in limited theatres. p.s. Would love to see more films of our folklore/myths/legends & creation stories. Some being similar to other tribes, some different. As you mentioned, not any Native vampire horror movies and we have some wickedly cool stories to top that. Good to see more artists getting wider audiences.
I would have also liked it to have been released in theatres, because it was definitely worthy of a theatrical release, but honestly going out to the theatre has gotten so expensive that I would rather stay at home and make my own popcorn 🙁
Naru's speech while she eats the flower (and the rampage that follows) resonates in such a familiar way after years as a woman in sports, especially in martial arts. Nothing invites an ass beating like some dude pulling back punches because he thinks you aren't capable enough to deal with it.
Wushu is the style that is most commonly linked to the rope dart, Jet Li has made a ton of Wushu movies if you want to check out some good Kung Fu, there's also an amazing film called Ninja Assassin where the main character uses a chain dagger. I myself want to see someone master a chain hammer. Sorry for the tangent but as a martial artist I love sharing the knowledge.
I know this weapon but the usage such long chains/rope in a forrest is a hindrance - you need space to work with that .
The rope would be a lot on the floor and gets entangled. Also I think the tomohawk is much heavier than the knife.
So the spear is the best weapon in a dense wood.
I'd never in my life seen a Predator movie, but heard this one was cool so checked it out, and man, this movie was freakin' awesome! Wow, it didn't occur to me that Naru being a women protected her from being killed by the Predator. I love how Naru held strong not only against the Predator but also against her fellow Comanche who felt she was trying to be above her traditional role. Also, the music was so killer! Man, that scene with the Buffalo was rough to watch, knowing that it was speaking to the real-life history of the colonists doing that to the Buffalo in real life. I think this is Oscar-worthy and I hope the Academy pays attention!
her speech to the trapper at the end was so key to the films end and how she was going to kill the Predator and the trapper. because neither one of them would think of her as threat. no why did she leave my gun where I could grab it. no this creature keeps showing up where I am maybe its hunting me.
I saw the way they handled the languages (in the English dub at least) as like an interesting way to bring the audience in. Like, assuming most of your audience speaks English, by having the main characters speak it, and the like side villains only speak in ways that were largely not translated, they were having the audience immediately be able to sympathize with the trappers less. They were like other-ed. Definitely plays into your gripe of them being monstorous, but I think like it succeeds in making them appear that way for sure
I love how you show great depth of each character. You pick up on many different elements. You show fairness to all characters. Thank you
Very nice brother you pretty much covered all of my reviews on the film. One of my most favorite part was when the predator showed it's self after killing "Wasape" , comes out off camouflage and just gives a bone chilling roar. That did it for me I had chills on the back of my neck. I was disappointed when I found out that the character of the predator was not played by a Indigenous actor. Love the movie will definitely add it too my" indigenous Movie collection". BTW: I saw "Dark Winds" Let me tell you it is REALLY GOOD! Cant wait for you thoughts on it. Till the next one, Taati jurhiata meyumu.
the predator not being played by an indigenous kinda adds to the symbolism, yeah?
@@chrissandoval7675 On the contrary. All of the predators are played by different actors from different racial back grounds, except for the first and second one. To me the "Symbolism" of the "Yautja" can be played by any actor that can play the role to a perfection. But because we are talking about a predator movie that takes place in Comanche territory with Comanche Characters and actors of different tribal back grounds. An indigenous actor playing the predator would of been brilliant or more valuable in it's own elements. At least to me.
@@Kwinicharhapiti9039 have to disagree. having an alien playing the alien adds to the performance. also, poor form to like your own comments.
@@chrissandoval7675 I figured as much. " To be able to like others you must first like you're own. That's my way. A'ho!
I do plan on covering Dark Winds. Thanks for engagement and watching. Means a lot!
