How does the prequel ‘Predator: Prey’ connect with the previous films?
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (’10 Cloverfield Street’) and starring Amber Midthunder as a Comanche warrior named Naru, ‘Predator: Prey’ is the first prequel to the ‘Predator’ saga and the first, too, to feature a female lead. Premiering this Friday on Disney +, the rest of the cast is mainly composed of native american talentsincluded dakota beaverswho plays Naru’s brother Taabe.
Although chronologically ‘Predator: Prey’ became the first of all the ‘Predator’ movies, it was the original ‘Predator’ from 1987 directed by John McTiernan the one that established the basic characteristics of the intergalactic hunter, his virtues, his defects, his weapons and his appearance. So everything we see in this prequel is, in a way, a reference to the first already its sequel, where we saw the ‘Predator’ in an urban setting and delved deeper into its technology.
But there are winks that are more a tribute or a easter egg than a simple reference, and there is no greater example than the gun. what gun? Well, for that we have to go into…
SPOILERS FOR ‘PREDATOR: PREY’
Ok, now yes. Let’s talk about the famous gun.
“Raphaël Adolini 1715”
The flintlock pistol Naru steals from trappers has the same inscription that an elderly Predator gave to Danny Glover’s character in ‘Predator 2’. This inscription reads “Raphael Adolini 1715“, and his story had been told in one of the comics about the franchise, recounting his origin in a pirate that he would have given it to a Predator with his last breath, saying “Take it” (which is the same thing the old alien said to Glover when giving him the weapon in the sequel to ‘Predator’).
‘Predator: Prey’ seems to change this origin, but confirm connection to previous movies establishing that they are in the same canon. The gun is given by Naru to the leaders of his tribe as proof that the white man is a threat to them, and could be important if there is a sequel since Naru has learned to use it previously.
“If it bleeds, we can kill it”
The most iconic phrase of the entire franchise, and one of the most remembered of the best films of Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is a phrase that, if we remember correctly, has been mentioned in all installments of the saga, and on this occasion it is pronounced by Naru’s brother when she expresses her doubts about whether they will be able to finish off the creature. Taabe then notices phosphorescent blood stains and drop the sentence.
thermal camouflage
Naru falls into a kind of mud quicksand in the first section of the film, although he manages to get out at the last moment thanks to the fact that he throws his ax tied to a rope and uses some nearby logs to propel himself. When we see Naru come out covered in mud, we can’t help but remember Dutch, the protagonist of the first, using the mud as thermal camouflage against the Predatoralso hiding in trunks very similar to those used by Naru as an aid.
In the final battle, Naru changes the mud for medicinal flowers that lower body temperatureachieving the same effect as Schwarzenegger’s character.
The 3 point laser
Perhaps the most iconic Predator weapon, the 3-point laser in the shape of a triangle that serves to mark the target when shooting its arrows could not be missing. On this occasion, moreover, it is doubly important because Naru’s cunning makes this weapon turns against its owner and be the key to finally ending the alien invader.
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
