Feeling a bit like Cujo in Africa, Prey may come across as cliché, but does have a few moments of suspense and will manage to make you jump more than once.
The film was directed by Darrell Roodt – who also helped write the screenplay with Beau Bauman and Jeff Wadlow. It stars Bridget Moynahan (Lord of War and I, Robot), Peter Weller (Robocop, Naked Lunch), Jamie Bartlett (Beyond Borders), Conner Dowds, and Carly Schroeder.
The film follows an American family as they head to Africa for a working vacation. Tom Newman (Weller) is handling some business while his new wife Amy (Moynahan) joins his two kids Jessica (Schroeder) and David (Dowds) on a safari tour of some of the local wildlife. The tour is hopefully going to provide a chance for the two kids to find a way to bond with their new step-mother. Naturally, everything goes horribly wrong.
All is going fine on the tour until spoiled daughter Jessica starts complaining about a lack of seeing any wildlife which prompts the ranger tour guide to do a little off-roading rather than sticking to the normal tour map. All is going good until David decides he needs a bathroom break. Since there are no bathrooms in the bush, the ranger (who for some reason takes the keys with him) and David are forced to walk into the wilderness for a potty break, and accidentally walk into a pack of lions. The pack of lions quickly sniff out a hot meal and attack.
The ranger (who is pretty much cannon fodder to begin with) gets killed on the race back to the safety of the vehicle leaving Amy and the kids to fend for themselves. Rather than leaving after their bellies get full, the lions decide to hang around the car trapping the three passengers inside – without a way to reach the hotel (cell phones don’t get a signal in the bush), with only half a bottle of water, and very little hope of rescue.
With his family missing, Newman tries to keep a level head and help arrange a search party with the rangers. Things are moving too slow for Newman so he heads out to get help from a local hunter - who has experience in finding people. The hunter pretty much tells Newman that his own chance of finding his family is to head out on their own and not count on the rangers. While the search is on, Amy and the kids are forced to deal with the lions – eventually having to take a chance on getting out of the vehicle. These scenes keep the film intense, and the pace from getting too slow.
Prey is described as "Jaws in the African bush" but it reminded me more of the 1983 adaptation of Stephen King’s Cujo – where a rabid St. Bernard traps a mother and her son in a car for most of the movie. I thought the lions added more suspense to the film than a dog did in Cujo, but the movie does feel a bit predictable at times.
When the lions attack (jumping on top of the vehicle or through the front windshield), the audience will jump, but there is a feeling of cliché that keeps the movie from being too scary. Roodt and Cinematographer Michael Brierley do a good job with sharp camera angles that wait to the last second to let the lion attack, and quick cuts from the stranded passengers and the attacking lions.
Shooting inside the vehicle is tight - with the actors straining to see where the next attack might come from. When the actors venture out of the vehicle, there is a feeling of dread. The audience knows the lions are going to attack, but you aren’t too sure when or where. Even if it feels cliché, you can’t help but inch up to the edge of the chair as Moynahan runs for her life with a lion fast on her heels.
Moynahan, Schroeder, and Dowds do a good job carrying much of the movie, and keeping the intensity believable so that the audience can stay locked into the suspense. Schroeder is a bit annoying at the beginning of the film, but her character is supposed to annoy so you can’t really fault her for that. Sadly, Weller doesn’t really add much to the Prey, and seems to be a bit lost to what he should be doing on screen. At times, his performance feels more like an afterthought.
While I enjoyed Prey, the film does have some problems that are more of an annoyance than something that will totally ruin the movie. In this day and age, it is a bit unbelievable that a major hotel that features safari tours would have NOTHING in their safari vehicles for in case of emergency. There is not even a road flare. You would think that since there is no signal available for cell phones, that the hotel (again since they give these tours daily) would make sure the vehicles had at least had a CB radio.
Also, while the lions are exciting to watch and offer some real moments of suspense, how realistic is it that they would remain with the vehicle? Not only do they remain, but even decide to track it when Amy finally gets it started and drives at high speeds for miles. Again, these problems don’t kill the movie, but might annoy some viewers.
Unfortunately, the DVD only comes with some trailers for other films and no special features. While this doesn’t hurt the enjoyment of the movie, it would have been nice to see some “behind the scenes” features on how the film was made, how the actors handled working with the lions, and some interviews with cast and crew.
Prey is a movie that is a bit predictable, but is still enjoyable. There are some minutes of solid suspense, and the pace never slows down enough for the audience to get bored. If you are looking for a fun movie that will give you a couple of jumps, I would recommend taking a chance on Prey.