I think there is a reasonable case to be made that the predator in this film is possibly the predator equivalent of Naru same equivalent age, doing the equivalent of rite of passage, but while their goals are the opposite to each other they are also exclusive to each other as Predator and Naru want and need to destroy each other as they both have something to prove but also imperatively must survive the other as well their future after their encounter comes to a close. From what I understand this Predator is specifically from a desert region of the planet he’s from and maybe there is some sort of conflict on his planet, a territorial dispute between the desert predator tribe and the majority predators of the planet, which may mean this predator further mirrors Naru and the Comanche nation in terms of what they will be up against in the early day of colonisation as what this predator’s tribe will likely facing to on his planet.
Apparently some of those fur trappers the reason their bit hammed up is that either all of or some of them are or were pirates, they are apparently derived from a Predator comic set before Prey about pirates vs Predator. Perhaps the predator they faced was a predator that Prey’s predator would have oppose. A conflict on the predator planet would further explain why two predator visits were so close to each other as well.
That comic book french pirate connection is also the link to the flint lock pistol the cop is gifted at the end of Predator 2 that has "Raphael Adolini 1715" engraved on it. Prey is set in Comanche territory in 1719.
A lot of people didn't really notice but the Predator lost the fight with her when he found her in the trap set by the French. She was nothing to him after that small, weak not a threat at all . . . until she was and by then it was too late.
I like monster movies best when the monster has some sort of internal logic. It can be flawed, but I need them to feel like a real character even if I can’t understand them. Think they nailed it!
Great discussion. This movie is so well-crafted it's amazing. I was interested when I saw the trailer, because I figured Naru must win in the end, but how do they defeat something with such advanced technology? The film was so great in establishing how observant Naru was, so when she laid the trap for the Predator it made total sense how she knew what to do.
Even more amazing is how they kept the pace of the film up while still letting character develop. Like you said, the chemistry between Naru and Taabe is awesome. Lots of action, a lot of detail and character work, and the film is only about 90 minutes.
I wonder if future films should explore the Yautja more? Or is it better to keep them mysterious?
Great review! Can't wait for your future content too, especially Dark Winds.
And in my opinion, I think you're definitely one of the few that would do great on Twitter. You're very smart, thoughtful, and considerate. But I'll definitely go follow you over on Insta.
Side note: My favorite part is when it's night and Naru whistles to get the Predator's attention. It reminded me of being told as kid to not whistle at night because you might get something's attention.
Yes! Before watching prey I actually came across some tiktoks on indigenous culture about not whistling at night. And when I saw it in the movie I was like 😲 it was subtle but if you know you know. Great film!
Native Media Theory brand new follower. Love your take and content. Excited for your future videos.
Thank you for this review. I was actually looking forward to your video because I did have an issue with what I perceived as "women good, men bad" in the movie, which is, unfortunately, a very common theme nowadays. Your views regarding Naru's competence and how and why she defeated the Predator gave me a new perspective on the whole thing and I will watch the movie again with this in mind. Hopefully in Comanche as I love to watch movies where people speak their language instead of English, be it only dubbed or otherwise. It would have been great though if they'd recorded it like they did with the Norsemen (they shot English and Norwegian versions of the scenes which was amazing). I hope this changes in the future and if they do make English versions, it would be English that gets dubbed onto the original.
So far into it, nice points made. The predator franchise is definitely not going no where now. You never see him coming. 💫👻
A small thing that I thought was neat was that Naru lures in the Predator for the final confrontation by whistling.
At night.
As I understand it Amber refused to actually do it on set.
Fascinated with what said about Nauru’s gender coming into play here. She wins because she’s a woman and that messes with the Predator’s code. When she gave the monologue before her fight with the Predator, I didn’t realize that she felt that she had been ignored by the Predator. I did get how her observations of the Predator paid off in the end. Also, I like how you talked about the music. It’s not overbearing, it’s not “in your face,” but it’s just enough. Great context when you talked about the buffalo.
Looking forward to your thoughts on Dark Wind. Been watching it now, and I’m enjoying it. It feels like a good detective story with characters who are in between and negotiate worlds and cultures. Zahn McClarnon brings this solid, steady presence to the show. Still, I’d like to hear Navajo perspectives on this. Keep up the good work bro!
This video needs more views! You're so insightful and you make a lot of really good points that most people don't consider.
