Quote from: PAS Spinelli on Oct 27, 2022, 03:24:54 AMI've seen the facebook comments and they are often made by old people or very insecure men, 80% of which haven't watched the movie
Quote from: ralfy on Oct 27, 2022, 02:45:48 AMAwful movie, with a Mary Sue character, lack of characterization for protagonists in general (unlike in the first, where one can sympathize with not only Dutch but with the rest of his crew), and a stupid predator.
Incase this is serious (I hope it isn't)
A Mary Sue is a perfect character who is perfect at everything and that everyone loves, Naru is disliked by the hunters in her Tribe, mocked and looked down upon by her family and her skills are flawed and she constantly f**ks up through the movie, so she can't be a Mary Sue.
Naru has way more characterization in this than Dutch had in the first movie (Dutch was the least developed character in that movie when you take in count how much screen time he had). Naru at the start is shown as cocky, confident and unskilled in the areas she wants to be skilled at the most, constantly failing to properly do the things she sets out to do, halfway through she starts adapting and improving, but still failing due to her own cockiness or lack or preparation, for instance, she constantly does things without thinking of the what will happen next, like attacking the bear or engaging in a fight with her own tribesmates. It's only AFTER she loses something dear to her that she properly plans out her actions and truly succeeds.
Feral isn't stupid, specially when compared to JH, CH, Fugitive and Wolf. He never does something downright stupid, but instead reckless because he is sure he will get away with it, he rushes at the Wolf and Bear because he knows he can kill them, he avoid using his own gear because he wants to have fun fighting them, the only times he gets surprised for rushing in is when the Trappers ambush him, and even then he quickly takes control of the situation and kills all of them.
She's a Mary Sue because she easily counters several grown men, is the star of the movie (any other protagonists are forgettable or are used as foils for her advancement, like Andolini and co., and even those she considers dear), in appearance reminds me more of a SoCal gal rather than a Native American who probably had life expectancy rates lower than 30 years, in mannerism and thought is very much a woke post-modern American, as she is cocky (with cute scenes of her and her dog trekking alone) until she gets into trouble, and so on.
In contrast, the characterization of Dutch is much better, especially when all that arrogance rots due to overconfidence. Meanwhile, he's not a Gary Sue as his fellow protagonists are very-well developed, and humorous dialogue is even added to allow viewers to sympathize with them, from the hotheaded Blain, his best friend Mac (two contrasting figures), to the brooding and stoic Billy, wise-cracking Hawkins, and so on, but it's the ending that attests to that, as in despair Dutch realizes that the only way to defeat the predator is to use low levels of technology, guile, and himself as bait.
Even the much-hated second
Predator movie still retained such character development.
But in this case, the star and only one that matters is Naru, and from the get-go the movie is filled with mostly spectacle (in contrast to movies like
Aliens, where the action takes off only in the latter half or third of the film). I'm not surprised that contemporary viewers did not see these issues in
Prey, because I'm guessing that they are seeing the older movies through the lenses of modern ones, which essentially involve cramming as much content as possible and making clear delineations between good and evil.
Finally, I think anyone should have expected this in
Prey, because probably like the
Aliens,
Mad Max, and other franchises, producers are essentially rebooting the franchise. That is, viewers can watch this movie without having seen the previous ones, and young viewers (the "sweet spot" for demographics) can appreciate such films if young people star in them as Mary Sues and Gary Stus. After that, I won't be surprised if they start remaking the older movies and refashioning them in the same way.
