PREDATOR: BADLANDS (2025)

Director Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane, Prey) returns to the Universe of the the Predator with an interesting new take.....what if we embarked on a hunting adventure with the Predator itself as the main protagonist?  Actually the Predators are officially know as "Yautja" species and this particular Yautja is the runt of his clan named Dek played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatan.  After some unexpected family turmoil on his home planet, he is inadvertently whisked away to a very dangerous planet named Genna where he has decided to embark on his first hunt for a very rare creature.  Along the way, he aligns with a synthetic human named Thia (Elle Fanning) whom is more of an expert on this paritcular creature.  And much creature-on-creature violence ensues....though rated PG-13?

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

PREDATOR: BADLANDS - 2025

Directed by Dan Trachtenberg

Starring Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Elle Fanning, Rohinal Nayaran, Michael Homick, and Stefan Grube

Genre:  Sci-Fi Action Adventure (Audio clip)

What a fun ride! Dan Trachtenberg's (10 Cloverfield Lane, Prey) third Predator in roughly four years (?) delivers everything you could want from a new big screen adventure focusing on one lone stranger on his first solo (well not really) hunt on a strange planet. The stranger is a Yautja (that apparently is the official name of the Predator species) named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster Koloamatangi) who after enduring some unexpected family turmoil on his home planet has inadvertently dispatched himself to the extremely dangerous planet of Genna. A mostly forest planet where everything - plant OR animal - can kill you and where he hopes to prove his hunting skills by killing and claiming a trophy from the deadliest creature on the planet....the kaiju-sized Kalisk. 😮

The creature designs are effectively menacing (though one tree-based tentacled monster SEEMS borrowed from the recent Alien: Earth series), the action is suitably kinetic and varied, and the overall structure of the story is simple and straightforward. It's akin to a Conan adventure or even maybe even the sort of more sinister Mandalorian tale we were promised....before Baby Yoda took over. 😆 Though to be fair, this story has KIND of its own version of the plucky smaller creature sidekick who pops up occasionally....it's monkey-LIKE with some added features, it fights well, and it's nicknamed "Bud." At first this creature seemingly threatens to Blarp Up (a la Lost in Space) but gratefully doesn't thanks to some added edge. 

As co-written by Trachtenberg and Patrick Aison, the story sometimes teeters in directions which can seem more cloying and family-friendly but it does walk that tightrope pretty well towards being a suitable chapter within the overall Predator....sorry Yautja saga. 😊 The trickiest aspect is the main side character of Thia, who is a damaged synthetic (artificial human) played winningly by Elle Fanning....even with the lower half of her body missing. Dek literally carries her along on his back as she's on a quest herself to not only recover her legs (from an incident with a Kalisk as it turns out) AND her synthetic twin "sister" who is also played by Elle Fanning. Thia proves to be an effective "tool" on this mission as she not only guides our titular predator through a lot of rough terrain but also has knowledge of the creature he's searching for. Obviously predator/Yautja and synthetic form a unique bond over time though it never gets cloying nor takes you out of the story. 

And the overall story is pretty much action-oriented with minimal downtime along the way. The whole thing moves at a pretty steady clip from setpiece to setpiece over a relatively tight 107 minute runtime. AND not to spoil too much but it also delves pretty seamlessly with the Alien universe (it's been all over the marketing and mixing these two franchises isn't exactly a new thing) through the Thia character as her synthetic is a product of the Weyland Yutani corporation. In fact, having Fanning provide a steady human element throughout likely even grounds the story somewhat. 

And along those lines, one potential issue for this movie for might be just HOW much can you really empathize with an actual PREDATOR (sorry it just works better for me then the Yautja one) as your main protagonist?? 🤔 This isn’t taking anything away from Koloamatangi’s or the technical wizards behind the character design - the eyes emote plenty and those mandibles are working it too.  It's a distinct CHOICE for sure and props to Trachtenberg, Koloamatangi, and the various VFX crews (ILM, Weta, Trixter, among others) for making a strong push for it - the character is framed and presented as living being with emotions. PLUS Dek is given all of the necessary action-hero beats including self-repair (always a Predator highlight) and one in particular which going back to Arnold's Commando days I have always been a sucker for....

