Predator: Badlands, 2025.
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg.
Starring Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Rohinal Nayaran, Michael Homick, Stefan Grube, Reuben De Jong, Cameron Brown, Alison Wright, Matt Duffer, and Ross Duffer.
SYNOPSIS:
A young Predator outcast from his clan finds an unlikely ally on his journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
In what might sound complementary to some and derogatory to others, director Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands (his first big-budget theatrical installment after taking over the franchise with the excellent Prey) could have been a video game and would likely have further excelled in quality and financial performance. There are long stretches throughout that feel seconds away from seamlessly giving control to a player, or as if we are watching someone engage in battle within an open-world gaming structure, with environmental hazards and monstrous fodder at every turn to lay into with various Predator-based weapons.
Again, none of this is a knock on the film, but merely observational. If anything, this film’s subversive nature and straightforward satisfaction, combined with that potential to be something more, should make for a damning case that there is much more to do with the franchise beyond movies, perhaps even getting a big-budget video game in development.
Yes, Predator: Badlands is an experience that centers the hunters themselves, specifically focused on Dek, the runt of his clan (something unmistakably encapsulated across a truly expressive performance from Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi buried underneath what has to be several layers of impressive makeup and prosthetics) outcast by his father and on a mission to another planet to slay a mythical behemoth, in turn, proving his worth as a warrior and member of the family. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the necessity of violence and showing brute, relentless, and unforgiving physical strength with no remorse was all Dek and his older siblings were raised on.
Once Dek encounters and rescues the severed-in-half Weyland-Yutani synthetic Thia (one half of Elle Fanning’s dual roles that allow for flexibility between scenery chewing fun and stern villainy) after being convinced by her that she will be a valuable tool to find the behemoth he is searching for, an interesting juxtaposition arises in that the Predator studies every living organism to learn how to fight it. In contrast, she comes from a belief in coexistence. She tries to impart the beauty of sensitivity onto Dek, but alas, the Predator is having none of that.
That is the extent of the limited narrative depth this film contains, which occasionally causes one to check out due to its simplistic nature. It also doesn’t help that, although there are some undeniably striking vistas and landscapes captured in gloriously wide shots, sometimes with Predators traversing perilous terrain, the film is also lathered in CGI that reaffirms the whole notion that maybe this would have worked better as a video game.
Dan Trachtenberg knows his way around choreographing battle sequences (especially in this particular franchise), but here, it often comes at an emotional distance from watching a Predator battle CGI monsters or find himself pestered by sentient tree branches or razor-sharp grass. It takes until the third act, where some clear stakes are developed and Dek is up against numerous synthetics (portrayed by real actors), that the action finds a sense of weight and gravity. Even the PG-13 rating turns out to be a non-factor, as there are some brutal methods of dispatch here that the filmmakers get away with on that technicality.
Some actual detrimental aspects are unquestionably the result of studio interference, such as a cutesy, smaller creature the heroes team up with that plays like an executive demanding stand-in for Grogu or Jar Jar Binks, something for the children that’s easy enough to market in side revenue. Also, like most franchise films nowadays, the story becomes a tangled web of abusive family dynamics and found family. In other words, this will be Vin Diesel’s favorite Predator movie. It is simultaneously a fresh take yet so far removed from what drew people into the original that there are conflicting feelings about what’s on screen. Considering everything we have seen in these movies, the concept of a misunderstood, heroic Predator is moderately goofy, even if the execution mostly works here.
Dan Trachtenberg (working with screenwriter Patrick Aison) is once again economical with his storytelling and efficient with the action, but in directing a unique take on the franchise, his artistry feels both studio-influenced and simplistic. Predator: Badlands already feels like watching someone play a damn good video game on an IMAX screen. There are also reasons to believe it would work better as one. In continuously trying to get more out of this franchise, it turns out there are other tantalizing ways to do so.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
