'Predator: Badlands' A Review

Predator: Badlands is a scifi action movie, a standalone in the Predator franchise and the ninth in the series. Dek(Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a Yautja(Predator) runt, strives to prove himself to his clan by going to Genna, the 'death planet', and hunting the unkillable Kalisk. After crashing he teams up with Thia(Elle Fanning) a damaged synthetic and the two strike up an unlikely partnership.

Schuster-Koloamatangi gives a great performance, expressive and alien, conveying an understandable but distinctly different species. He has a lot of room to play, which he does, mostly utilizing physicality and brings the Predator, here-to-for mostly unknowable, into a fully flushed out character. Fanning is a great foil, fast-talking and funny and the two have great chemistry. The supporting cast is pretty limited but equally effective. There is a Grogu-esk sidekick that kind of rides the line of fun and cute occasionally dipping over to on-the-nose but still mostly just fun.

Visually the film is rich, imaginative, and exciting. The landscape, the flora and fauna, the creature design. It's all very specific and very evocative. Director Dan Trachtenberg continues his resurgent efforts for the franchise, expanding the world in interesting way and telling diverting standalone stories. The score is thrumming and contagious, the costuming, the props, all are clearly meticulously thought out and serve the transportive worldbuilding. It marks somewhat of a tonal shift for the franchise, this is definitely a PG-13 action flick, reminiscent of the kind of thing you'd have seen in the late 90's with humor, heart, and exciting fights and that's one of the things that make it feel so fresh and exciting. 

A thrilling, immersive adventure. A throwback style popcorn flick Hollywood seems to have forgotten how to make- fun.

Currently in theaters.

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