As strange as it may sound, for once, I was grateful that this film’s trailers weren't very compelling. Not that they were entirely inept, but my initial thoughts on the Yautja's (the Predator species) character design were not positive. I thought it was weaker compared to the previous versions, repulsive even.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I dismissed this film, even after the Predator franchise was given a new lease of life by Prey and, most recently, the decent animated anthology, Killer of Killers.
The PG-13 rating also didn’t help, especially for die-hard fans of the franchise. The Predator movies have always been vicious and bloody, and the idea that they were going to take that away for a much more vanilla experience was the final nail in the coffin.
Predator: Badlands is the 2025 American science fiction action film and the ninth instalment in the franchise.
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg and written by Patrick Aison (from a story by both), the film stars Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Dek and Elle Fanning.
The story follows an outcast young predator finding an unlikely ally on a journey to find the ultimate adversary.
Positives
The first thing that makes Predator: Badlands work is that the first 25 minutes and the final 25 minutes are sci-fi action at its best.
The opening sequence is the Predator movie I, and frankly, the majority of the franchise fans wanted to see.
It keeps the familiar tone we all love about the first two movies, yet simultaneously expands the world, giving us a hint at a broad reason as to why the Predator hunts, their way of life, their rules, and the mechanics of their familial units.
This opening is one of the best in the franchise. It immediately invests you in Dek, who is the main character, forcing you to empathise with his plight as an outcast. The payoff at the end is immensely satisfying, largely because of how meticulously the story was set up during that opening.
World-building
While the character design looked questionable in the trailer, it works within the film’s context, Dek is never meant to be the perfect predator from the very start. The visual effects are great; at no point do the effects draw attention to themselves.
The CGI team did a phenomenal job, not just in rendering the creatures but in conveying subtle emotions and expressions.
They use clever movements of the predators' facial features to help the audience understand what these typically stoic hunters are feeling. In the context of the film, where the protagonist is an outcast due to his body size and appearance, the unique design makes perfect sense.
The alien world where much of the story unfolds, Genna, is a fantastic planet. Its visual design is interesting; it resembles earth, the only difference being that everything is actively trying to kill you.
Everything on that planet is prey and predator, the kind of alien world I wanted to see in James Cameron’s Avatar: an ecosystem that looks and functions in a truly unique and lethal way.
The planet itself perfectly sticks to the Predator tone of survival of the fittest. The setting is so intricately designed that you can watch the film purely as a science-fiction story, rather than just a Predator sequel.
The action is fantastic. That initial 25 minutes before the title card hits is tightly paced and culminates in a highly satisfying sequence. The performances are also great.
I thought Elle Fanning, playing the dual roles of Tia and Tessa, did a great job, even if I disagreed with the characters' writing. Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi utilises body language, poses to elevate his role as the main Yautja, Dek, with limited facial recognisable expression.
Fun fact, he also plays the father. He does a really great job under the make-up and visual effects to capture the essence of the predator.
Coming from the director who gave us the visually stunning Prey and Killer of Killers, the cinematography here is predictably good and beautiful on the big screen, especially with planet Genna, supported by a rich soundtrack.
Furthermore, the film incorporates very good ideas that organically meld with the Alien franchise lore, particularly regarding the Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s persistent interests in the perfect specimen.
Gripes
The second act of this movie is unnecessarily convoluted, out of tone and watered down. I was genuinely surprised by the degree of forced complexity.
My primary issue lies with the characters of Tia and Tessa. They are written poorly, off-tone, like something from a Saturday morning cartoon (Millennials will get the reference), and I question their necessity in this film.
Their introduction abruptly shifts the movie from a cynical, survival-of-the-strongest action film into a much softer, more comedic story, as mentioned, mirroring the tone and pace of a Saturday morning cartoon, complete with a cute character and life lessons. Life lessons that are jarringly out of place.
The core concept of the original films is a single hunter seeking the best prey. This film pushes a theme of "you cannot survive alone," which feels like a sanitised, Disney-esque take that undermines the essence of the solitary hunter.
The second act is riddled with studio notes and what feel like required checkboxes. It even adopts a bizarrely anti-masculinity stance that aligns with a lot of modern movies that are putting the message and activism over just a good story.
While the opening focuses on a strong sense of brotherhood, the film feels obligated to also introduce a sisterhood story, bloating the premise and slowing down the pacing.
While the actress playing Tia/Tessa is phenomenal, the writing and presence of these characters slows down the narrative significantly.
The story would have been leaner and stronger without them. Moreover, the accompanying synthetic characters/drones, who were supposedly intelligent artificial life forms, were surprisingly dumb and generic, mere bodies placed there to be dispatched, serving no real intellectual purpose in the plot. It defies logic when a severed set of legs manages to take out a fully functioning robot.
The PG-13 rating, while it's going to make money for Disney, takes away the weight of a standard Predator movie, making the overall experience feel watered down for the die-hard Predator fans.
The standout flaw is the “softification” of the franchise. The film attempts to take a gentler, more agreeable approach, which is entirely off-key for a Predator movie. For cinephiles, I want you to imagine James Bond, but it’s a Barbie movie; it’s that kind of tonal dissonance. This element of softness or Disneyfication derailed the second act.
However, the third act brings back the high stakes, visceral action, and a satisfying character arc for the Dek.
Conclusion
Is Predator: Badlands worth watching, even with these criticisms? Yes, it is a fantastic theatrical experience (first and last 25 minutes). The action and sci-fi elements are more than enough to keep you hooked, and the Predator we want is present.
But be prepared for the substantial, unnecessary surrounding story and the checklist elements designed to satisfy particular demographics, which ultimately dilute the core strength of the hunt.
