I kinda regret how much slack I cut The Predator a few years back. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s as underwhelming an action flick as it gets, but I mean more specifically for how it treated autism. Flattery doesn’t tend to age very well, and that’s basically what it amounted to in that regard: Empty platitudes that were pretty asinine when you think them over for even a second. Cut to today’s film, which was being developed at the same time as Shane Black’s little misstep, and which has an approach to representation that has a bit more thought to it than ‘you’re the next phase in human evolution’.
This was originally meant to be shot predominantly in the Comanche language, an idea that Disney shut down because why try and pander to an audience that's been so thinned-out by colonialist arseholery that they won't make for a sufficient box-office return?
Bloody hell, I think that flash of cynicism aged me several years at once. Now I remember why I gave it up.
Anyway, that was originally the plan, and because it went straight-to-streaming, Trachtenberg was able to add a Comanche dub to it without having to worry about sending updates to cinemas. This is the version I ended up watching, and honestly, it does add quite a bit to the film. It fleshes out the intent to show respect to Comanche culture and customs, and it makes the later language barriers between the Comanche and a camp of French poachers more effective by putting us squarely in the position of the Comanche. There’s also the added bonus of avoiding the usual problem of non-native English speakers in-story speaking English solely for the benefit of an English-speaking audience. It’s such a normalised bit of weirdness when it comes to filmmaking that exceptions like this can really make you question it.
As for its treatment of the Predator franchise, it brings things back to the wilderness survival yarn of the original film, with plenty of imagery that reiterates the nature of the food chain and the hunter/prey relationship in the wild. The atmosphere may not be as tense as with director Dan Trachtenberg’s last film with 10 Cloverfield Lane, but that’s a pretty high bar to reach as it is; what’s here is more than satisfactory. The brisk pacing combined with Sarah Schachner’s thumping soundtrack and Jeff Cutter’s frequent use of drone shots do a lot to ratchet up the tension, making the action scenes hit that much harder.
And man, do these action scenes pack a punch, and not even just the ones to do with the Predator. Sure, he’s looking as vicious as ever, and he puts his vast collection of toys to good use (that retractable shield especially), but the film’s focus on hunting allows for some cool set pieces. As young Naru (Amber Midthunder) grows into a real warrior, her showdowns with a number of different animals make for some intense moments, to say nothing of her fights with the alien hunter. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give credit to Dakota Beavers as her brother Taabe, who may share in the casual misogyny thrown Naru’s way by the rest of the tribe, but can hold his own with a bow and arrow.
While I personally still prefer Predators over this, just for the sake of how fun the characters were in that, this comes a very close second. It’s a lean and mean action flick that does justice to its setting and cultural background, complete with a dub that could help preserve an endangered language, and while its gender commentary is a bit stale, its general handling of themes of survival and predation add plenty of muscle to the production. Well done for making a survival thriller I can actually get behind.
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