

McTiernan’s original was a showpiece for slow-burn tension, tapping into the claustrophobic terror of an enemy unseen. The gender commentary may not be subtle, but it is stark and to the point. Consistently underestimated, she’s even marginalised by the Predator, who refuses to acknowledge the hunting party’s lone female, at one point literally unable to see her as it casts about for worthy prey. Naru may lack the no-neck brawn of Dutch’s crew, but she’s wiry and ferret-quick, efficiently dispatching quarry both four-legged and two with bow, blade and tomahawk-on-a-rope (genius) in a symphony of choreographed mayhem that wouldn’t look out of place in John Wick: Chapter 4. A ferocious heroine, authentic period setting, and a bloody string of inventive action beats.Įlectrifying every scene, Midthunder is a ball of elemental fury, imbuing Naru with shatterproof resolve and ruthless pragmatism - a meeting between barbed saw-blade and French colonialist’s leg is chillingly matter-of-fact - yet Patrick Aison’s economical script never robs her of empathy, nor suggests a need to adopt masculine traits in order to outwit and out-fight any man who gets in her way.
