Director Dan Trachtenberg proves he’s the man for the job when it comes to expanding the Predator universe, originally created by Jim and John Thomas. After doing an amazing job with the animated film Predator: Killer of Killers, he returns with the live-action feature length Predator: Badlands, the ninth installment in the franchise, which proves that he knows how to expand the universe. This time, the Predator takes center stage as the main character and exploring their world and culture.
Predator: Badlands follows Dek, a Yautja runt sentence to execution by his own father for being “disgrace” to their own clan. After a narrow escape, Dek flees to the planet Genna, home to a powerful beast known as the Kalisk.
It is implied that the Kalisk is the only creature that has not been taken as prey by the Yautja race and has caused the death of many Yautja who tries to take its head as a trophy. But Genna itself is a dangerous place where every plant and creature is a predator on its own. The flora and fauna are all deadly and Dek must survive without his full gear in order to even have a chance at taking on the Kalisk.
On his adventure, he encounters Thia, a damaged synthetic from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation (famously of the Alien franchise and mentioned in the Blade Runner universe). Missing her lower half, Thia is part of an all-synthetic research team, who are studying the biodiversity of Genna.
It’s an expedition composed completely of synthetics as humans would probably not survive the planet. Together, they face multiple dangers and form an unlikely bond.
Its premise is relatively simple. As a sci-fi action-adventure film, Predator: Badlands already delivers with exciting fight sequences, strange and lethal opponents from animals to vegetation, and the Kalisk is a sight to behold.
The fight choreography feels fresh and unique, and it uses anything and everything within the arsenal of the future, both familiar and alien, to make the film feel exciting and different.
The bonus of all of this is the interesting story that builds from Dek and Thia’s dynamic. As a Yautja, Dek was raised to believe that relying on others is a weakness and that every hunt must be faced alone. Thia, on the other hand, was programmed with heightened empathy and curiousity – a quality that the Yautja dismisses and looks down upon – as her work involves studying the living organisms. Thia has a wide-eyed, enthusiastic exuberance for life, a quirk in her programming. Together, they argue but also end up relying on each other and learning from each other’s perspectives.
Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi plays Dek. A stuntman, Schuster-Koloamatangi has the incredible physical presence (despite being a “runt” of the species) to convey a strong warrior and ably perform the stunts.
He wore a suit to help form the physicality while motion-capture CGI was used to transform his head into a Yautja, allowing him to act with the CGI registering his emotions and allowing the multiple features of the Yautja to move accordingly – from the gaping jaws to eye movements, and such. Dek speaks entirely in the Yautja language, which really hems in the alien-ness of the character and is much appreciated.
Elle Fanning plays a double role as the synths Thia and her counterpart Tessa, who seem to lead the expedition and oversee studying the wildlife of Genna. Thia and Tessa are contrasting characters, with Thia showing the bubblier side of heightened programmed sensitivity, while Tessa shows the darker, angrier side of it.
It’s Fanning’s exuberance that creates the texture that keeps Predator: Badlands from being such a dark affair. It keeps it spritely and helps evoke a playfulness in Dek that allows the film more dynamics in tone.
What could have been just a straight-up action-adventure then becomes a little tale about the power of community and found family. It’s a little bonus that Predator: Badlands has a grounded story outside of all the thrills and spills. At the same time, the film is not shy in presenting the company as an evil entity that uses “the good of humanity” as an excuse for wanton destruction and planetary exploitation. This seems to be a running theme in any film that features Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the Alien franchise, the two Blade Runner films, and now the Predator universe.
Dan Trachtenberg has hit two home runs with his Predator films, and I hope he does more. I’d love to see more of these characters and this world.
My Rating:
Predator: Badlands is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets now to experience the action, adventure, and alien mayhem on the big screen!
