Predator: Badlands is a glorious big screen return for the franchise that continues director Dan Trachtenberg’s exciting vision for the series, delivering a story unlike anything featured before in the series brought to life by outstanding visual effects and the unbeatable pairing of Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning, delivering an exciting and endlessly entertaining big screen spectacle.

 

Ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger faced off against the deadliest alien hunter in 1987, audiences have known the simple fact: that the Predator is the apex hunter. After two attempted reboots, writer and director Dan Trachtenberg and his co-writer Patrick Aison found the right combination of the classic Predator story with a ferocious creativity and injected life into the franchise with Prey. Earlier this year, Trachtenberg expanded the Predator universe with the animated anthology film Predator: Killer of Killers, which followed closely in the footsteps of Prey in terms of tone and style, but in his second Predator film of the year, he flips the table on audiences. Making the titular Predator the bottom of the food chain, Trachtenberg takes what had always been a science fiction action horror story and turns it into a grand science fiction action adventure with Predator: Badlands, finally seeing the franchise return to the big screen. It’s a noted departure from the tone of the previous entries in the franchise, but under Trachtenberg’s vision, Predator: Badlands becomes a big screen spectacle of exciting action sequences and thrilling storytelling that makes for the best Predator film since the original.

 

The Predator franchise is all about the hunt, and while Predator: Badlands makes a significant change and turns the titular alien into the protagonist of the film, the DNA of the franchise’s core story remains. Following Dek, a young Yautja warrior on his first hunt, Trachtenberg and Aison make the protagonist the bottom of the food chain on a foreign planet as Dek strives to prove himself worthy of joining his Yautja clan despite being the runt of the family. Full of action sequences that play into the hunt angle that has always defined the franchise, Trachtenberg and Aison weave a truly epic hero’s journey narrative (with the screenplay being co-written by Brian Duffield) as audiences watch Dek develop from a young, headstrong individual adamant on doing things on his own, into a noble alpha becoming the leader of his own clan. Interwoven with themes of found family and some great buddy comedy moments with Elle Fanning’s Thia and the creature Bud that Dek meets on his journey, Predator: Badlands is an incredibly fun, exciting and, above all else, entertaining entry in the franchise that not only pushes the limits on its PG-13 rating with the action sequences, but proves that under the talented eye of Trachtenberg, that the future of the Predator universe is incredibly bright and full of endless possibilities.

 

Returning to the big screen after two streaming films, Trachtenberg and his team have the responsibility of creating a spectacle worthy of the theatrical experience. With a new planet for the story to unfold on and the predator being the protagonist, there is expansive worldbuilding at play in Predator: Badlands combined with nods to the franchise’s history. From development of the Yautja culture and lore that drives Dek’s journey, the creation of a new language for the Yautja, and the development of deadly new creatures to inhabit Genna, the world of Predator is enriched from its more simplistic horror roots and allowed to flourish on the big screen. Full of excellent CGI work to bring to life the film’s many creatures, and an impressive mixture of a creature suit and motion capture footage that gives Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi the ability to become the film’s titular Predator and capture the nuances of his character’s journey with his facial expressions, there is a wondrous science fiction element that immediately immerses audiences in the film that is only aided by the natural beauty of the New Zealand filming locations. 

 

This is all before the inclusion of the Weyland-Yutani corporation and the connection to the Alien franchise, combining the two franchises once again and laying the groundwork for a potential future Alien v Predator film. While it would be easy to start dropping bread crumbs left, right and centre about the existence of the xenomorph in the same universe as the Yautja, Trachtenberg and Aison instead allow the Weyland-Yutani corporation and the elements of the Alien franchise to naturally fit into the story they are telling, using them all to progress Dek’s hero journey and enhance the world building feature within this film. It is the right creative choice, rather than blinding hurtling towards the craved duel between the xenomorph and the Yautja as other franchises have made the mistake of before, but Predator: Badlands never sacrifices the storytelling for the sake of fan service and setting up sequels, ensuring that the emphasis remains on Dek throughout the entire film.