Prey is the newest movie in the Predator franchise, but its Rotten Tomatoes score is way better than any other movie in the series. The prequel is currently only available streaming on Hulu, but the Dan Trachtenberg-directed Predator prequel is getting a lot of praise, reflected in its enthusiastic critic and audience reception in Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite the Predator franchise's popularity, it hasn't seen any massive performance at the box office, and only two of the prior installments (including the Alien vs. Predator spin-offs) even saw Fresh Rotten Tomatoes scores. Despite the low bar, Prey's enthusiastic reception is a great thing for a franchise long in need of revitalization after a long strong of critical and box office flops from Predator 2 in 1990 to The Predator in 2018, with Predators serving as the only other Fresh score (albeit with a divisive reputation).
Currently standing at 162 total reviews, Prey has a 93 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, topping every single other franchise installment, including the original 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger Predator at 80 percent. The franchise's third installment, Predators is the only other movie in the franchise with a Fresh score, standing at 65 percent, with every other Predator movie landing below 33 percent. Including Alien vs. Predator and Alien vs. Predator requiem, the seven movies in the franchise only average 48 percent, while excluding the Alien tie-ins, the five main Predator movies barely bring the average into the Fresh range at 60 percent.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Love Prey, But Audiences Prefer The Original Predator
Despite the big disparity from critics, Prey only has the second highest score when it comes to the audience score, earning an 82 percent, five points below the original Predator's 87 percent. The next highest audience score belongs to 2010's Predators, with 52 percent. Granted, for a franchise as old as Predator, Rotten Tomatoes scores can be unfair to compare since both critics and audiences tend to treat new releases differently than well-regarded nostalgic franchise installments from the decades before Rotten Tomatoes even existed. Even so, both Prey's 93 percent critical score and 82 percent audience score indicate a strong reception on all fronts, especially since the movie didn't even get a theatrical release.
Of course, all reviews are subjective, meaning an aggregated score like Rotten Tomatoes doesn't serve as an objective measurement of quality, especially when comparing a movie released in 1987 to a movie released in 2022. Regardless, the vast majority of people who have seen Prey (including Jesse Ventura) are giving it a thumbs up, so hopefully, its reception bodes well for the franchise, especially considering the studio's decision to relegate it to a streaming-only release.