The film was directed by Darrell Roodt – who also helped write the screenplay with Beau Bauman and Jeff Wadlow. It stars Bridget Moynahan (Lord of War and I, Robot), Peter Weller (Robocop, Naked Lunch), Jamie Bartlett (Beyond Borders), Conner Dowds, and Carly Schroeder.
The film follows an American family as they head to Africa for a working vacation. Tom Newman (Weller) is handling some business while his new wife Amy (Moynahan) joins his two kids Jessica (Schroeder) and David (Dowds) on a safari tour of some of the local wildlife. The tour is hopefully going to provide a chance for the two kids to find a way to bond with their new step-mother. Naturally, everything goes horribly wrong.
All is going fine on the tour until spoiled daughter Jessica starts complaining about a lack of seeing any wildlife which prompts the ranger tour guide to do a little off-roading rather than sticking to the normal tour map. All is going good until David decides he needs a bathroom break. Since there are no bathrooms in the bush, the ranger (who for some reason takes the keys with him) and David are forced to walk into the wilderness for a potty break, and accidentally walk into a pack of lions. The pack of lions quickly sniff out a hot meal and attack.
The ranger (who is pretty much cannon fodder to begin with) gets killed on the race back to the safety of the vehicle leaving Amy and the kids to fend for themselves. Rather than leaving after their bellies get full, the lions decide to hang around the car trapping the three passengers inside – without a way to reach the hotel (cell phones don’t get a signal in the bush), with only half a bottle of water, and very little hope of rescue.
With his family missing, Newman tries to keep a level head and help arrange a search party with the rangers. Things are moving too slow for Newman so he heads out to get help from a local hunter - who has experience in finding people. The hunter pretty much tells Newman that his own chance of finding his family is to head out on their own and not count on the rangers. While the search is on, Amy and the kids are forced to deal with the lions – eventually having to take a chance on getting out of the vehicle. These scenes keep the film intense, and the pace from getting too slow.
Prey is described as "Jaws in the African bush" but it reminded me more of the 1983 adaptation of Stephen King’s Cujo – where a rabid St. Bernard traps a mother and her son in a car for most of the movie. I thought the lions added more suspense to the film than a dog did in Cujo, but the movie does feel a bit predictable at times.
When the lions attack (jumping on top of the vehicle or through the front windshield), the audience will jump, but there is a feeling of cliché that keeps the movie from being too scary. Roodt and Cinematographer Michael Brierley do a good job with sharp camera angles that wait to the last second to let the lion attack, and quick cuts from the stranded passengers and the attacking lions.
Shooting inside the vehicle is tight - with the actors straining to see where the next attack might come from. When the actors venture out of the vehicle, there is a feeling of dread. The audience knows the lions are going to attack, but you aren’t too sure when or where. Even if it feels cliché, you can’t help but inch up to the edge of the chair as Moynahan runs for her life with a lion fast on her heels.
Moynahan, Schroeder, and Dowds do a good job carrying much of the movie, and keeping the intensity believable so that the audience can stay locked into the suspense. Schroeder is a bit annoying at the beginning of the film, but her character is supposed to annoy so you can’t really fault her for that. Sadly, Weller doesn’t really add much to the Prey, and seems to be a bit lost to what he should be doing on screen. At times, his performance feels more like an afterthought.
While I enjoyed Prey, the film does have some problems that are more of an annoyance than something that will totally ruin the movie. In this day and age, it is a bit unbelievable that a major hotel that features safari tours would have NOTHING in their safari vehicles for in case of emergency. There is not even a road flare. You would think that since there is no signal available for cell phones, that the hotel (again since they give these tours daily) would make sure the vehicles had at least had a CB radio.
Also, while the lions are exciting to watch and offer some real moments of suspense, how realistic is it that they would remain with the vehicle? Not only do they remain, but even decide to track it when Amy finally gets it started and drives at high speeds for miles. Again, these problems don’t kill the movie, but might annoy some viewers.
Unfortunately, the DVD only comes with some trailers for other films and no special features. While this doesn’t hurt the enjoyment of the movie, it would have been nice to see some “behind the scenes” features on how the film was made, how the actors handled working with the lions, and some interviews with cast and crew.
Prey is a movie that is a bit predictable, but is still enjoyable. There are some minutes of solid suspense, and the pace never slows down enough for the audience to get bored. If you are looking for a fun movie that will give you a couple of jumps, I would recommend taking a chance on Prey.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar