At this point, it should become the law of the land that filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) is the only one allowed to make Predator sequels. With the streaming-only Prey, he changed the perspective and timeline in a way no one else even considered and turned in one of the best pro-Native American stories ever told. Earlier this year, he gave us the animated film Predator: Killer of Killers, which again showed us three distinct eras in world history and dropped a Predator right into the middle of them. Now with Trachtenberg’s first actual theatrical feature in this franchise, Predator: Badlands, he’s switched things up again by having a young Predator named Dek (played by newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) be not just the central character but also a sympathetic one who goes from stone-cold killer to an actual hero.
After witnessing his father kill is older brother, Kwei (Michael Homick), after Kwei refuses to kill the weakest member of the tribe, Dek, simply because he’s the runt of the litter, Dek manages to escape the Predators home planet and make his way to what is largely considered the most dangerous planet in the galaxy, Genna, where every living thing seems to want to kill you, eat you, or both. Dek had planned to go to this planet and bring back the head of an unbeatable creature, who can actually regenerate any body part, including its head, although every other Predator who has attempted this task has been killed.
Not long after he arrives, he meets an android name Thia (or more specifically, the top half of one, played by Elle Fanning), who is capable of understanding and speaking Dek’s language. In an interesting twist, Thia is actually property of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the Alien franchise, whose mission always seems to prioritize profit over human life, often in the service of obtaining and weaponizing dangerous alien life. On this planet, they are interested in the same creature Dek is searching for because of its regenerative abilities. In fact, there’s a huge Weyland-Yutani base on Genna, populated entirely by other androids, including a more ruthless duplicate of Thia named Tessa (also Fanning).
But before we meet the other androids, the film is primarily a road movie, with Dek and Thia (strapped to his back) making their way across some truly evil terrain, battling deadly animal and plant life as they go but using their combined knowledge and physical skills to fight back and stay alive. Only a few times does the film walk dangerously close the edge of being a bit too cutesy for its own good, with Thia cracking jokes, Dek being a bit too understanding and cooperative, and the introduction of a “pet” that turns into something much more important as the story proceeds. But right when you think it’s going to cross the line, screenwriter Patrick Aison dials things back and gives us something bloody or otherwise goopy.
The creature design (most of which was done by the fine folks at Weta FX) is spectacular and original, and Trachtenberg knows his way around an action scene, especially when we arrive at the Weyland-Yutani base where we find some familiar-looking construction equipment. After the original 1987 Predator movie, I’ve never felt especially invested in this franchise until Trachtenberg got involved, and Predator: Badlands is another step in the right direction, and even sets up a fairly amusing sequel opportunity that I hope eventually brings some of these different Predator opponents into the same film.
The film opens in theater on Friday.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting Third Coast Review’s arts and culture coverage by making a donation. Choose the amount that works best for you, and know it goes directly to support our writers and contributors.
