I'm late to the party on this because I wasn't entirely thrilled by the idea of a native-american prequel, BUT... I did end up enjoying it. The plot kicks off with that dreaded idea of a woman having to prove herself, but considering the 1719 time period, it veers more into historical relevance rather than modern feminist. No more beefcakes this time around, but our leading lady does a good job.

While predators are always the main hunters, this story has our human characters very reliant on the hunting process too. Not for military ops, but for frontier survival. You're probably wondering how a bow and arrow could stop a yautja, but they have other innovations. Our protagonist is forced to rely on the assumption that she's worthless, but she definitely proves the skeptics wrong.

At this point in this or any franchise, I'm glad to see them change things up. Different setting, different era, and even a different looking predator. Still recognizable enough, though his gadgets look somewhat aged to keep from contrasting the time period so much, but they're still space-age alien tech either way. Some familiar items, some new. Sharp and dangerous, and I'm glad our newish studio didn't skimp out on the violence. There is plenty of severed body parts and impalings.

Shout out to the dog, too. The predator hunts a few different animals in the movie, and those are cool scenes. The action is good, and this predator gets a good beatdown, but he definitely earns it. He kills the shit out of people in this movie.

The whole thing seems kind of out of place in the rest of the series, especially given the title change, but it actually kinda makes perfect sense and gives Predator 2's ending a fitting backstory. I'd say it's better than The Predator from 2018, and perhaps better than 2010's Predators.