Prey’s Dan Trachtenberg defends J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens from the criticism of it being a retread of A New Hope. Trachtenberg, who has previous action film experience with 10 Cloverfield Lane, was the director of Prey, a prequel to 1987’s Predator. Prey does not feature characters from the original film, as it takes audiences back to a time 300 years before the events of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Predator. Prey follows the story of the Naru, a skilled young warrior, who fights to protect the Comanche Nation against one of the first highly-evolved predators on Earth.
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Prey and Star Wars: The Force Awakens share a common criticism that they are too similar to previous installments in their respective franchises. After its release in 2015, The Force Awakens was compared to A New Hope, which followed a similar plot structure, albeit with different characters. Similarly, Prey has been cited as too similar to the original Predator film, despite its plot existing in a time before the likes of Dutch and Dillon hit the screens in the 80s.
Now, Trachtenberg speaks out against these criticisms of The Force Awakens, in a recent interview with Radio 1’s Screen Time podcast. Trachtenberg likened his film to The Force Awakens, pointing out that just as The Force Awakens holds structural similarities with A New Hope, his film Prey bears resemblance to Predator. However, Trachtenberg pointed out that Abrams was overly criticized for elements of The Force Awakens that were not as significant as fans thought they were. For example, viewers were quick to point out the amount of lens flares in The Force Awakens. Trachtenberg pointed out that “we have had movies with tons of lens flares in them for years.” He cited Michael Bay’s Transformers film, whose lens flares he suggests do not get harped on in the same way that Abrams did. He chalks this up to a case of their being “one extra thing,” such as a lens flare in an out-of-place moment, that throws of the “very delicate” balance of paying fan service while still creating new content. Check out the full quote from Trachtenberg below:
“I think some movies get maligned for being too fan-servicey… and it’s like, it’s by a fraction, sometimes just one too many… I always think about JJ Abrams and lens flares. And, boy, we have had movies with tons of lens flares in them for years! Michael Bay, who’s a filmmaker people love to criticize for his- him being overly aggressive visuals, those Transformers movies are filled with lens flares, never have we been, like, ‘the Michael Bay lens flare.’ [So then why JJ?] Because it's like, there’s one more, one in a spot where it jumped out. And even Force Awakens, I think- people are like, ‘Oh it’s too much of a retread,’ not everyone but like, there was a voice on the internet saying that. I think it’s just as similar to A New Hope as our movie is [to Predator], structurally, we’re very similar, as Rian [Johnson]’s was to Empire Strikes Back, but perhaps there was one thing too many. There was one extra thing, you know? So it’s all just- all that’s to say, it’s very delicate."
While defending The Force Awakens is in Trachtenberg’s best interest here, the director still has a good point about how these elements are viewed by audiences. It is easy for viewers to step in and “malign” films for being “too fan-servicey” when really they are trying to accomplish the delicate task of creating an original film while still paying homage to their franchise predecessors. In both cases, The Force Awakens and Prey come from beloved franchises, so some reference to the originals and appreciation of the story structure that brought them so much praise is a crucial element to connect them to their original content.
Even with some of its criticism, Prey has been an overall well-received movie, much like The Force Awakens. Though the film was released on Hulu, speculation has buzzed as to whether Prey would have been a box office hit had it gone to theaters instead of streaming. In a competitive year for action films, it may not have quite held up. Either way, Prey is a valuable entry to the Predator franchise, even if it follows some familiar structures rather than paving its own way completely.