She couldn't beat the bear because the bear respected her as a threat. If the Predator had done that from the start it would have won too.
One of the thing that I am a little bit skeptical about is the fact that French trappers ever hunt bisons. To my knowledge the French living along the lower Missouri River who had contacts with the Comanche were traders and if they did buy bison's furs from different tribes, they probably never massively hunt them, mainly in order to secure their alliances on which their trade system was based on (and Beaver skin was all the rage at that time, not bisons'). So that scene with the bisons skinned is probably an anachronism, but well, it is a predator movie after all :)
Anyway it is a great movie and I really love your insights. Having an "indigenized" action/sci-fi movie and an Native perspective on it is a blast ! And I totally agree with your comments on the main character !
Anybody that says that the final fight was convenient obviously hasn’t seen any of the other predator movies. There is so much convenience in ALL of those fights because the odds are so tilted.
Your PREY Spoiler TALK AND RANT was so AWESOME !!!! LOVED IT… Underestimating anyone/anything can always come back and defeat you…. In real life too….
Great review I really felt u at that " SHE WINS BECAUSE SHES A WOMAN " bit, like EXACTLY
Great takes as usual, Elias. I finally saw it. Not a fan of violent films, but I did enjoy this one... Like you, I felt it was rushed. I would have liked a bit more character development and longer shots of the landscapes… Great catch on how Naru spears the lion as she fell. I missed that… She knew the Predator was too powerful to kill directly, so with her humility and creativity, she set it up so the Predator killed itself… And I loved the three spaceships at the end… Thank you for sharing your insights and enthusiasm with us.
I also liked how different motivations/reasons for hunting where in that movie.
For the natives it's mostly survival
for the French it's profit
and for the predator it's fun.
There is also the motivation of ritual/proving oneself, in which the native/Narus motivation overlaps with the Predators motivation, interestingly enough.
I was going down the rabbit hole on Native movies especially Prey, had no idea you had your own channel Fran. 😄 This is great, keep it up!
Encountered your videos today sir. Love them all that I watched about Prey. Agree with most all your points and love the care you put into your videos and commentaries.
Only wanted to comment with my thoughts on the French - both as redshirts as you call them and the use of the language. I interpreted it as - by allowing them to only speak French and not translate it even in the subtitles - they were maybe intended to stay or be "The Other" and it kept them apart from both the Comanche as well as the audience (who in the film is allowed into this Comanche world for a time).
Keep up your good work sir. Hope to see you in your own feature film one day. Keep growing out your hair.
Thanks for commenting and watching, and thank you. That's the goal!
My favourite trope is main characters and their dogs so I appreciated the extra context you gave to this film.
I didn't see the predator's underestimation of Naru being her being a woman. I always figured it was because everytime he encountered her she was trapped or tied up so she was never a threat, so he just constantly wrote her off as weak. After Taabe died and Naru is holding the pistol on the Predator it seemed like a test or a challenge. "Ok let's see if I was wrong about you" kind of thing. It definitely could have been her being a woman though, who knows what the scans of her said so it could have been a bit of both.
Ok, I am a little sleep deprived and just watch the movie 1and half times, but hear me out: the whole arc is naru getting to the point where she can get the confidence to became a hunter, as she is Fighting the preconceived notion of the hunter, (this is a confrontation with the "will" of her tribe. she isn't told that she cant be a hunter, but that her skills are better suit to the role on medicine, as is custom to many societies to crush the aspirations of women, not by written law but by double standards and prejudice of women skills)the societal pressure of her tribe hinder her judgement, it's not a lack of skills or wit (her encounter with the mountain lion shows how good she is in the hunt, extra point for the tracking and whatnot) is that she second guess herself, all this encounters with the predator are product of her own doubt she is not a threat because she is not focus, she is second guessing, she is scared... When she point at the depredator with the gun she is thinking how much she can really do in that moment, and the predator is making a judgement on how much she can follow through with that threat, she is trap again amidst a flood of thoughts. She knows she cant kill it right there, she knows how to hunt and how it fights, thought her encounter with the mountain lion she recognizes that she needs a certain win or she would get serve in a silver platter to the predator.
On social media: such as Tumblr you'd get an interesting audience. Perspective would definitely be appreciated big time, but still - it is a bit more wild. I'd say look at Neil Gaiman's tumblr for how things could go. A while ago they had a "Ask Neil Gaiman anything!" But little did the staff know that he practically lives there, he's been answering asks for years. Just remember it does not have the algorithm that RUclips & Facebook has, it comes down to the reblogs as its truly audience driven.
I'll look into it, I do want to some blog like post as well. Thanks for suggestion.
This Yaujta is from another part of the planet; where the climate is different and Feral is a subspecies that has mandibles and jaws that can chew through bones. According to the designers on Instagram, Twitter, etc. I think Mr. H Reviews and Acid Glow goes over the lore for the Feral Predator! Otherwise! ALWAYS LOVE your reviews and perspective!
Bio mask looks like the top part of a River Ghost skull which we see in Predators. I think this has been confirmed online and a cool easter egg.
This Warrior knew what she was doing to defeat the feral predator. she knew where she wanted to fight the battle when she wanted to fight the battle and how she wanted to fight the battle. I love the final fight.
I watched the movie today! It was excellent! Great review as well! Naru's character was excellent! I really like the accuracy in the movie as far as the way the bows were held and the traditional dress as well. It's nice to see native representation in all aspects of a movie depicting natives.
love your video. She had the lion but she was distracted. It happens to her two or three times but you notice when she walks away from the French settlers and those explosions go off she doesn’t even look back at it because she’s more focused.
Your video helped me enjoy the movie more as I fail to notice these little details about the human characters in my 1st viewing. Someone said that when feral cloaks, her brother calls feral a coward. I also caught on that with every encounter feral had with her, she would always run or get captured so It's reasonable that feral would underestimate her. As an alternative ending without the medicine hiding her heat signature, she could also have placed a bear trap on her leg (as she kept bumping into them over the movie) and that would have tricked feral to turn his back as well. I call her rabbit-girl because over her journey (and the rabbit imagery) she starts as a rabbit and grows. I think her brother tells her not to get her bow string wet and she makes that mistake at the bear ambush. Feral is by now labeled as a young hunter and anyone with a hole in the back of their brain is excused from making smart decisions.
I , could not agree more her brother was awesome in the fight sequence I do believe he could have killed the Predator if it weren't for the Predator cheating and cloaking himself very sad part of the movie however his death being tragic as it is really helped his sister follow through in everything she did after that great freaking movie and that being said I love movies that have badass women in them like the movie Lucy, Salt, Anna and Monster Hunter check all these movies out there awesome too
Almost at 4K subs!!! Let’s goooo
It's interesting that you mention about Naru being a woman made her not being a threat. No Predator has ever killed a woman on screen that I can remember. But I haven't seen the second AvP film. Now there were some close calls. In AvP the Yautja Chopper was about to kill Alexa as she tried to fight the first Predator with an axe. Chopper extended his wrist blades but was killed by a xenomorph. When Alexa went looking for Scar, Scar snuck up behind her and pulled out his spear. It looked like Scar was going to kill Alexa to get the plasma weapons from her. In Predators Isabelle was shot with a blade from Beserker Predator but only after she shot him with her sniper rifle first. In Predator 2 it did look like the City Hunter Predator was going to kill Leona before he scans her body and discovered she was pregnant. In the train attack scene I guess we can infer that a few women were killed. When the passengers pulled their guns on the gang members two of the gun yielding passengers were women. After the attack one cop commented that both gang members and civilians were killed.
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Looking forward to Dark Winds analysis.
I would love to see you do a breakdown of Apocalypto, or even a comparison between these two. I do think Apocalypto's use of Yucatec really helped with the immersion, I wish they could have done something like that for Prey but I also understand why they didn't, and I guess at the end of the day, it's better for this film to reach as broad an audience as possible.
