‘Predator: Badlands’ Review

John McTiernan’s ‘Predator’, from 1987, is one of the most glorious 1980s action horror films; lean, mean and muscular in every imaginable way. As a film, it didn’t have time for emotions or character arcs as it pitted the most highly trained soldiers on Earth against an invisible, relentless monster. Since that film’s success, the franchise has tried time and again to replicate its gritty thriller magic, with diminishing returns, each entry becoming increasingly distant echoes of the original.

Then in 2022, director Dan Trachtenberg breathed new life into the franchise with ‘Prey’, which took the core mission of the original film – a group of warriors fighting against a seemingly unbeatable alien foe – and revitalized it by setting it among Comanche warriors in the 1700s. The updated setting was fresh and exciting, even as the core story aims remained unchanged.

Where ‘Prey’ refreshed the original ‘Predator’ conceit, ‘Predator: Badlands’ reimagines the mythology altogether, inverting the story such that our protagonist is a Yautja predator on a hunting mission. Dan Trachentenberg’s latest entry is an unexpectedly wholesome sci-fi adventure story, proving that there is space in the ‘Predator’ franchise for a wider range of tones than previously thought. ‘Predator: Badlands’ is a classic hero’s journey in which one bloodthirsty alien learns that only through the power of friendship can he achieve his destiny as an apex predator.

‘Predator: Badlands’ opens with Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamantangi) in combat with his older brother, Kwei (Mike Homik), as he looks to prove he has what it takes to join their clan. After their practice skirmish concludes, Kwei tells his brother he must choose a prey to hunt, bringing back a trophy to prove his worth as a warrior. Desperate to overcome all doubts of his ability, Dek chooses to hunt the dreaded Kalisk, a mysterious creature on Genna, the death planet, who has foiled untold Yautja hunters before him.

While audiences would be understandably reticent to show the original ‘Predator’ film to children, there are far fewer concerns here as ‘Predator: Badlands’ foregoes much of that film’s darkness and thrills in favor of sci-fi action more akin to a Marvel movie. As Dek arrives on Genna, the film starts to feel like a ‘Predator’ movie by way of Disney, with Dek established as a Hercules like figure, traveling far and wide, gathering around him a gaggle of quirky companions, as he looks to prove his worth to a disappointed father. Most notably, Dek meets Thia (Elle Fanning), a research cyborg who encountered the Kalisk and lost her legs. She offers to help guide Dek through the planet, explaining all of the various creatures he’ll encounter, in return for safe passage to her legs so she can be made whole again. Dek and Thia’s unlikely partnership serves as the source for the surprising amount of heart and humor, so rare in the franchise.

Dan Trachtenberg’s direction is finely honed, every bit of information he doles out – about the planet, the weapons, the characters – is intentional and crucial to the story, such that the climactic battle scenes pay off a whole slew of set up, delivering maximum satisfaction. Fanning’s performance as a talkative cyborg is the strongest acting in the film, somehow conveying so many complex emotions even while sustaining the android affectation true to her character.

People looking for another mimicry of the original ‘Predator’ will probably be disappointed. But ‘Predator: Badlands’ works precisely because it is not trying to replicate that film’s singular tone and success, instead exploring the mythology in new ways, inverting what it means to be a ‘Predator’ movie with fun and creativity, even if the final result feels a little too safe, a little too family friendly for diehard fans of the series.

Predator: Badlands
Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong sci-fi violence.
Running Time: 1 hour and 47 minutes

Director Dan Trachtenberg
Writers Patrick Aison
Stars Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Rating PG-13
Running Time 107 Minutes
Genres Action, Adventure, Sci-fi, Thriller