Prey (2022)

As long as we recognize Lucas is washed up and most TV sucks, we'll all get along fine.
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Leisher
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Post by Leisher »

“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
GORDON
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Post by GORDON »

1. There hasn't been anything great from the Predator franchise since Gary Bussey. And I'm tired of my high hopes not being met.

2. Getting kind of tired of the "a woman will prevail over all the men in the physical contest" trope.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
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Post by Leisher »

GORDON wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 8:36 am 2. Getting kind of tired of the "a woman will prevail over all the men in the physical contest" trope.
To be fair, modern women are smashing all sorts of athletic records...
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
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Post by GORDON »

At this point it's no longer making a bold statement, it's checking a box.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
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Post by Leisher »

I should have put modern women in quotes to indicate I'm talking about women like Caitlyn Jenner, Lia Thomas, Laurel Hubbard, etc.

Jokes aside, the trope you're sick of has indeed been going on since the 70s. It's been done to death. So much so that there are several horror movies called "Final Girl" or some variation of that. At this point, a man being the sole survivor of a horror movie would be original.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
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Post by GORDON »

Yeah but in the past it was novel. The action hero cliche was a tough dude, because in general an average dude was way tougher than the toughest woman. NOW..... since people have been saying "Why aren't there any women in horror/sci-fi" in spite of Ellen Ripley, Leeloo, Sarah Conner, and all of the women you say have always been around since the 70s, now it's rare to see a new male action hero.

Putting a woman in the lead as the toughest human around is no longer fresh, it's tired. A 125 pound waif isn't going to body-slam a 210 pound mercenary like I've seen in a lot of movies, I don't care how honed is her intellect, or motherly instincts. It's no longer clever, it's a tired trope.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
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Post by Leisher »

GORDON wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 11:48 am The action hero cliche was a tough dude, because in general an average dude was way tougher than the toughest woman. NOW..... since people have been saying "Why aren't there any women in horror/sci-fi" in spite of Ellen Ripley, Leeloo, Sarah Conner, and all of the women you say have always been around since the 70s, now it's rare to see a new male action hero.
Mixing genres a bit. I was referring to the "final girl" being a horror movie trope since the 70s. Action movies are a whole other thing, and yes, quite ridiculous. I am all about girl power being the father of three daughters, but reality is reality.

That's why I like how they handle Black Widow in the MCU. Her attack style is all about using the other person's power and momentum against them. Movies where the hero woman goes toe to toe with her male attacker(s), superhero movies aside, ask me to stretch my imagination a bit too much.
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Post by Leisher »

Is it entertaining? Yes.

Is there good action? Yes.

Does the CGI bear look ridiculous? Yes.

Is it woke? Woke for the time period, yes.

Is it too woke? Eh, yes and no. There is definitely a girl power theme going on pushed by men looking down upon her, including a misogynistic Predator. That would be acceptable if the Predator culture was like the Native American one, but it's not. Predator canon has their females as fierce warriors too, so maybe the writer could have done a bit of research on the source material. (I mean, I just googled Predator females and there it was...) However, to make up for her physical weakness they give her brains that seem like an evolutionary step forward. Her fighting style is very Black Widow-like in it is about striking and moving non-stop. She also has perception skills akin to Sean Spencer in Psych. So to make her a match, they've basically turned her into a minor superhero.

I saw it. I'm not mad I did, but I would never intentionally sit down to watch it again.
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Post by GORDON »

I thought her toughness was a bit more earned than your impression. There were times when she was planting an axe deep into a tree with her scrawny girl arms, and kinda beat the shit out of a brave when they were trying to take her home, that made me sigh.

But, in the final battle, nothing came out of nowhere. She didn't suddenly have knowledge or skill that she hadn't already been shown having, or learning. Everything she did at the end was because of a situation we saw her struggle with before, or from something she observed. "I'm smarter than a beaver," was prophetic. She'd been watching the predator the entire time, studying it, learning. I can appreciate a character that doesn't lose her shit at the first time of something scary, and has reasoning skills.

I appreciated all the braves, for that reason. When it was time to fight, they fought competently, for an unconventional encounter. And I kinda appreciated the smartass predator mocking the war cry of the braves as he took one down. Got all up in the guy's face and roared.

I liked how the predator took the bear hand to hand, and fired arrows back. Showed sportsmanship, more or less.

I didn't like how the predator remained cloaked against man and beast, when no one could even approach its tech level. Unsportsmanlike. It was dunking on shit cloaked, until it met the braves (and brave-ette? do they have their own word?). It made sense for it to be cloaked against Arnold, since he and his crew could kill it easily if they had a clean shot. Didn't make sense against a lone wolf without a pack, or a tribe of stone age warriors.

Why do you think the predator was sexist? Because "it doesn't see me as a threat?" I assumed that's because every time she confronted it up to that point, her skills were laughable, because she had always been on the back foot.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
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