By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
"PREDATOR: BADLANDS" HUNTS NEW GROUND WITH BITE AND HEART
Don't call it a comeback, but
"Predator: Badlands" from director
Dan Trachtenberg (TV's "Waterworld”) packs enough bite to revive the franchise on its own terms.
This standalone sci-fi actioner, from screenwriters
Patrick Aison ("Prey"),
Jim Thomas ("Prey"), and
John Thomas ("Predator: Killer of Killers"), marks the ninth entry in the "Predator" saga, and it's more surprising than anyone probably expected.
Set in the distant future on a remote and ravaged planet, "Predator: Badlands" introduces Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, TV's "Far North"), a young Yautja outcast from his clan and desperate to prove his worth.
His quest for redemption leads him to Genna, a perilous world teeming with lethal prey known as the Kalisk. There, he forms an uneasy alliance with Thia (Elle Fanning, “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping”), a grounded Weyland-Yutani Corporation humanoid who lost her legs fighting the Kalisk, but not her edge.
Fanning, pulling double duty as both the empathetic Thia and her icy alter-ego Tessa, anchors the film with a performance that's alternately sly and sharp as a vibro-blade. Her witty, deadpan banter with Dek brings unexpected humor to the bleak landscape, lightening the tension and even poking fun at Dek's very relatable "daddy issues." However, when she discovers his brother's death, that sarcasm gives way to real empathy, grounding the story in something unexpectedly moving.
Adding an extra dash of charm is a wide-eyed, odd-looking native creature that the pair befriends and who takes a particular liking to Dek.
Visually, "Predator: Badlands" is rather striking. Trachtenberg and cinematographer Jeff Cutter ("Prey") present a desolate, hellscape that feels both alien and uncomfortably familiar. The action sequences are leaner than the franchise's blood-soaked heyday, dialed back for a PG-13 rating and attract younger audiences no doubt, yet they still pulse with intensity.
Instead of nonstop carnage, Trachtenberg opts for slow-burn tension and moments of eerie stillness that make the bursts of violence land harder. It's a calculated move--less splatter, more story--and it pays off.
By the time the final showdown arrives, "Predator: Badlands" has done something few franchise entries dare: it reinvents itself without abandoning its roots.
Fanning's layered dual performance, Schuster-Koloamatangi's raw vulnerability, and Trachtenberg's atmospheric direction breathe new life into a series that easily could've gone extinct.
It may not hit every target, but "Predator: Badlands" is a pretty exciting hunt worth joining.
Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays now at 5:17 p.m. and 6:47 p.m. on radio station KFBK 93.1 FM and 1530 AM.
Watch This Trailer For
"PREDATOR: BADLANDS"
