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The recently released Predator prequel, Prey, has taken the world by storm, as it has become universally acclaimed with the only criticism being its sketchy CGI. The movie takes the franchise in a completely unexpected direction by setting it hundreds of years in the past, but it still, unfortunately, can't escape the cliches that come with prequels.

The 2022 survival horror movie is full of callbacks and unnecessarily reveals the origins of objects that aren't as iconic as the studio thinks they are. However, the Predator movie is far from the first movie to fall into these traps, and there's a reason why most prequels polarize their fans.

Callbacks To Famous Catchphrases

Predator

GodFlintstone thinks that characters referencing famous lines of dialogue is one of the biggest offenders. The Redditor uses the newly released Predator sequel Prey as an example, noting, "I loved that movie but when I heard 'If it bleeds we can kill it,' I not only cringed but audibly groaned."

Prey is one of 2022's biggest movie successes, as it received rave reviews and immediately became Hulu's biggest exclusive film, but it still falls into the trappings of prequel cliches. Dakota tells Naru, "If it bleeds we can kill it," which was said by Dutch in the first movie. There's no way two completely different characters that are separated by almost 300 years would have ever said the same line verbatim.

Hinting At What Happens In The Following Movie

Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The_Lone_Apple believes that prequels lightheartedly referencing what happened in the original movie is a big no-no. The Redditor posits, "I can't stand the insistence on including foreshadowing in the prequel as if to wink-wink at the audience. I'd rather have a prequel that acts as if it was out before the original film. No hint of what goes on later at all."

While there's nothing wrong with Easter eggs in movies, given that the practice is so self-aware and almost meta in prequels, it totally pulls viewers out of the immersion. Even though it's one of the best prequels ever made, shots like Ceasar holding a miniature Statue of Liberty in Rise of the Planet of the Apes distract viewers from what's actually going on in the film.

Origin Stories Of Random Objects

Han Solo’s dice

DrRexMormon hates when prequels provide "pseudo-origins for random objects." This happens so often in prequels, and the Redditor notes the biggest and most obvious offense, which is in Solo: A Star Wars Story when viewers are told how the character got the dice that hang in the Millenium Falcon, which nobody had ever thought about. It was so insulting that audiences walked out of the movie in theatres.

Prey is once again guilty of this too, as it explains the origin of the flintlock pistol that's in Predator 2. However, the Predator prequel also cleverly adds mystery to it, as it makes audiences wonder how the Predator got the gun from Naru, and it means that Naru and the alien must have crossed paths again after the events of Prey.

Better Technology Than The Original

Elisabeth Shaw with an axe in Prometheus

DreamcastJunkie makes a great point that prequels always have more developed technology than their predecessors. The Redditor comments, "Sci-fi prequels where the technology is clearly better in the past than it was in the future because special effects and real-world tech have changed over time."

When it comes to sci-fi prequels, this seems unavoidable, but some do it way more than others. The Star Wars prequel trilogy is the biggest offender, as those three movies are full of incredible ships and technology that would have looked so futuristic in the original films. And in Prometheus, the ship has a special room full of technology where Elizabeth Shaw can randomly operate on herself, and there was no such technology in Alien or any of its sequels.

Being A Complete Remake Of The Original

The Thing (2011)

I_like_2_travel despises movies that are marketed as prequels but then end up being complete rip-offs of the original film. The Redditor explains, "I like The Thing (2011) but it is a shameless carbon copy with worse effects than the original. It’s still a solid movie. but Carpenter’s The Thing is still head and shoulders above it."

However, The Thing was marketed as a remake of the 1982 original, and it was only revealed to be a secret prequel in a shocking twist ending. The twist is the best thing about the 2011 movie, as the ending leads directly into the beginning of the original film. But that doesn't make audiences immediately forget that the previous 90 minutes was a complete remake. Unfortunately, this isn't just the case with prequels, but sequels too, as The Force Awakens essentially has the same premise as A New Hope.

Trying To Make Audiences Believe New Characters Will Survive

Jyn Erso in Rogue One A Star Wars Story

FilmFifty2 thinks it's silly when prequels try to make viewers believe characters will survive, noting, "Pretending certain characters have any chance of surviving when it's absolutely impossible for them to." While it shouldn't be assumed that everyone in a prequel will die, something terrible must happen to them given that they aren't in the sequels.

Rogue One is a perfect example, as the main characters are literally at war as they attempt to gain access to the Death Star documents. And as the film is set just hours before A New Hope and there's no mention of Erso or Andor in the 1977 original movie, their fate was written on the wall before fans even saw the film. Many prequels attempt to achieve the opposite too, as they constantly put original characters in danger as if something fatal could happen to them. But given that audiences know for a fact that they survive, there are absolutely no stakes.

Pointlessly Featuring Iconic Characters

Still of Darth Vader from Rogue One A Star Wars Story

Danishroyalty thinks iconic characters need to stop appearing in prequels. The Redditor uses Darth Vader in Rogue One as an example, explaining, "I actually think his scenes in the movie were f****** awesome. But he didn't really need to be in the movie at all." It's clearly a way for the studio to market the movie, as a prequel might already be part of an established IP, but it doesn't have any of that IP's original characters. But if Darth Vader is thrown in, that would guarantee a much bigger audience.

But while it's an overused prequel trope, Vader's appearance in the final act of Rogue One was the movie's best scene and arguably the best ever Vader scene. The character has never been so terrifying before, and between the way his red lightsaber glows in the dark and rebels run for their lives, Vader almost comes off like a horror villain.

Humanizing Villains

Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil

OtakuTacos hates it when the antagonists of original movies are portrayed as not being good people in the prequels and having their terrible actions rationalized. The Redditor argues, "The bad guys are these cool guys, great intentions, but misjudged and made into bad guys by some silly reasons plot."

Cruella tries to humanize a woman who tortures puppies, and the entire Star Wars prequel trilogy is about what led Anakin to become a mass murderer. Humanizing the villain even happens in award-winning movies. While Joker is a standalone film, the origin movie attempts to rationalize the Clown Prince of Crime's actions, which is what led to its polarizing reception from critics.

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