Seven years after Shane Black’s The Predator underwhelmed at the box office, the vaunted franchise returns to the big screen with Predator: Badlands. Credit goes to Dan Trachtenberg, who has been building out our understanding of this universe since the revitalizing Prey in 2022. Hard to believe that in three years, Trachtenberg has already directed three Predator movies (including the animated Predator: Killer of Killers), each attempting something wildly different than the other. In this case, for the first time ever, the Predator is in the role of protagonist, a shift in the formula that works incredibly well.
One of the cool things about Predator: Badlands is that it deepens our understanding of the Yautja, the actual name of the Predator race, and its hierarchy. We’re introduced to Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), who under any other circumstance, would be just another unstoppable killing machine. However, within his own clan, he is the runt of the litter. Dek is desperate to prove himself within a clan that does not tolerate weakness. Overshadowed by his much larger and presumably more lethal brother Kwei (Mike Homik), and humiliated by his own Father who wishes him dead, Dek flees to the most savage planet in the galaxy, Genna, to become the first Yautja to slay the most dangerous beast of all, the Kalisk.
Genna is impressively terrifying, an ecological nightmare in which everything, even the vegetation, is out to kill you. Storms rage, creatures strike from out of nowhere, flowers sprout needles that look to paralyze you, leaving you easy prey for another to devour. Dek is overmatched, but he gets unexpected help from Thia (Elle Fanning), a half-destroyed Weyland-Yutani synthetic on a mission to capture the Kalisk for scientific purposes.
Admittedly, Predator: Badlands doesn’t feel like a Predator movie most of the way. It can’t when Dek is the underdog hero we’re rooting for. Instead, it sorta takes the shape of an action-comedy, with Dek lugging Thia’s upper-body along with him as she cracks jokes and dispenses the information he needs to survive. But there’s also a significant amount of conflict, as their missions are in opposition. And there’s also the threat of Tessa (also played by Fanning), Thia’s “sister” synthetic who is basically her polar opposite; programmed to get the job done with maximum efficiency.
Another way Predator: Badlands feels different is in the PG-13 rating. A lot has been made by fans over this, with most, including myself, worrying over how Trachtenberg would handle a more all-ages story. I could’ve done without the cutesy sidekick Bud, who joins the quest, because he feels like something George Lucas would’ve mandated. That said, Bud gets cooler along the way, and not lamer as the Ewoks do, so his inclusion can ultimately be forgiven. Because this isn’t a movie populated with human characters, the way we perceive violence and gore is just different. This is still a very brutal movie, but it’s geared towards extraterrestrials and synths rather than people.
Overall, Predator: Badlands kicks ass, especially if you’re a devoted fan of these films. Elle Fanning continues the tradition of synths that we come to love, similar to Andy in Alien: Romulus. Schuster-Koloamatangi also takes on multiple roles, but his best work is in giving Dek the most personality that a Predator has ever had. He learned an entire language for the part, one conceived by a language expert who also helped develop the tongue spoken by the Na’vi in Avatar. Trachtenberg is right to take Predator into new and uncharted territory, because it’s the only way to attract new fans so that we can get more movies. And I, for one, want to see a lot more.
Predator: Badlands opens in theaters on November 7th.
