Review by Allie G.
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Starring: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Movie Length: 1 hours 47 minutes
What it’s about: The latest film in the Predator franchise, from Director Dan Trachtenberg (who also gave us Prey and the animated Predator: Killer of Killers. The sci-fi offering is about a young Predator on a mission to hunt a deadly creature on a dangerous planet, seeking to win his clan and father’s favor.
What Allie thought: Predator: Badlands delivers solid action, especially in the third act. The film refreshes the franchise by providing the Yautja backstory and using the names of some Predators. The main protagonist (Dek) is the weakest in his clan and his father orders his older brother to kill him. Dek escapes with his brother’s help, who is then killed for it. In defiance, Dek survives and sets off alone on his mission, determined to prove himself. Alone, Dek must face dangerous creatures on a deadly planet.
The film’s cinematography is colorful and well-done thanks to Jeff Cutter who previously worked with Trachtenberg on Prey. The score is thrilling and paired well with the action scenes thanks to the dual composing team of Sarah Schachner (who worked on Prey) and Benjamin Wallfisch (who handled the composer duties for Blade Runner 2049 amongst many projects)
I enjoyed the chemistry between the two leads, Dek and Thia, because they were entertaining and funny together. The action scenes are exciting, especially during the fight between Dek and the Khaliks.
On a negative side, I didn’t enjoy how “Disney” the film felt. It didn’t feel as much like a horror movie like the previous films, but rather a film suitable for children (pre-teens and up) to see. It is a good movie, but a complete departure from the previous movies, which may be a shock to long-time fans.
Once you get past that, it is not a traditional Predator film; it is enjoyable and fun to watch. On Dek’s journey on the planet, Genna, he comes across a synthetic human, Thia, and a hard-shelled baby creature, Bud. Dek learns to accept help from Thia and how to use the deadly fauna on Genna to his advantage. Bud makes for a cute sidekick.
Allie’s rating: Overall, a solid film—7/10. I wanted a movie that was closer in tone to the previous Predator movies. While this movie was good in its own way, I was hoping for more. That being said, if you want a good 2 hour or so action movie, go see this one (on an IMAX screen if possible).
Predator: Badlands is now in theaters.
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