A Bold New Hunt: “Predator: Badlands” Reforges the Saga
Ken Jones, OnScreen Blog Chief Film Critic
The Predator franchise got a shot in the arm in 2022 with the direct-to-Hulu release of Prey. After releasing the animated anthology film Predator: Killer of Killers on Hulu earlier this year, director Dan Trachtenberg returns to the franchise for the second time in 2025 with Predator: Badlands, further expanding the world-building of one of the most well-known sci-fi action franchises.
Predator: Badlands is a departure in the franchise as it is the first to be told from the perspective of a Predator, known as the Yautja. A young Yautja named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is sent from his home world of Yautja Prime to prove that he has what it takes to be a Predator. Looked down upon by his own father, Dek is tasked with killing the Kalisk, a creature that is the most dangerous and lethal monster on the most dangerous and lethal planet in the universe, Genna.
On Genna, he discovers that he is not the only one looking for the Kalisk, crossing paths with Thia (Elle Fanning), a badly damaged Weyland-Yutani android that was part of a crew that attempted to capture the Kalisk as the Weyland-Yutani Corp has designs on the creature. Dek must utilize all of his strength, smarts, and skills as a warrior, adapt to his hostile environment, and reassess the Yautja warrior code of fighting alone to catch the apex predator and escape the planet alive.
Badlands does an excellent job of establishing the planet of Genna as a hostile world. Nearly everything on the planet is designed to fight and attack, whether the creatures or the plants and forests. Forest vines attack Dek almost immediately upon crash-landing on the planet. He encounters a field of flowers that releases a deadly toxin when anything comes in close proximity to them. And there is a field of razor-sharp grass. It’s an inventive and creative planet, to be sure.
Dek and Thia form an uneasy alliance. Yautja are proud warriors who believe in fighting alone, rising or falling on the merits of their own strength. In a training combat exercise with his brother, Dek is revealed to be the runt of his clan, so conquering the Kalisk is supposed to be an even taller task, but one that would be all the more impressive because his father dismisses him as not capable or deserving. His continued existence is essentially an insult to his father.
Thia, in contrast to the solo warrior in Dek, is literally designed to be part of a pair, having a counterpart, or a sister, named Tessa, who is also Fanning in a dual role. Thia is the “lab” android, while Tessa is the “field” android. Thia’s emotional sensitivity is heightened compared to typical Weyland-Yutani androids, but Tessa is more objective and ruthless.
The contrast between Dek and Thia is deliberate and effective, catalyzing a shift in Dek’s perspective and prompting him to think outside his narrow confines. Thia is also physically dependent on Dek as her prior encounter with the Kalisk resulted in the loss of her legs. Weirdly, their dynamic can be compared to that of Shrek and Donkey in Shrek, particularly early on when Thia asks Dek questions. I quite enjoyed Fanning’s dual performance, a nice change of pace from other Weyland-Yutani androids.
As this is a Predator-in-training, Dek has some of the classic Yautja weaponry, but has not yet “earned” his cloaking device. As far as monsters go, the Kalisk is a formidable and imposing creature, one that makes sense as the apex predator on an actively inhospitable planet. When its ability is revealed, it becomes very clear why Weyland-Yutani would want this creature at all costs. The film looks great and features strong action, with the climax offering a very obvious riff on Aliens that should be crowd-pleasing to many.
If there is one part of this movie I am still struggling with, it is the loss of mystique surrounding the Predator as a cold, ruthless, killing machine that stealthily hunts its prey. Making a Predator the protagonist, creating a language, world-building, and imagining what their warrior culture would look like makes concrete the things that were previously left to the imagination. It’s an inevitable casualty in the constant Hollywood struggle to strip-mine all IP. Apparently, some of this world-building is influenced by the franchise’s expanded universe in other media formats. Nevertheless, it alters the movie franchise landscape.
With Prey, Predator: Killer of Killers, and now Predator: Badlands, Dan Trachtenberg has done a lot to restore the franchise that had lost a little steam over an uneven run of sequels. This entry grows out more mythology through world-building and revealing more of the culture of these monstrous warriors, while sacrificing a little in what made them so mysterious. On the whole, Predator: Badlands delivers the goods as an action film about a misfit team.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars