The Predator franchise is back to its brutal best.

So often in genre cinema, keeping things simple brings with it the greatest rewards, yet, in an era where studios grow increasingly desperate to keep franchises alive at all costs, this belief in simplicity frequently goes missing.

As is more and more the case these days, such desperation leads to over-complication, and with over-complication you tend to get a mess. One that can threaten the very existence of a franchise. Just ask Predator.

It’s been thirty-five years since Predator first slashed its way onto our screens, and in that time so many sequels have come and gone that have only really served to overcook what, at its core, is a very simple premise. So, with spiralling quality and dwindling interest with each passing instalment, going back to basics could be the smartest move the franchise has made since they hired Arnie and smeared him in mud.

Fighting to protect her tribe from a highly evolved alien that hunts humans for sport, a skilled Comanche warrior, Naru (Amber Midthunder), must use all her training to ward off a foe unlike anything she’s seen before. With this predator leaving a trail of blood and guts in its wake, Naru must battle against seemingly insurmountable odds to take the mysterious creature out and keep her people safe.

Let’s be honest, stating that any Predator entry is the best since the original feels like the very definition of damning with faint praise, but make no mistake, there’s nothing faint about any praise sent Prey’s way. Without a doubt, this prequel not only holds up extremely well against its Arnie-starring predecessor, in the fullness of time, there’s every chance it will we valued above it.

It should never be underestimated just how tall a task Prey had in making the Predator series relevant again. In the three and a half decades since the original, the entire franchise felt fresh out of ideas and all but dead, yet this latest effort has, in the space of under two thrilling hours, utterly reinvigorated the entire thing.

The film’s concept of rewinding the clock and dropping a Predator smack bang in the middle of history is both stunningly simple and devastatingly effective. Of course these bloodthirsty aliens have been popping down to Earth to hunt us for sport since the dawn of man. I mean, why wouldn’t they?

The extra layers of drama that come with placing the alien right in the middle of Comanche land and amidst a time fraught with conflict and tragedy makes Prey hit just that little bit harder. What ensues is a true slice of brutal beauty, with a real-world historical backdrop drenched in blood and painfully pertinent issues that lend the film the kind of heart and soul that the franchise has rarely exhibited.

We probably all know what we’re getting from any given Predator movie these days and, in essence, there’s little to the mechanics of Prey’s plot that won’t be familiar to anyone with even a passing knowledge of the long running series, but the very fact that it all feels so fresh despite this, is to the immense credit of everyone involved.

As the man who took a similarly idiosyncratic approach to another franchise with 10 Cloverfield Lane, director Dan Trachtenberg has demonstrated once again that he has a firm handle on what makes a popular movie IP tick, peeling back the fat and flesh from the Predator concept to expose its very core.

With a sturdy grasp on both the visceral demands of the action and the importance of storytelling, Trachtenberg gets the balance just right. Blending stunningly simple visuals, devastating moments of horror, and beautifully crafted writing, the film is a thoroughly satisfying viewing experience that should, with any luck, be the blueprint for franchise filmmaking moving forward.

Trachtenberg’s understanding of the mechanics of both a good Predator character and a good Predator story are quite remarkable. Moulding an alien that’s terrifying, brutal, dominant, but ultimately vulnerable, the director offers us an antagonist that’s familiar yet surprisingly unique.

With a character design that feels very much at home in the haunting Great Plains of 18th century America, this Predator is as ruthless and bloodthirsty as any we’ve seen before. Utilising a more primitive form of weaponry than the Predators of films past, there’s something astonishingly primal and startlingly refreshing about this alien, especially when considering who he’s up against.

Equally as refreshing in a film series that has always had a very particular look to its heroes, Amber Midthunder’s Naru is truly something different and exactly what Predator needs to revitalise itself. Young and diminutive but no less of a badass because of it, Naru offers everything you could want from an action hero as she outsmarts and outmanoeuvres not only the Predator but those in her own tribe that doubt her.

Fully embracing Naru’s tenacious warrior spirit, Midthunder absolutely throws herself into the role, offering a ruthless, cerebral hero that will no doubt go on to become both a true icon of the franchise and a breakthrough moment for Native American representation. Her presence as a powerful threat to the Predator in a franchise so often concerned with grizzled, male, largely white protagonists, is startling and, while it shouldn’t be, truly ground-breaking.

Joining her, Dakota Beavers as Naru’s brother, Taabe, is a revelation, and while he doesn’t have nearly as much screen time as Midthunder, Beavers nonetheless puts his mark on the film, growing into the story to become an integral part of both Prey’s action and dramatic heart, in what is, remarkably, his debut feature.

Ultimately, however, Prey is very much Amber Midthunder’s movie. Every bit as integral to the film’s success as Schwarzenegger was back in the day, Midthunder has well and truly announced herself to the world as a star and helped breathe new life into a dying franchise as she goes.

Where things go for the Predator series from here, who knows, but, as things stand, the whole thing is in the best place it’s been in for many years. Through Amber Midthunder’s storming performance and Dan Trachtenberg’s keen eye for low-key franchise filmmaking, Prey is a brutal, beautifully crafted, and surprisingly affective slice of gory goodness.

Prey is streaming now on Hulu (US) / Disney+ (worldwide)