Decent movie, awful lead

Prey is a movie trying to be a lot of things, a successful reboot of the franchise after some let downs, a "return to roots" sort of flick and one that tries to tread the lines of wokeness, but being a Disney property now... they just can't help themselves.

The main protagonist Naru (Amber Midthunder) is... tolerable at best. While they didn't go the Rey "Mary Sue" Skywalker route, she does have some way too modern sensibilities and in the final act she is far too capable to be believable.

Firstly, she is constantly shirking the roles of her tribe, she is backed up by her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) who mainly defends her position within the tribe as sort of a tom boy try hard who REALLY wants to be a hunter (and shes VERY angsty about it). Taabe is actually a very well rounded character, and honestly, if he were the protagonist and the roles were reversed in this film, it would be far better off.

The real issue is the way they all speak to each other, it's clear the casting is an attempt to have more diversity, but I appreciated the consistency of indigenous characters. The issue here is this, they want to make these characters relatable to modern indigenous people, so they all talk that way, they use a very modern vernacular and vocabulary that is just ridiculously out of place for the time period this film is set in.

Another issue, and this is a bit nitpicky I suppose, but there is an issue with the way Naru herself looks... for someone who claims to be a capable hunter, and who practices it, despite everyone else asking her not to and directly inconveniencing her tribe most times, for all of that, she still looks soft and way too out of shape. The actress herself is "thicc" to say the least, and has WAY too much meat on her to be a real warrior in a tribe struggling to survive in the 1700s. It's most evident in the scene where she is running from the Predator and you can see how really un-atheletic she is.

Finally, in the final act, the engagement between her and the predator and the inevitable conclusion is extremely tedious and takes some serious suspension of disbelief to make your way through it. There are so many inexplicable decisions made by the Predator and others and so much plot armor for Naru that it's extremely underwhelming.

Overall the movie is entertaining, it has some great acting (by supporting actors) and despite the efforts to ride the line in terms of wokeness.... they couldn't help themselves but include it.

You might enjoy it, you might not, depends on your ability to suspend your disbelief and look past the angsty thicc proud indigenous woman schtick and just absorb the gory action and violence.