Apocalypto did come to mind when the French were introduced in Prey. I watched the film again in Comanche and loved it but it definitely left something to be desired there. When Apocalypto came out, my mother had a few things to say about it - mostly good. She was pleased to see anything remotely having Mayan in it (having Mayan and Pipil ancestry herself). Unfortunately, her Christian side caused her write off much of the rest of the film for its violence. Over the years, I've heard many gripes with Apocalypto ranging from Mel Gibson being racist to the film ultimately falling short in accuracy. But it always felt like most people really enjoyed it and appreciated any pre-colonial representation. I'm pretty sure Mel Gibson had the actors speak in Hebrew and Aramaic in The Passion of The Christ and I really appreciate efforts like these. I think it's why many of us prefer the Japanese version of Anime films. It's entirely possible that there is no one true reason why decisions like those made for Prey are made. It's a can of worms when you really think about it. I think the best thing for me personally is to be grateful that Prey was even released in the first place and that there is a dub. It's a HUGE leap in the right direction, and hopefully its success causes others to model their works after it. Besides, if we're going to make comparisons, Apocalypto may have featured a Yucatec Mayan language but it also featured that horrible animal scene... the one with the black panther I think? I couldn't believe that made the cut lol. The bear scene in Prey was incredible. Take a look at the scene again when the bear gets wet. It is truly incredible that Prey featured such quality work. I'm grateful indeed. Give and take. I hope that your channel continues to grow and that you find much success. I feel that your work is rich and sincere.
As traditional bow maker was disappointed how they were holding the bow at full draw these bows were snap shot, holding them back too long wrecks em
Great in-depth review.
Have seen the Comanche version of Prey a few times now. It's the only version I watch. Am still feeling a little miffed that it isn't an alternative filmed version, but just a dub. They should have done it for real, as there really aren't that many talking scenes anyway, so it feels a little lazy. The Comanche version should have been the version they made and then they could have made the alternative version dubbed in English for those who cannot handle subtitles.
Good movie. I hope they make more Predator movies with that kind of quality instead of the lame-ass stuff they've made ever since the second one.
Though... would kinda love to see the further adventures of Naru and her tribe - doesn't have to be Predator related. Maybe the experience resulted in her seeking out other mysterious encounters or they sought out her.
Always wondered what the ships in the end credits were all about. With the Predator honor system I doubt as many think that they are there to annihilate Naru's tribe. Seems more likely they are there to honor her victory and to retrieve the body and perhaps exchange gifts. Would be cool if the Elder Predator is there as a youth and that's how he gets the gun. Also, if they do a sequel, I've been wondering how they could continue as I do not want to see Naru and her tribe die at the hands of the Predators - I'd prefer to go on more adventures with Naru, but then it would feel weird to be another Predator hunt. But if it is a Predator movie... wouldn't it seem repetitive if it took place in the same time frame and location as Prey?
I do hope they break the mold of the Predator franchise - it can be so much more than a simple hunt movie like the first one and which Prey did very well. Could be cool if the Predators were interested in learning new ways to hunt by the victors, but would Naru and her tribe be interested in sharing skills with the Predators when one of theirs killed so many of their people, as well as Naru's brother? Could be interesting with a team-up - Naru and the elder Predator as a youngling going on an adventure together, but the big question would be what they would have to deal with. It could start out antagonistic, with Naru being forced to work with the Predator, and then later it could turn into respect.
But then... would that destroy the reason why the Predator species keeps coming to Earth to hunt, if they develop any kind of relationship with the prey? Guess that's a bad idea then. Though the comics do have instances where a Predator does team up with a human.
Spot on brother, this is and previous reviews. I really like this movie, for everything. It is a beautiful film in all aspects, yeah you hear (read) me right, a predator movie beautiful! I cannot stop thinking about it. It is my top one in the franchise 🤷♂️, no disrespect to first ones.
I liked the film.
Apocalypto had too many issues that i can make it into a rant. Lol.
Just be careful on twitter.
It's seen that the auntie was born a warrior mom's too.
My take at his look was very simple: Humans can look different, why not Predators too? Nothing more to it
"It sHoUlD hAvE beEn aBouT HiM!" Well, congratulations the movie ends in the middle because the protagonist is dead and the predator wins. Naru is a much more interesting character to have as a protagonist than him, even though he is pretty cool.
