Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
Starring: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Mike Homik, Rohinal Nayaran, Reuben De Jong
With 2022's Prey, writer/director Dan Trachtenberg revitalised the Predator franchise by taking it back to its simple roots. For decades fans had dreamt of scenarios in which the alien hunter might find itself - Predator in the trenches of WWI, Predator in the Old West, Predator in Nam etc - and Trachtenberg realised such a scenario, pitting his Predator against Comanche warriors in colonial America.
Having helmed the animated Predator: Killer of Killers in the meantime, Trachtenberg has returned for another live-action Predator movie with Predator: Badlands. The best sequels tend to stick to the formula but the trouble with directors returning to a property is that they understandably don't want to make the same movie a second time. This can result in sequels that bear so little resemblance to the original that you wonder if the director wanted to make an original movie but were forced to work within existing IP. The most explicit example of this is Ridley Scott's return to the Alien franchise with Prometheus and Covenant, two convoluted sequels that have very little in common with his meat and potatoes 1979 classic.
Badlands is a similarly wild departure from formula. Trachtenberg has taken the setup of Prey, that of a young warrior desperate to prove their worth to their clan, and flipped the script. The young warrior in question here is a Predator (or a "Yautja" to give it its proper name). Yes, this is a movie where the Predator is now the hero, which is like a Halloween movie where Michael Myers is a babysitter. This ain't your dad's Predator, it's a kiddy movie that plays like a big budget Saturday morning cartoon. That's perfectly fine, but why set it in the world of Predator? Well, we know the answer: Hollywood will never greenlight an original movie when they can slap a recognisable brand name on it.
Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a young Yautja who has disgraced his family with his lack of hunting proficiency. After surviving an attempt on his life by his own father, Dek flees to the planet of Genna where he hopes to hunt and kill a formidable creature known as the Kalisk (isn't that a line of IKEA shelving?). On Genna, Dek quickly finds he's out of his depth. Practically every form of life, from plants to winged creatures, seems determined to kill him. Dek finds help in the form of Thia (Elle Fanning), a "synth" manufactured by the Weyland-Yutani corporation (yes, this also ties into the Alien franchise) who has lost her legs in an encounter with the Kalisk. Strapping Thia to his back like Chewbacca with the damaged C3PO in The Empire Strikes Back, Dek views the android as a tool to aid his survival, but Thia is really the brains of the outfit.
Much of Badlands follows the buddy movie template with Dek and Thia bickering like a sci-fi version of Eastwood and Maclaine in Two Mules for Sister Sara. But both characters are insufferable, and it's like watching a teenage meathead and his cheerleader girlfriend. The bubbly Thia is a manic pixie dream robot, with little in common with the resolutely stoic synths we've previously encountered in the Alien franchise. Fanning plays a second role as another synth named Tessa, and her performance in this part feels in sync with how Timothy Olyphant portrayed a similar character in the recent Alien: Earth TV show.
As misguided as the endeavour might be, Badlands is undoubtedly well made. Fanning is very good in both roles, even if one of them feels out of whack with the overall franchise. I can't imagine why anyone would want to see a humanised Predator, but if that's your bag you'll be won over by the combination of Schuster-Koloamatangi's physical performance and some impressive effects. As he's consistently displayed throughout his career, Trachtenberg is an ideas man, and Badlands populates its narrative with some clever concepts; much thought has gone into making Genna resemble a real planet with its own flora and fauna.
Remove the "Predator" prefix and Badlands is a perfectly serviceable kiddy flick. However, remove that prefix and I wouldn't be reviewing it, as I don't cover children's movies. If you call your movie a Predator movie then it has to be judged as a Predator movie. Badlands is far from the worst movie in the Predator franchise, but in its complete failure to understand the series' appeal, it's the worst Predator movie.
Predator: Badlands is in UK/ROI cinemas from November 7th.
