10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars

Following the dismal reaction to Shane Black’s The Predator in 2018, the consensus among moviegoers was that the Predator franchise was kaput. Middling receptions to Predator 2, Predators, and The Predator condemned the series to a decades-long cycle of failed reboots and eternal damnation to the bargain bin, leaving fans with little hope for the future. Enter: Dan Trachtenberg, who successfully revitalized the franchise with Prey: a back-to-basics approach to what made the original Predator so great. It became Hulu’s most-watched premiere and left Disney no choice but to fast-track two new Predator films with Trachtenberg at the helm, both slated for 2025. The first, Predator: Killer of Killers, was a lean, mean animated triptych that capitalized on Prey’s period aesthetics with delightfully gory results. The second, Predator: Badlands, is an action-adventure blockbuster that serves as the saga’s biggest, boldest, and most ambitious entry yet.

Marking the ninth entry into the long-winded and less-than-ideal chronology of the Predator franchise, Predator: Badlands follows Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a Predator looking for a trophy to mark his great hunt, accompanied by an android named Thia (Elle Fanning). Similar to the structure of Prey, Badlands examines an outcast trying to do right by their culture through a hunt, hoping that slaying a beast will earn them recognition in their respective communities. Where Prey examined Comanche society and its patriarchal sensibilities, Badlands further examines the Yautja (the species name for the Predators) culture and its draconian ideals of strength and weakness. It’s all about finding your own sense of community rather than allowing tradition to do it for you, as Dek learns to become his own individual instead of falling in line with the Yautja code.

Being mostly a two-hander between Schuster-Kolamatangi and Fanning, Badlands is anchored by two very different performances that only grow on you over time. Schuster-Kolamatangi, standing at a reported 7’3” without the big rubber Yautja suit, steps up with a purely physical performance as Dek, as all of his dialogue is subtitled Yautja. Thia, a Weyland-Yutani android who’d been separated from her platoon, does more than enough talking for the both of them, as her hyper-friendly chitchat shifts from slightly irritating to being essential to her singularity among other androids, particularly compared to her twin sister, Tessa (also played by Fanning in a fantastic dual-role performance). Thia’s presence slightly nudges Badlands towards a more comedic tone. Still, the tone shift is nowhere near as drastic as The Predator’s, and it’s important to remember that this is the same franchise where Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped at least five of the funniest one-liners in film history.

Contrary to the last five Predator films, Badlands immediately sets itself apart by centering itself around a Yautja instead of humans. In fact, this is the first and only movie in the Alien vs. Predator universe with no human characters whatsoever. The Yautja have always been the antagonists in the Predator saga, with the perspective shift making Badlands all the more compelling as a narrative. Much of the narrative strength comes from Dek as he attempts to reclaim his honor by obtaining the head of an unkillable beast. After being cast out from his clan by his father, Dek’s story feels like that of a ronin in an old samurai movie, except with the coolest sci-fi aesthetics you’ve ever seen. It’s flipping the Predator formula on its head, making the last six movies feel like a walk in the park compared to what Dek has to go through.

Trachtenberg, along with co-writer Patrick Aison, tread uncharted territory alongside Badlands’ protagonist, taking any and every opportunity to show you something new within the Predator mythos. Nobody's repeating iconic lines or showing you random objects from previous entries; it's all brand new. Where there’s a Xenomorph skull easter egg in Predator 2, Badlands erases the easter eggs to illustrate the deep roots of Yautja culture instead. Trachtenberg's commitment to creating a fleshed-out galaxy is nothing short of extraordinary, compensating for the screenplay’s weaker moments with sheer scale and visual creativity. It’s not exactly an “every frame a painting” type of movie, but every action sequence is impeccably choreographed, shot, and directed. Trachtenberg’s camera moves fluidly, and he knows exactly when to use slow motion for style points. There’s some choppy CGI and cinematography here and there, but it’s easy to ignore when you’re having so much fun.

Aside from Trachtenberg’s direction, which is nothing short of badass, the best aspect of Predator: Badlands has to be the score by Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch. Schachner’s score was one of the standout aspects of Prey, but she and Wallfisch work wonders to make Badlands sound wholly unearthly. It was only about five minutes into the movie that I caught myself nodding along to the beat, and I don't think I was off the hook once after that point. Badlands takes no time in finding a rhythm, and once you’re onboard, there’s no getting off. Precarious Predator diehards may be dismayed by the PG-13 rating (particularly after Alien vs. Predator), but you’d be surprised how little the MPAA cares when blood isn’t red. Badlands’ carnage doesn’t reach the blood-soaked highs of Prey’s French colonizer massacre, but there’s still plenty of decapitations, bisections, and dismemberments to go around; they’re just not happening to humans.

Within the span of three years, Dan Trachtenberg has gone three-for-three and successfully saved the Predator series from total oblivion. While I’m still not over Prey being sent straight to streaming in 2022, I suppose we can look back on it fondly as a baby step to bringing these movies to heights they’ve never seen before. Even if Badlands is a marginal step down from the overall tightness and brutality of Prey, its undeniable sense of spectacle and scale certainly makes up for the last two Predator films being sent directly to Disney+. For all intents and purposes, Predator: Badlands is awesome in every sense, and I couldn’t be more excited for what Trachtenberg will do next with this franchise.

Movie Review: Predator Strikes Again in Thrilling "Badlands"