'Predator: Badlands' Review: Thrilling and Violent Predator Entry Finds Evolution in Humanizing Tale
I think it's safe to say that Dan Trachtenberg has become the Predator franchise's den daddy. Rightfully so. His Hulu offerings, Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, rocked, and I'm still upset that they weren't given proper theatrical releases. Now Trachtenberg and the Predator have finally succeeded in their hunt back to the big screen with a blockbuster-scale installment subtitled Badlands. No, it's not a remake of Terrence Malick but with a Yautja lead. Nah. It's a fusion of Alien and Predator, with Dan Trachtenberg doing a Ratchet & Clank/Banjo-Kazooie. It raises the question never explored in either respective franchise: what if a Yautja and a Weyland-Yutani synthetic could FEEL?!
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of 20th Century Studios
MPA Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of strong sci-fi violence.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 47 Minutes
Language: English
Production Companies: Lawrence Gordon Productions, Davis Entertainment, Toberoff Entertainment
Distributor: 20th Century Studios
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Writer: Patrick Aison
Cast: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
U.S Release Date: November 7, 2025
Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), the runt of his clan, is being trained by his elder brother Kwei (Mike Homik) to prepare for his first hunt so he can earn his cloak, earn his title as a Yautja, and become part of the clan. During a heart-to-heart with his brother, Dek decides to kill the unkillable Kalisk as his first hunt to prove himself. That’s until Dek's father arrives and reveals that Kwei was supposed to kill Dek as his first hunt. Kwei saves Dek and sends him away on his spacecraft, but not before Dek sees Kwei killed by his father's hand for his disobedience.
Dek crashlands on the Kalisk’s planet, Genna, a terrain full of hostile beasts and monsters. While traversing this unfamiliar landscape, he encounters Thia (a charmingly spunky Elle Fanning), an upbeat and wise Weyland-Yutani synthetic without legs. Thia has been parted from her identical synthetic Tessa (Fanning in a frightening, cunning performance) following an encounter with the Kalisk.
Reluctantly, Dek uses her as a backpack and hikes through unknown land to find his enemy. However, with the help of Thia and Bud, a cute monster that imprints on Dek, he soon starts to wonder if trophy hunting will really get him the clan he wants.
Trachtenberg's continuous interest in familial dynamics persists and is applied to the Yautja culture, captivatingly.
(L-R) Kwei (Mike Homik) and Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) in 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: BADLANDS film. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
It is increasingly evident that the Dan Trachtenberg films are focused on coming-of-age tales in which FAMILY is a significant motif in the context of the humans when encountering a Yautja. Though Badlands shakes up the status quo by making the Predator a protag, it retreads similar themes to Prey. Patrick Aison, who penned both installments, recycles the "smallest, objectively weakest member of their clan who embarks on a quest to prove their own inner strength and all" trope and actualizes Naru's arc through Dek.
But Aison uses the new Predator-protag shift to his advantage, naturally progressing the evolution of the series' conventions by applying unforeseen humanistic traits to the most dangerous trophy hunters in film. Despite their advanced technology, the Yautjas are ruthless meatheads. Aison and Trachtenberg seamlessly advance the dimensions of the Yautja as a culture, raising the question of whether familial love is a weakness in a society where emotion is a liability. That's the query that brings these two complete opposites, Dek and the bubbly Thia, together. It is an intriguing, familiar, yet fun, dynamic — think Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope in a Ratchet & Clank situation… if Ratchet were simply a Yautja.
Although Badlands may have been influenced by Shadow of the Colossus, I found it more Tartakovsky-ian in both sensibilities and scope. It is primal in the sense it showcases two very different, action-oriented beings from separate cultures learning, evolving, and gaining sensitivity and complexity. Think Samurai Jack, regarding the fish-out-of-water element, set in a beautiful landscape full of creepy crawlies and slimy sci-fi creatures. (That's me saying, "This was 100% my shit.”) It was a lot of fun to see a familiar Darwinist study play out on a big blockbuster scale.
In the lead role, Kiwi actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi truly demonstrates his talent, achieving a perfect balance between humanistic emotion and badass ruthlessness while portraying one of the most menacing sci-fi characters in film. This is the first time that viewers can observe a Yautja emoting sensitivity, and Schuster-Koloamatangi does so with skill, utilizing subtle expressions and body language. Furthermore, his rapport with his flawless co-lead, Elle Fanning, elevates Badlands. Fanning each of her characters’ opposing mindsets so powerfully, making you fully feel both Thea's wide-eyed delight and deep dread when her intimidating "Weyland-Yutani" counterpart appears.
Predator: Badlands is a bloodsoaked blast, despite being a step down in quality.
L-R) Thia (Elle Fanning) and Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) in 20th Century Studios' PREDATOR: BADLANDS film. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Badlands is Trachtenberg at his highest budget to date, a huge step up from Prey and 10 Cloverfield Lane. His directional approach here is very similar to his past fare, with an occasional emphasis on handheld. As a result, several action set pieces are visually disorienting, making it unclear who is fighting whom and where you should even look. Positively, the action sequences' choreography, which includes the battle and Dek's pursuit of the beasts on Genna, makes excellent use of slow motion and amazing tracking oners. Like a YouTube video of Mortal Kombat fatalities where the creator had to change the blood color to avoid demonetization, the fatalities during the very video-game-inspired action set pieces are, as expected, equally graphic and badass. PG-13 rating be damned. Although entertaining and well choreographed, there are far too many climaxes in Badlands' third act, which drags on in endless boss fights that quickly wear out their welcome.
What also clips Trachtenberg and longtime cinematographer Jeff Cutter's wings is that damn low-contrast grading visual mandate that's long affected every damn studio blockbuster. Avatar: Fire and Ash is right around the corner, and I am hoping the trailer will remind viewers what visual pop in an action blockbuster should look like. Hell, the climax is reminiscent of Avatar's creature v. big mech showdown, fueled by your Alien nostalgia. I kept daydreaming during the film, imagining myself on a bloodthirsty hunt for the execs who require that every blockbuster look ugly. WETA's VFX team created some of the show's unique creatures, particularly the obviously commercially viable Stitch-meets-gremlin "little guy" Bud, and while I want to commend them for their efforts, I can't, because the movie's drab visuals make it impossible to see them.
FINAL STATEMENT
Even with a newfound PG-13 rating, Predator: Badlands is a decent Predator installment that pushes the series in a sharp direction, though it suffers as Trachtenberg’s ambitions seem constrained by studio conventions.
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