Prey

Call me crazy, but a pride of lions being the pinnacle of evil instead of the usual axe-wielding psycho is kind of refreshing. That's where the good stuff I have to say about this one ends. I think this movie is actually the director's cut of the Lion King...you know, the violent part of Simba's life that couldn't be shown in a Disney movie.

This movie is almost like a real-life version of movies like Anaconda, Jaws or Cujo where innocent people are being stalked by a predatory animal that is purely bent on killing them. Like I've already noted, I really like the idea. Being out in the middle of nowhere and not at the top of the food chain is a scary thought to me...which is why this movie sparked my interest.

However, it didn't deliver like I hoped for. Check it out if you'd like but don't get your hopes too high.

Not bad of a movie! Still, has a lot of common with Cujo, the Stephen King adaption. Attacks of big pussycats (okay, there had to be some kind of difference, wasn't there) on a car (jeep) where a woman (duuuuhhh) is trapped with her child (in this case children)... No way out, no food, no drinks... dehydration near... damn... The lions did their job fantastic! And I must say the stepmother was not bad of an actress... only thing I found a bit exaggerated... three hunters (by all means) are killed... and each time they get to kill at least one lion but still another takes revenge... The Male Lion is the real actor in this movie! The way he blew up in that jeep... great! All by all, not a bad movie, but had no new elements! It's worth a Seven, I won't give it more, but certainly won't give it less either!

Judging from the reviews here, I didn't expect much so I was somewhat pleasantly surprised. In a cold winter evening in Sweden it can be pretty nice to see a movie set in the beautiful South African landscape. The story is not much to say about. It's basically "Cujo" but with lions instead of a St Bernard Dog. By far not a great movie, but a pretty entertaining and exciting 90 minutes. Seen to the budget the movie looks pretty good. The acting is also OK, but it could have been a better movie if the script would have been more believable. But that is often the case with this type of movies and it didn't bother me that much.

Prey should be retitled The Stupid Family Goes to Africa. If one took this film seriously, which would be a mistake, one could say that this dysfunctional family was responsible for the deaths of several persons who would have been just fine if this family hadn't come to the Dark Continent to make it even darker. Knowing nothing about the private lives of lions, I can guess that the plot was probably highly inaccurate as I cannot imagine why a pride of lions would set their sights on these silly people when there are lots of zebra and wildebeest running around. As I sat open-mouthed(with awe at the lousy direction) waiting for the ending, I felt certain that a film this bad would have to end with one of the most offensive of movie clichés and indeed it did when Peter Weller said, "Let's go Home." This is what I would have said at the beginning of the movie if I had seen it in a theater.

Cat version of Cujo If you've seen Stephen King's Cujo, you'll like Prey. Prey is about a step mom and two kids who get stuck in a Range Rover on the African savanna and are stalked by a pride of man eating lions. Dad goes off to work leaving step mom to bond with the kids on a sight seeing trip. The guide gets killed by a lion and the girl bickers to the point where she deserves a good face slap. They make mistake after mistake and you're never quite sure whether they are going to be rescued.

(Ratings: Bad=1; Average=5; One of the best=10); Acting=06; Plot=05; Scenery=08; Character believability=07; Continuity=05; Dialog=05; Directing=07; Casting=07; Special effects=04; Overall Rating=06