The Predator goes full Sci-Fi in ‘Predator: Badlands’ - Review
It looks like 2025 is the year of reinventing the Predator. After taking it back to its roots to the wildly great Prey back in 2022, Daniel Trachtenberg took the franchise in a much different direction with Killer of Killers, an animated anthology film released back in the summer (which was great). It looks like Trachtenberg was going to make an even bigger swing with Predator: Badlands, largely abandoning the horror elements and going full sci fi adventure with a predator front and center. This was enough to make it one of ScreamInn’s most anticipated movies of the year, and while it didn’t deliver as I had hoped, I still think this is a fun adventure outing that has me excited for the future of Predator.
For the first time in the history of this franchise, the movie’s protagonist is actually a Predator (or Yaujta, the official name for this species). His name is Dek (played with great physicality by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), and while he seems he would make a killing on Earth (pun intended), it’s an entirely different story on his home planet. Dek is actually the runt of his clan, much smaller and scrawnier than the rest, which greatly displeases his father. This causes Dek to travel to Genna, or “death planet” as his brother describes it. There, Dek will find acceptance from his clan and father after hunting and killing a Kalisk, a monster so tough and fearsome that no Yaujta have been able to take it down. Along the journey Dek encounters brutally tough vines, razor sharp blades of grass, bugs that explode, and more. But he also encounters unlikely allies, including a Weyland-Yutani synth named Thia (played by Elle Fanning in an absolutely fantastic performance), whose knowledge of the planet runs deep, and a cute monkey-like monster with clever hunting skills of her own.
These particular elements have me a little torn, and I’m sure this will split various Predator fans in half. On one hand, it’s definitely odd for a Predator film to have plucky sidekicks who provide a lot of comic relief. There are many scenes where I couldn’t help but feel like this movie went through the Disney IP machine, especially with the cute little monkey that I could easily see on toy shelves for the holidays (further bolstered by the movie’s PG-13 rating, another first for the franchise). Bigger than that though is this all gives Dek the very unexpected arc of learning the value of friendship, and I am not exaggerating. I understand it’s a harder sell having a movie focused solely on Dek and his trekking through the planet on his own, but it doesn’t make this choice of an unlikely trio less jarring.
On the other hand though, the interactions between these three, more specifically Dek and Thia, made for some of my favorite parts of the whole movie. Helping that case is Elle Fanning. She’s amazing in this, providing not only great comic relief but a lot of heart as well. She blends funny, gentle, and robotic (she is a synth after all) with ease, making Thia one of my favorite new characters in the franchise. But some of the funniest moments actually come from Dek and how straight faced he is with Thia. I’m glad Trachtenberg (as well as writers Patrick Aison and Jim Thomas) realize that the Yaujta are equal parts badass and meatheads. It’s hard to be negative about comedy in this movie when I found myself laughing a lot.
There’s so much else that’s great too. The creature designs are awesome, especially with Dek being a great combination of makeup and VFX. The score, which was apparently made by a Mongolian folk metal band (!), is fittingly epic. The world of Genna is really cool, and the way in which some parts of the planet are explored and used later (something Trachtenberg always delivers in) is very satisfying. It’s crazy to see a yaujta, who have since been shown to be the most lethal hunters in the galaxy, this vulnerable, but it works, and Dek is a character I instantly rooted for, especially as he is working his way through this planet.
I think my biggest issues with Badlands are with its uneven action and its story treading familiar territory than I wanted. There are some badass moments here, and those worried about its PG-13 rating will be happy to know there is still some fun brutality to be had here. But there are some hand to hand combat sequences that I feel could’ve used a little more clarity, and one climatic fight feels more weightless than I hoped for (the other might be my favorite one in the whole movie). Part of that weightlessness could be attributed to how much familiar territory the movie goes through here. I feel like I wouldn’t have minded the unlikely trio at the center if they had gone through a little bit more of a unique story. But instead you can see where this is going a mile away as it becomes a standard sci fi story.
But I have to give a lot of praise to Trachtenberg and the team for the character of Dek. This is the first time we’ve ever seen a predator this vulnerable before (at least movie wise), and it works so well and makes his growth and moments of badassery all the more effective. I’m very excited and hope to see more of him and Thia in the future.
Regardless of familiarity, this is still a pretty big swing for the Predator franchise, which is worth praising itself, but it helps that for the most part it works. Predator: Badlands is a fun watch, but it feels like a stepping stone, a test for the franchise to see if it can survive away from its familiar elements. I’m very excited to see what territory they plunge our beloved yaujta next.