I haven't read the Predator comics, but I like to speculate on the Yautja culture. Do all of them come to Earth for a hunt? Do they go to different planets? Is the whole Yautja culture based on hunting, or is this some small cult on Yautja-world that wants to stay in touch in the with their roots? Are they the Proud Boys of Yautja world?
When you say unity are you referring to unity consciousness or something else? I too felt that Naru was a hunter while mantaining her female qualities, to be blunt, she wanted to be a hunter ,not to be a man and I can appreciate that. In fact she used her female strengths noticing things than men being more linear in their thinking coulndt notice. Taabe too was a well balanced man, he was confident but not arrogant, he reminded me of Dutch in the first one in thst he always listened to his men like Taabe listened to Narus feedback. At the end this would not have been such a good movie without the casting , both Amber and Dakota were perfect, next time you interview Amber pleas ask her about the warcry at the end, you see that scene and I dont see an actor, I see Naru after killing a seemingly undefeatable foe!!!!
I was saying that my idea of her fighting style was "Jungian." (Sounds like Union) But thank you for watching and commenting. Means alot!
Every time I hear the endless whining about a woman of small physical stature defeating the Predator, the first thing that pops into my mind is the Vietnam War.
The average height and weight of a Viet Cong/North Vietnamese soldier was roughly 5'6" 140lbs. and, oh by the way, look it up yourself, at least 20% were women, who were even smaller.
The most technologically advanced military in the history of the world, with infantry and riflemen commonly running 6' 170lbs. or larger was fought to a standstill until ultimately resigning from the battlefield.
Actually surprising how many people still assume conflicts are decided by who is the biggest and the strongest.
Exactly! When (sexist) people question how a small (smart, competent, observant, dexterous, creative) woman could beat the big bad monster, I just want to ask them, "Did y'all actually see the original movie?!?" John McTiernan's original Predator film goes out of its way to set up Butch's team to be big, tough, macho men with big guns (arms) and big guns (the kind that shoot bullets). And that movie then goes out of its way to show that none of that matters. To beat the Yautja, Butch relied primarily on cunning, not strength. In a strength vs strength competition, no human can match the monster. But, by hiding (with mud or medicine), by undermining the monster's ability to see (with fire or by stealing their mask), and by luring them into traps, a human can stand a chance.
Since you mentioned the French dudes speaking in their language messed with your immersion: I speak French natively and I'm pretty sure it was far more immersion breaking for me because it was pretty obvious that the actors didn't actually know the language. It's not even that they were Canadian French, which is often the case in American productions whenever they need French speaking actors and would have made total sense in this case. The pronunciation, intonations and sometimes even grammar were completely off and I don't think it matches any version of French that exists today or back then. Mind you, it's not even a criticism, I love the movie and I don't care that much about how my language is represented in American movies, I just thought it was funny enough to point it out. I really enjoyed the movie otherwise.
I can't really talk about the Native representation, as you already did it yourself and I'm not Native myself so it's certainly not my place, if it's an accurate and positive representation I'm really glad, so I will talk about something completely unrelated: I thought it was really cool to show the Yautja go after animals and not just humans, to show that we're not the only ones on this planet that could get his attention! A little bit of a nitpick, I thought it was a missed opportunity not to show that the rattlesnake has a heat vision just like the Yautja, and I thought the wolf's behaviour was maybe too blindly aggressive (maybe the other animals and even humans too, but wolves are known to be quite cautious when they face danger). Also, I think it's worth mentioning that the puma and grizzly bear attacked Naru because contrary to the Yautja, the French guys and even the other Comanche hunters, they didn't understimate her and they saw her as a possible threat. I don't know if it was intentional, but I think it's quite meaningful.
Alita Battle Angel
Thanks!
Thank you! Really means a lot!
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kinda bothered me when the predator killed beavers' character that the blades where too far apart. dismissed it as a continuity error. just realized he was pierced in the manner and lifted into a position akin to a sun dance. 30 years in the plains, i should've caught it sooner.
nice