The film opens with a futuristic speeder gliding across an alien desert. The bones of giant creatures form a jagged landscape. Our protagonist Dek, a young Predator, enters a deep cave with his sword drawn to face off in a duel against his own brother.
The battle between them is a beautiful lightshow of futuristic weapons that is somehow brutal and artistic at the same time. After seeing all this in just the first few minutes, I was instantly hooked on this movie. I can confidently say “Predator: Badlands” may be the best Predator movie since the original.
“Predator: Badlands” is an action movie released on Nov. 7 and the newest entry into the “Predator” franchise, which started with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1987. It is not a sequel, and the audience does not need to see other movies to understand this one — although I would recommend it. The story follows our main character, Dek, who is a member of the alien species known as the titular Predators. Called Yautja in their language, Predators are beings who practice a hunter-warrior culture centered around slaying the most dangerous creatures in the universe. Dek is looked down upon by his family because he is the weakest of the Predators. To prove his worth to his father, Dek travels to the nightmarish world of Genna to slay a beast known as the Kalisk, which has never been slain by a Predator before.
“Predator: Badlands” is unique from other entries in the franchise because it treats a Predator as the main protagonist instead of a villain or side character. The first 20 minutes feature no English dialogue, as Dek only speaks to his family in their alien language. This was an incredibly interesting start because I had never seen that before; we saw their shiny technology, their cultural norms and language all from their perspective. It was such a refreshing change from the movies I’m used to.
The primary selling point of this movie is the action, and “Predator: Badlands” knocked it out of the park. Watching Dek fight felt like watching poetry in motion, but so much more primal. In his first duel with his brother Kwei, Dek strikes relentlessly with a glowing sword, which stands out brilliantly in the darkness of the cave. Once on Genna, he displays more traditional hunting prowess by jumping nearly 100 feet to land upon an alien beast and begin hacking into it with his blade. Towards the end of the movie, Dek is forced to face off against a group of androids sent to Genna by humans, and he expertly takes them down one by one.
The protagonist is quite versatile in his skills: in just one movie, he uses a sword, explosives, a shuriken and more. As the plot progresses, he uses the wildlife on Genna to make new weapons from scratch. He learns to use razor grass as knives, poisoned plant needles as darts, a severed fang as a blade, and he manages to tame an alien creature that spits spines at targets.
The movie’s cinematography is gorgeous. It relies heavily on CGI due to the exotic science fiction premise, but the quality was exceptional enough that it looked real to me. The Predator homeworld was a bright and atmospheric desert, which reminded me a bit of “Dune.” Genna was a beautiful world of jungles, tall green trees, bright stars in the night, colorful plants of royal purple and a deep blue sky. It was surprisingly beautiful for a planet where everything wants to kill you.
The dialogue was shockingly good, and I was pleasantly surprised by the direction it took. Soon after Dek arrives on Genna, he meets an android named Thia who was stolen and damaged by the Kalisk. Dek is initially uninterested in helping her, but Thia convinces him that she is useful enough to be worth saving. Thia is a hilariously friendly heroine who reminds me of a puppy. She is so excited to be friends that it’s borderline annoying. She is the perfect foil to Dek’s cold-blooded hunter personality.
Her interactions with the protagonist brought out a complex side of him I did not expect from an alien. As bizarre as it sounds, the writers made Dek seem very “human” for a Yautja through his complex emotional range.
He has an interesting duality of wanting to be a powerful lone warrior but also secretly enjoying the affection of others. Dek has a visible internal conflict between the side of him that craves power and the side that wants to be a part of a group. His complex relationship with his brother and father visibly change him throughout the story, especially as Thia learns more about it. I was not ready for such an emotionally compelling story from a movie about a spider-faced alien and a robot, which says a lot about how good the writing is.
Unfortunately, “Predator: Badlands” does have some notable problems in its narrative. The story has a very basic structure that falls apart about halfway through after a predictable plot twist. After the twist, the story has no clear direction, and it becomes more like a series of fun scenes.
My main criticism of the story is how corny it gets in its message later on. It goes for the “found family” trope, which has been done nearly to death over the last few decades. It’s not bad, but the way it was handled felt a bit on the nose. The unlikely friendship between Dek and Thia should have been given more time to develop for this concept to work.
Altogether, “Predator: Badlands” is a supremely entertaining movie I can highly recommend. The action, the visual spectacle, the drama and character development make it a must-see for science fiction fans. I would rate it a solid 9/10.
