Reviews

The Comanche dub version changes some of the subtitled dialogue compared with the English audio. The English audio dialog was too colloquial; it sounded too contemporary and literal, as if it could've been spoken in 2022 instead of 1719. The Comanche dub also pulls you into the movie more, and it improves the acting performances and the aesthetic of the film. It gives off a sort of an Apocalypto vibe. Bad or good accents have a big effect on a film. (Think Harrison Ford as a Russian submarine captain in K-19 The Widowmaker with his unapologetic American accent). I enjoyed Prey considerably more in Comanche dub than English audio.

One criticism I wanted to address: I've read some early reviews/comments about "Comancheria", that the Comanche were horse riding peoples occupying the flatlands of Texas/New Mexico/Oklahoma, aka "Comancheria", not on foot in mountainous woodlands. They seem to think the setting was supposed to be Appalachia (it was filmed in Alberta, Canada) and therefore it isn't historically accurate. Obviously this is a bad take because this takes place in the Northern Great Plains in 1719, probably in northeastern Wyoming, which is entirely historically accurate and consistent with the range of Comanche in the early 1700's. And they did not all have horses in 1719, especially in the north at that time, horses were much more scarce than they were in the lower Great Plains. Anyway, six minutes into the film it tells you specifically that this is in the Northern Great Plains in 1719. These critics seem to know everything they know about the Comanche exclusively from John Wayne films.

There are many other bad takes I've read such as the typical boring "Mary Sue" complaints. These critics don't recognize that this is essentially a David and Goliath story. David didn't defeat Goliath with brawn, but with his ingenuity, which is how Naru defeats the Predator. By the way, that's also how Arnold defeated the original Predator; his strength wasn't enough to win, he had to rig some elaborate traps. And in the end the Predators actually killed themselves in both films.

The last bad take I want to address that I keep hearing about is that the Predator has a "code of honor" and Prey breaks that code several times. These critics are referencing a so-called canon in comics and books but not any of the movies, because none of the movies portray any code of honor. First of all, comics and books are irrelevant; any future writer or director can ignore them; it only matters what's on film. The Predator is a trophy hunter and a thrill seeker. There is no honor in hunting game for trophies, just like there is no honor in humans hunting lions or tigers or bears or elephants for trophies with rifles from 500 meters while dressed in camouflage and hiding from a stealth position. If the Predator had honor, it wouldn't use stealth armor. That's why Taabe shouts, "Cheater!" when the Predator turns on its stealth armor during their battle (in the dub version). In the original Predator, it discarded its stealth armor only because it malfunctioned. It then fought Arnold hand to hand after sizing him up because he found Arnold to be worthy of a fight; but that wasn't a code of honor, that was just adrenaline and anger; it was ticked off. And when it lost the fight, it decided to nuke them both- very dishonorable! The Predator in Prey fights a bear but the bear loses track of it because of the stealth armor. I don't find that to be honorable. It fought the bear because the bear was worthy of a fight like a bull is worthy of a matador. Lastly, to highlight the fact that the Predator has no code of honor, Prey features French trappers that trap and skin animals. Skinning buffalo for their furs is not honorable, just as Predator killing animals for their skulls is not honorable. But when Naru says a prayer for one of the buffalo spirits, that was a display of honor that we never see with Predator. That scene firmly establishes that the Predators do not have a code of honor.

An excellent finale to what I think is the best season so far. Congratulations to John, and to Minhe - I couldn't have chosen a winner so I don't envy the judges! Every single competitor this season was highly technically skilled and so creative. I hope Netflix greenlights season 4.

I wanted to acknowledge Nick Uhas again as a great host. His dad jokes were well-delivered, his critiques and compliments were honest and sincere and often relatable to the average viewer's perspective, and he was never afraid to contradict the expert evaluators. His words of encouragement to Minhe at the end of the competition - whether scripted or not - was beautiful to see. So if there is a season 4 (or another "special"), I hope Nick Uhas is hosting it.

This is the now-obligatory fake elimination round that we see in pretty much all reality TV game shows. Usually it comes later in the game and when there's a team-up, or when the challenge is something deeply personal, or when a charity or big sponsor is involved with the episode. It's still a good episode and at least they pick a winner if not a loser.

This is the first elimination that I question whether it was legitimate or if the producer of the show intervened for a specific outcome. I couldn't make a decision myself because I liked everyone's piece, but based on what the evaluators themselves said: Minhe's piece seemed like the least liked amongst all 3 evaluators, specifically targeting the color palette and the concept itself. They all liked Dan's piece and really only questioned the crack in the rondel. And the guest evaluator really loved both Johns' pieces. So I feel like if it really came down to Minhe and Dan, then Minhe should have been eliminated, not Dan, based on what the evaluators were telling us. And this leads me to believe that the producers intervened on the final outcome here by saving Minhe just to have a female Asian in the final 3 rather than all males in the final 3. My suspicion is further grounded in the flagrantly woke atrocity that was the Christmas special, so I wouldn't put it past them to do this.

This film was full of surprises. Sam Raimi did a terrific job combining suspense, horror and comedy to this Marvel entry. The corpse Doctor Strange was simultaneously horrifying and hilarious, that's what Sam Raimi does best. It was a bold move to make Scarlet Witch a villain following Wanda Maximoff's popularity in WandaVision, and simulating her self-sacrificial death (is she really dead? I don't think so!), so I have to hand it to the writers. I was worried about Marvel's foray into mysticism, because I didn't like Moon Knight very much. But with great directors like Sam Raimi, Taika Waititi, and James Gunn at the helms, I think there's nothing to worry about.

Hayden Christensen stole the show! What a spectacular performance for such an iconic character. He brought new depths to Darth Vader: made him darker, angrier, more hateful, more sinister and more powerful than ever before. Thank you, Hayden!

Overall I enjoyed these last two episodes. However, the writers completely skipped over showing how Obi Wan restored his strength - and that's par for the course as this series has had some amazing blunders and oversights in the script. It would have been appropriate if Qui-Gon helped Obi-Wan in this regard, imparting some wisdom and teaching him how to regain his focus. But instead the writers cheaped-out and used Qui-Gon like a party trick as a way to close out the series, and that's just sad. I have to say, not a deeply talented writing team here.

I almost didn't finish watching this film, it was so depressing and I didn't see the point. But in the last 15 minutes or so was an emotional rollercoaster that really paid off. Between Cal bringing Aron to their mother out of spite, a confused Aron running off to war, the hilarious unsympathetic nurse juxtaposed over the drama that had me unexpectedly laughing for the first time in this movie, Abra's plea to just let Cal love him and love him back, and those final words and that kiss that sealed Cal's happiness... oh man, I was balling, "I hate Steinbeck!" How could I possibly give this less than a 10?