From director Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane, Prey) comes the latest chapter in one of modern sci-fi’s most beloved and iconic franchises with Predator: Badlands. Starring Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as our Predator protagonist, Badlands takes the biggest creative swing in the series thus far by making the Predator itself the main character. Although it comes off a bit too Disney-ish at points, Badlands is a risk that pays off in spades with a film that is an excellent mix of brutal action and a surprising amount of character.
Dan Trachtenberg’s work with Predator thus far has been so impressive because of his willingness to experiment with the franchise. 2022’s Prey took the classic Predator format and set it 300 years in the past from the perspective of Native Americans. Earlier this year, Predator: Killer of Killers went the animated route and sent viewers on a trip through time with vikings, samurai, and a WWII pilot all facing off against the Yautja hunters. Badlands takes some of the concepts introduced in prior films, specifically Killer of Killers, and places us in the perspective of Dek, a young Yautja on a path to prove himself. After he is sent off world to bring home a near-impossible trophy, he crosses path with Thia (Elle Fanning), a Weyland-Yutani android (yes, *that* Weyland-Yutani) sent to study the planet’s hostile environment. What ensues is definitely a first for the franchise as Badlands eschews the classic action/horror of prior films in favor of lighter adventure fare. This change overall works very well, but it is a bit of an adjustment if you’re expecting a more traditional Predator experience. The dialogue choices, some of the additional characters, and the overall thematic choices are all charming, but they feel very “Disney Predator” at points. However, Badlands manages to roll with this and even offset it at points due to how hard the action hits, how the film handles character depth, and how utterly alien much of the film feels.
For being a PG-13 film, Badlands gets away with a tremendous amount of non-human gore. Decapitations, bisections, and full-body evisceration are all on the menu here – it’s just all against alien and robot targets. The actions sequences are excellently well-shot, thanks to both Trachtenberg’s directorial eye and Jeff Cutter’s cinematography, the latter of who’s work is also responsible for the wildly impressive shots of alien vistas we get throughout the film. The film’s excellent SFX work comes from the folks at Industrial Light & Magic, Weta, and a few other FX studios to make the Predator franchises return to the big screen a a fantastic visual experience. Trachtenberg and screenwriter Patrick Aison’s screenplay makes the excellent storytelling choice to keep the whole experience as alien as possible while still making the story relatable. The values of the Yautja are at the forefront of Dek’s mind, and he never abandons his goal of retrieving his trophy and proving himself to his clan. However, not to get into any spoilers, but the lessons he learns are done so in the context of his own value system. He’s never completely humanized, he just learns how to take the things that have happened to him and apply them to what he has experienced on his hunt. Thia the synthetic (don’t know if she prefers the term artificial person) is the most human character here, but the film constantly reminds us that her behavior is purely programming. Trachtenberg and Aison give us antagonists that are comparatively one-note as great foils to how our main characters behave and adapt. Their dialogue writing stays sharp and consistent as well. Dek always speaks like you’d expect a Predator to speak, with his simplistic view of reality offering insight into his culture while also being a great source of comedy. Thia is a delightful presence on-screen as well, even if she can be a bit too talkative at points – then again, that is kind of her whole deal. The banter between the Yautja and the android is clever and entertaining throughout the film’s entire runtime, and makes for easily the most character-centric Predator film experience we’ve ever gotten.
Predator: Badlands is a great watch on its own merits, but it’s something of an extra-special event for those who are familiar with the decades of comics and novels that once shaped this universe’s lore. Dark Horse Comics’ line of Predator and Aliens Vs. Predator comics, alongside the novels published by Bantam Spectra in the late 80’s and early 90’s, were the direct predecessor to the storytelling decisions we see here in Badlands. Trachtenberg and Aison even cite these sources as inspiration for the development of their vision of Yautja culture on the big screen. In many ways, Badlands is the kind of Predator movie I’ve wanted to see since I was 10 years old. I can’t wait to see what Trachtenberg and his co-creators cook up next for the series.
