Great Plains, 1719. Naru Comanche Girl (Amber Midthunder of Legion)) serves as a healer in his tribe, but dreams of becoming a hunter – although everyone believes that he is not gifted. When the alien Predator’s ship soars in the sky above the settlement, Naru takes it as the sacred Thunderbird and decides it’s a sign: it’s time to pass the rite of passage to the warriors – it’s time to start the hunt. the creature that preyed on him.
Six years ago, director Dan Trachtenberg made a name for himself with 10 Cloverfields, the sequel—or rather, its “spiritual successor,” to Monstro, another sci-fi hit featuring bloodthirsty aliens. With Trachtenberg’s efforts, the sequel worked while doing it almost entirely without aliens: humans did an excellent job with the monsters’ function. Having successfully turned one franchise on its head, the director undertook to replace it with another.
“Production” Trachtenberg, as they say, brings “Predator” back to its origins (as they say, it seems about every new episode, but it’s really like the good old days here – and for once it’s really successful). All the essentials are in place: This is again a story about a fight between a man and a deadly alien, where only human intelligence and will can compete with superior physical strength and sophisticated murder weapons. And the war itself again takes place in the bosom of dazzling nature – instead of just the jungles of Central America, the frame here is filled with forests and fields deep within the North American continent.
The difference is that for the first time a woman is at the forefront, and more importantly, she is representative of America’s indigenous people. Just a few years ago, he would only act as the hero’s sidekick – now Naru deserves all the laurels. This first puts Predator in a refreshingly pro-feminist frame of reference (similar to what happened with the horror series Wrong Turn, which got a great fem reboot recently), even if such an operation were performed powerfully on the forehead – “I am dangerous because I am they do not see it as a threat” category came out shamelessly in the dialogues, holy simplicity. Second, it adapts the post-colonial message of the original tape with Arnold Schwarzenegger to the present day, as if it was mixed in the sequels.
“Making”, of course, in that sense, still has something to strive for – it’s not an ideal “wok” movie. The idea to shoot the movie entirely in Comanche didn’t materialize (the writers only managed to get a recording of the Comanche dubbing), so at some point the picture started to look—or rather, sound—totally ridiculous: Naru and his Tribe friends speak English interspersed with Comanche, and in the second half the picture suddenly popped up. French travelers, not even translated into subtitles in French.
Not ideal “Production” and as a fun bloody action. Screenwriter Patrick Eison, who previously wrote only individual episodes of series and hasn’t worked on full-length features, can’t keep up the pace: the tape has a very unhurried first act, with plenty of tunes capable enough to scare the audience. from twisted intestines. And cameraman Jeff Cutter (with beautiful choreography, by the way), who brilliantly captures the spectacular scenery in the battle scenes, is always trying to get the lens off the beaten track.
Despite these flaws, however, the Trachtenberg film is still perceived as a success, if not huge: it’s delightfully beautiful, it eschews Hollywood fashion for legacies (limiting itself to a series of elegant references for fans), and it truly franchises. passing through uncharted lands. And finally, after many years of trying to associate “Predator” with “Alien”, she gives the show her own Ellen Ripley. In principle, this is more than enough.