Predator: Badlands (2025)


It is always nice to see a series redeem itself and the Predator franchise managed to do so with Prey.  Set in North America during the early years of the colonists' westward expansion it told the tale of a young Comanche woman encountering a Yautja on a hunting expedition to Earth.  It both explained where the gun came from in Predator 2 that was gifted to the cop after defeating the one hunting in Los Angeles as well as dragged the series out of the same quagmire the Alien franchise, which takes place in the same universe, was wallowing in. 

There were some hints at where sequels would go at the end of the film, and they may someday be explored, but writer and director Dan Trachtenberg decided to go in a different direction.  Comic books and video games, as well as previous sequels, had explored the Yautja and hinted at their culture.  Up to this point, on film at least, all encounters had been from a human perspective.  This time around we get some hints of what their culture is truly like and get to join a young predator on its first hunt.

Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a young warrior who is considered weak and small by Yautja standards.  As he is choosing where he will do his first hunt his father (Reuben de Jong) arrives and demands that Dek's brother Kwei (Michael Homik) kill Dek as he has not measured up and could be a disgrace to their clan.  Instead, Kwei dies defending his brother, and launches his ship to the planet Genna where Dek intends to hunt an unkillable beast called the Kalisk and bring it back as a trophy to prove his worth. 

Upon arriving he finds a damaged synth named Thia (Elle Fanning) who offers to help him survive the planet if he will help reunite her with both her legs and her fellow synth Tessa (Fanning).  Although he insists Yautja fight alone he is able to make an exception as Thia is a machine and a tool for him to use.  He soon finds out that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is also hunting the Kalisk and, determined not to let a bunch of synths make off with his prize, enlists the help of Thia and a creature she names Bud to help fulfill the mission.

Predator: Badlands takes place in the more familiar future of the Alien franchise, and I believe this is the first time this has happened.  Thus, while Prey featured a Yautja with comparatively primitive weapons to the original introduced in Predator, this presents us a society that has faster-than-light travel while Weyland-Yutani and the other Earth corporations are still relying on cryostasis for long-distance travel.  Despite their emphasis on strength and hunting, or more likely due to it, they are still centuries ahead of humans in the future.

What glimpses we get of their culture isn't the most flattering even as the audience roots for Dek against the army of identical synths hellbent on doing whatever nefarious thing Weyland-Yutani intends to do with the Kalisk.  I do credit Trachtenberg and his fellow writers with making them more than just monsters with some sort of weird honor system while also not doing the obvious and making them Klingon clones.  I find it admirable that some work went into making aliens actually alien.

I am happy to see many films going back to a combination of practical and CGI like many did in the 1990s as many of them have stood the test of time.  This isn't exactly a low-budget film, but it is about the quarter of the budget of a typical Marvel borefest and looks so much better, even with computer-generated creatures.  It is disappointing that this didn't do so well at the box office - Prey went directly to streaming and didn't have to worry about breaking even in the theaters - but it is definitely not a disappointment to watch.  It is past time that studios stop judging movies based on theatrical releases that price out working-class families and more on quality.  If Disney decides to do that on what Trachtenberg delivered there may just be more to look forward to in the future with this series.

Predator: Badlands (2025)
Time: 107 minutes
Starring: Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Elle Fanning
Director: Dan Trachtenberg 

 

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