But yes beyond that, the audience is clearly meant to go through an emotional journey - a genuine ARC - with this character including one early gut-punch moment in particular. Does it work? For many, mileage may vary on that as I wasn't even 100% sure myself at a few moments - this IS a mean-looking Predator after all and even while Dek has some dialogue, it's pretty minimalist. Your enjoyment of this movie will likely hinge on that very thing. 

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

For me personally, the emotions conveyed in this story on behalf of the predator DID work and much of that was due to the very propulsive, often naturistic-sounding score from Sarah Schachner (Prey) and Benjamin Wallfisch (Alien Romulus).  I quite enjoyed both of their scores for those previous entries within this particular expanded universe and the collaboration of the two results in something guttural, aided by synthesizer but also some very unique instruments including distorted vocal chants. (Audio clip) 

Immediately following what I believe is a FANTASTIC final line of dialogue which I will DARE not spoil and one closing stirring image of our hero, the closing credits for this movie kick off with a heavily percussive tribal chant…I’m guessing featuring Yaujta language?  It’s pretty bad-ass, this track is called, “Dek of the Yautja.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Probably my biggest with the movie is that over the last 20 or 30 minutes, there seem to be multiple climaxes stacked up against each other in rapid succession....none of them aren't done well mind you but they also don't land quite as strongly as a result.  It all feels just a BIT rushed to the point where there is ONE particular face-off between characters which almost sneaks up on y0u, where I found myself thinking, “Wow we’re doing THIS already…..ok let’s go!”  There’s just not enough build-up there and I can’t believe I’m saying this but I wouldn’t have minded an EXTRA 5 to 10 minutes to let some of this stuff breathe.  It feels like one of the KEY differences between this and Prey – and why Prey works better in my opinion – is the editing.  Prey had an extended climax with more of an emotional punch, with more build-up….and it had a FANTASTIC editor working on it…Claudia Castello, a previous collaborator of Ryan Coogler’s who also edited Creed and Black Panther.  This time around, I believe the lead editor was Stefan Grube and like I said, the film moves….but you feel the difference.  Oh guess what previous theatrical film release Grube worked on?  The Rise of Skywalker….enough said. 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Kicking of the third act of this film JUST before the series of climaxes, we are treated to what has always been one of my favorite action movie tropes going ALL the back to 1985’s Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger which happens to be one of my all-time rewatchable movies.  I’m referring to…..The Gearing Up/Weapons Montage! (Audio clip) 

Though in Dek’s particular case, many of his high-tech armory of weapons has already been depleted by this point…..or just stolen by those dastardly folks at Weiland Yutani who have raided his ship.  So WHAT does he do?  Well in possibly an homage the ORIGINAL Predator movie ALSO starring Arnold Schwarzeneggar or simply because the story kind of DEMANDS it, we giddily witness our hero develop mostly organize new weapons ALL from his surroundings on this gnarly planet.  It’s pretty ingenious as we watch him utilize many of the flora and fauna threats from Genna – including a certain type of slug/parasite which apparently has explosive capabilities AND those sharp, dangerous blades of razor grasss - and it's a kick for sure. 🙂 (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

As stated earlier, this is now Trachtenberg’s THIRD feature-length story from this universe – the first one being previous episode Prey and the second being the animated feature released directly to Hulu this past summer….Predator: Killer of Killers….more of an anthology taking Predators through different points of history, that one was very fun.  Needless to say, he LOVES this world and its lore.  He has become to the world of the Predators what Kevin Feige has been to the MCU or what Dave Filoni has become for the Star Wars universe.  But unlike Feige and Filoni, Trachtenberg is not only stewarding this brand/franchise….he has also directed each new entry so far….with a lot of care for the material….and it shows.  Like the previous two Predator films, this one excels at not only telling a compelling new stand-alone story but it also doesn’t rely that heavily on callbacks and/or fan service.  The focus is on the characters and as simply as they are written, we are told enough about them mainly through visuals – you know the carinal rule of cinema, SHOW don’t TELL.  For demonstrating that once again with and with a main protagonist resulting in a genuinely exciting adventure, Dan Trachtenberg is the MVP. 

Final Rating: 3.6 stars out of 5

Bottom line I had a good time seeing this in Dolby - it's not quite as good as the original '87 Predator or Prey for that matter but it's pretty damn good.

Now Playing in Theaters

And that ends another ALPHA review!