Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Writer: Patrick Aison
Stars: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Reuben De Jong
Synopsis: Cast out from his clan, a young Predator finds an unlikely ally in a damaged android and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
After the financial and critical disappointment of The Predator, the Predator franchise lay dormant with seemingly no new directions to turn in and always being under the shadow of its older brother, Alien. However, nearly everything turned around when director Dan Trachtenberg entered the picture to helm two new projects that went straight to Hulu with Prey and this year’s Predator: Killer of Killers. Both were praised for their reinvigoration of the central premise of these films, toying with gadgetry and action setups in the most effective manner in the franchise since the original 1987 film, and luckily, Predator: Badlands continues Trachtenberg’s winning streak. Badlands acts as Trachtenberg and screenwriter Patrick Aison’s most risky venture with the Yautja (the actual name of the Predator species) yet by not only making a predator our main protagonist for the first time but also tackling a relatively new tonal space for the franchise, blending in more comedy and surprising emotional resonance than ever before. It’s bound to be jarring for the most hardcore of fans, and the film’s occasional tonal struggles keep it from reaching the heights of the previous two entries, but Badlands is still a great and refreshing perspective change into this new era of Predator films, showing Trachtenberg’s firm handling of the reins.
Badlands begins from the central perspective of Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young Yautja who is looking to prove himself to his brother Kwei (Michael Homack), who is training him in the ways of The Predator, and his father, who thinks he is weak and doesn’t have what it takes to truly become a Yautja. After another brutal cruelty from his father, Dek travels to the remote planet of Genna on his first hunt to take the head of the ultimate adversary, known as the Kalisk, to prove his value to his home clan. It isn’t long before Dek finds a damaged Weyland-Yutani synthetic named Thia (Elle Fanning) and the two embark on a journey to discover the harsh truths of what they both search for together. From its opening moments, the strongest elements of Badlands give way to more unique scenarios that we’ve never seen from the franchise. One of the most appreciated aspects here is how contained the story is overall, as the film centers only on Dek and Thia. It’s so invigorating to not only be rooting for a predator but also to see more perspectives within the lore of the Yautja.
Dek is already a younger predator, but it’s also interesting to see him struggle and come into his own as a Yautja who has been cast out by his own. Seeing him learn his own ways of hunting and finding real strength alongside his new allies is a great central theme for the film, but also an opposing spin on the view the Yautja were seen as before this film, solo macho hunters who see most as nothing but meek prey. After its opening, the film acts as a dual adventure between Dek and Thia, and there’s plenty of great fun to be had, but I love the parallels between each of them being from a family or culture where they don’t quite belong. As the bond between the two of them grows, it’s hard not to be won over by the strong development between them, which holds the entire film together.
Badlands’ biggest departure from the usual beats of the franchise would have to be in the tone of the film itself. Yes, the other films have plenty of Sci-Fi adventuring and gun blasting in them, but Badlands explores a lot more of the globetrotting and comedic aspects. There’s a lot more humor and a more lighthearted nature to the film than most would expect out of the franchise, almost in a similar vein to Star Wars, and purists of these films are more likely to see this as more of a bug than a feature, but I was surprised at how well it was executed. Of course, it doesn’t always completely work, and the tonal clashes of cutesy humor and brutal dismemberment of synthetics and creatures are sometimes jarring, but it helps when a large portion of the humor is actually funny!
Elle Fanning provides a good portion of the film’s heart and humor, but she actually plays two characters here, with Thia and her much colder synthetic copy, Tessa. Tessa acts as the complete character flip of Thia, who wants to do nothing except the orders of capturing the Kalisk and Dek for the Weyland-Yutani corporations, and Fanning plays both characters with great distinction. She’s always been a welcome presence in the numerous films she’s been a part of, but this film acts as one of her strongest showcases yet, and she sells moments of silliness and badassery in equal measure. Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi is also a standout as Dek, as he has the task of bringing the most emotion out of a Yautja we have yet to see from the franchise. The matching of the great combo of VFXs and practical effects with Schuster-Koloamatangi’s immense physicality makes Dek yet another strong instance of the impact of the Yautja.
It goes without saying that Trachtenberg more than delivers on the action front across the board. Many were worried the film’s PG-13 rating would hamper the impact of the violence in this franchise, but the slicing, dicing, and head-ripping of all sorts of beings is more satisfying than ever, especially in the film’s climax. In his previous two entries, Trachtenberg made great use of Yautja gadgetry and the creative ways it can be used to advantage and disadvantage in battles, and that trend continues in the most satisfying of ways here.
Predator: Badlands is another strong outing for Trachtenberg, not only delivering the fun ingenuity and gripping action that we’ve come to expect, but also giving a fair amount of heart that is a surprise, but a welcome one. Badlands offers the grandiose scale and adrenaline-filled spectacle many wanted, but expands on the lore that shows Trachtenberg is more than capable of taking the keys to the franchise.
