The Movie: The Prey
The Director: Jimmy Henderson
The Cast: Gu Shangwei, Vithaya Pansringarm, Byron Bishop, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Nophand Boonyai, Rous Mony, Dy Sonita, Vandy Piseth, Hun Sophy
The Story: After years of tracking down international criminals, a trip to a remote jungle prison will force Chinese cop Xin to become human prey to fight for his freedom - and to save his own life.
The Review:
Cambodia is not known for having much of a film industry but it has been showing signs of life lately and this movie should give it a nice boost thanks to it being a genuinely entertaining action movie. Self taught film maker Jimmy Henderson has been making movies in one form another for over a decade in both England and Cambodia and that experience really pays off in his latest directorial effort. The action is on par with similar types of martial arts movies and he seems to get the most out of what he has available including a very well put together cast.
In the lead role, Gu Shang Wei plays an undercover cop named Xin who finds himself caught in a raid and taken to a prison camp that secretly allows wealthy customers to hunt down prisoners they select as prey. Of course, Xin is selected in the latest round although his fighting skills and training allow him to be more of a hunter than the hunted. Vithaya Pansringarm, who has been seen in Only God Forgives and more recently in Operation Mekong and The Meg, plays the warden of the prison and the man who controls the illegal operations. He has proven to be a great bad guy and he delivers a really fun, over the top performance in this movie.
The movie is loosely based on Richard Connell's novel, The Most Dangerous Game but definitely stands on it's own as a unique story. Henderson provides a steady dose of graphic action scenes. Lots of blood is spilled and plenty of limbs are chopped off or blown off of various bodies throughout the movie so definitely not for someone who would normally shy away from that type of graphic violence. The ending is pretty intense with the group of heroes having to fend off a seemingly never ending supply of bad guys and you have no idea who's going to make it all the way to the end.
The Verdict:
The Prey is a fierce and intense action movie. The well thought out action sequences are really what sold this movie for me as there is a ton of shooting, hacking, chopping, kicking, punching, stabbing, and just about any other form of violence you can think of.
The Prey is an official selection of the 2019 Fantasia International Film Festival
To see more reviews, interviews, and festival coverage please go to: TwoOhSix at Fantasia 2019
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