Predator Badlands (2025) Movie Review
A Different Kind of Predator
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Predator: Badlands is the seventh installment of its franchise, well past the point when most series run out of new ideas and start coasting on halfhearted repetition. Fortunately, director Dan Trachtenberg finds a fresh approach to this material and keeps Badlands from feeling redundant.
This is Trachtenberg’s third Predator film after Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers. It’s about as good as the others, which is to say, pretty damn good.
This one takes place largely from a Predator’s point of view. Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a young warrior who is facing disapproval from his father and older brother. His fighting skills are considered too flawed to become a full member of the clan.
His father orders his brother to kill Dek. When his brother refuses and helps Dek escape, their father kills him while Dek watches in horror.
Dek eventually crash lands on a strange alien planet filled with exotic creatures and huge monsters. Despite being considered defective by the standards of his species, Dek is able to defeat creatures many times his size in battle, although he loses much of his weapons and gear in the process.
The Alien and the Android
He encounters Thia (Elle Fanning), a plucky, quick-witted, and legless synthetic android manufactured by the ominous Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the Alien franchise. Predators usually work alone, but Dek reluctantly teams up with her. She’s looking for her android “sister”, Tessa (also played by Fanning), who has mysteriously vanished.
One aspect of Badlands that’s a bit confusing is how Dek and Thia communicate. He uses his species’ language, Yautja, and she speaks English. They are able to communicate without any problems. Later Dek encounters other characters who speak English (I’ll be vague here to avoid major spoilers) but he doesn’t seem to understand what they’re saying.
My guess is that Thia is communicating with Dek in Yautja, but we are hearing it as English, so that we don’t have to read subtitles for the whole movie. A similar device was used in the History Channel series Vikings, when the characters are speaking in Swedish but we’re hearing it in English.
Predator: Badlands turns the tables by making Dek the hero. Or, more accurately, the anti-hero. He still adheres to the fascist ideals of his society, prizing strength, toughness, and aggressiveness over everything else. This isn’t a political movie, nor should it be, but it does express the message that being an alpha is about more than just one’s ability to destroy your enemies.
Like past Predators, Dek is a brutal and vicious killer. The difference this time is he’s slaughtering bad guys and we’re rooting for him.
There’s a hint of emotional vulnerability with Dek that we haven’t seen from his species in the past. Don’t worry, though, this isn’t about a Predator going soft. Dek is still a badass, despite what his father thinks.
I enjoyed Elle Fanning’s performance. She’s the perfect foil for Dek and provides most of the film’s humor. There’s also a third member of their group, a cute, bright eyed critter named Bud who provides some fun comic relief. This type of character can be annoying, but I found Bud rather endearing. He becomes surprisingly crucial to the plot toward the end.
My only major criticism of Badlands is that the story proceeds in a formulaic and predictable fashion. The basic plot has been done a million times: a young outcast is forced to strike out on his own, meets a plucky group of friends who join him on a treacherous journey, and they learn important lessons along the way.
Disney has done countless versions of this. This movie’s distributor, 20th Century Studios, is a Disney subsidiary. Of course, those other movies don’t feature an extraterrestrial assassin obliterating his foes with hyper advanced weaponry.
rating
Predator: Badlands is a fast-paced entertaining adventure and a worthy addition to the series. I don’t know if Trachtenberg is burned out on Predator yet, but I’d like to see him direct more of these.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 8
Predator Badlands where to watch:
