Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Writer: Patrick Aison
Cast: Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Elle Fanning, Reuben De Jong, Mike Homik

If you’re familiar with the Alien franchise of films and television shows (and other media), you’ll be aware of how much its universe has expanded and how the Xenomorph remains the dark heart and main antagonist of it all (with a few despicable humans and synths here and there). Now, I’m not here to make a full comparison between Alien and Predator, however it’s interesting to note, especially since the two exist within the same canonical universe, how the Predator franchise has evolved entirely differently to Alien. Of course, they are completely different species with their own agendas, however they both have one thing in common: humans are often on the receiving end of their weapons/protruding jaws/acid blood etc. But, where the Xenomorphs have shown no signs of redemption, the Yautja (the Predator species) have, namely in Alien vs. Predator. Predator: Badlands takes us even further into the lore of the Yautja, but does it actually provide more than a standard Predator movie, or is it just more of the same action, killing and beheading?

After a ‘family dispute’ of sorts, a young runtish Yautja named Dek (Schuster-Koloamatangi) is sent by his brother Kwei (Mike Homik) from their home on Yautja Prime to Genna, an extremely hostile planet with murderous plant- and wildlife, to hunt the Kalisk, a creature that remains undefeated by any Yautja warrier. Soon after crashing on the planet, he begins fighting for his life until he meets broken synthetic Tessa (Fanning) who was sent to Genna with a party of synths from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to capture the Kalisk. Dek and Tessa make a deal wherein Dek will help Tessa get back to her ship (and her legs) and she will show him the way to the Kalisk. However, Tessa’s synth ‘sister’ Thia (Fanning) is also continuing her mission for the Corporation and will stop at nothing to see the Kalisk captured alive.

The entire Predator film series has been up and down in its stories, its execution and its overall quality up until 2022’s Prey, in which Dan Trachtenberg came onboard and seemingly saved the series by breathing new life into it. He has taken the Predators away from being just another killer species and instead rounded them out with their own code, hierarchy and culture, exploring something away from them being just a predominantly predatory species. Not to mention, the noun ‘Yautja’ is recognised for the first time within the films, and it gives the species more grounding, along with an entirely new language created by linguist Britton Watkins for the Yautja, further expanding their uniqueness within the universe. This is also the first time a Predator has become the protagonist of, ironically, a Predator film, and with an actual name. Dek is a fully fleshed character, not just a killing machine, and at times he invokes empathy and relatability, which is a strange thing to say about a Yautja, and not only does the character appear in more of the movie than a Predator has in any previously, he is also rounded out enough to be an interesting protagonist. Step aside, Schwarzenegger: the Dek is coming.

The film once again brings together both the Predator and Alien franchises by using a synthetic humanoid, Tessa, created by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation as the co-lead of the film. It’s a nice, relatively small crossover that is a reminder of how interconnected the two are, and it doesn’t overshadow with anything Xenomorph related. Production-wise it was quite well-done in regard to how Tessa was able to accompany Dek and guide him through Genna, and the planet itself was very interestingly designed, with a lot of thought put into the various dangers that await any visitor (I’m a particular fan of a species of exploding bug) The designs of the Yautja themselves were also exceptional. The Yautja is a fascinating creation by screenwriters Jim and John Thomas, with its physical design by Stan Winston, as they blend multiple aspects (tribal, soldiers, hunters, aliens) into their genetic makeup, and it was criminal that no one had tried to go deeper into their culture before Dan Trachtenberg. He has done a fantastic job of delving into it since and helping create their world alongside multiple screenwriters since Prey.

Getting across emotion from a Yautja would be hard at the best of times, but add in the prosthetics, costuming and a whole new language and it becomes an even tougher challenge. Fortunately, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi did an excellent job using little more than his eyes, along with computer graphics to enhance and animate the mask he wore. He immediately pulled us into Dek and caused us to feel something other than fear or anger regarding a Yautja right from the beginning. It did however make it a little harder to invest in the to-and-fro between Dek and Elle Fanning’s Tessa, as much of the time she acted as an unnecessary translator in spite of the added subtitles rather than having a more natural back-and-forth. Fanning portrayed the synth well, as she did Thia, but Tessa’s dialogue was a little weak at times, and the character was sometimes, for want of a better word, annoying. Similarly, a simian-like creature named Bud accompanied the two for some of their journey, and while she was relatively cute and occasionally funny, she was too cartoonish for the tone of the film and some of its scenes.

Dek’s story has begun to open up a new world for the future of the Predator franchise and has created a possibility for the Yautja species to become less predator and more protector. Of course, we wouldn’t want to lose the terror that comes with encountering a Yautja, as that has always been part of the franchise’s appeal, but I am definitely invested in wherever Trachtenberg wants to go next. He left it wide open for another film, introducing (without spoilers) a female character that could really flip the lore on its head. I for one am quite pleased with what Trachtenberg and his team have been doing, and I look forward to the next instalment that he has previously teased… perhaps even with an Arnie comeback… stay tuned!