Prey movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Prey

This disappointing thriller is now playing in select theaters, as well as on Video on Demand on sites like Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 26 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: D for Disappointing

IN A NUTSHELL:

The story is about a young couple that is compelled to leave their Christian missionary station in the Kalahari Desert after being threatened with death by an extremist militant gang. After their small aircraft crashes, they must battle man and beast for their lives. While there are some faith-related moments in the story, this is definitely not a Christian movie.

The film was directed and written by Mukunda Michael Dewil.

THINGS I LIKED:

The first few images of the movie are visceral and intriguing.
The cast includes Emile Hirsch, Ryan Phillippe, Mena Suvari, Jeremy Tardy, and a bunch of actors that play characters you’re immediately annoyed by and are pretty sure will eventually die in the blood bath that ensues.
The powerful music really gets your heart pumping.
The original movie title was “Kalahari.”
We get to see some beautiful animals.
We see some lovely cinematography of nature.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Like many movies in this genre, many of the characters make really stupid choices.
One moment drove me nuts is when one of the characters looks up at heaven, as if speaking to God and said, “It’s on you now.” He makes no effort to protect or save himself. Instead, he just sits down, gives up, and feels sorry for himself. I absolutely believe in faith and prayer, but I also believe that God expects us to take action and do our part too. He made so many passive choices during the story.
Unfortunately, we only see stock footage of the animals and never see actual attacks (not that I enjoy watching that). All of the animal action is off screen. In that regard, many viewers will be disappointed with the lack of action.
There are some terrible acting moments.
The many green-screen moments are very noticeable.
I kept looking at the clock to see how much more of this dumb movie I had to endure in order to give you a full movie review.
The ending is pretty lame.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

We see a lot of blood but no actual action
Some profanity, including F-bombs
People die.
Various firearms are used

THEMES:

Survival
Faith
Nature
Teamwork
Selfishness
Greed

DUMB LINES:

“It must be a full-time job being an A-hole.” – (Jeremy Tardy)
“Where are we?” – (Jeremy Hardy) “Some place you don’t want to be, kid.” – (Emile Hirsch)
“Is faith just the absence of common sense?” – (Emile Hirsch)
“If you want to live, come with me.” – (Emile Hirsch)