Director Dan Trachtenberg (Prey) invigorates the Predator franchise again with Predator: Badlands, an exciting science fiction actioner that not only expands the Predator universe, but reinvents the ethos in grand style.
Yautja, the Predator warriors (not unlike Klingons), have rites of passage, and Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is the runt of his clan who has yet to prove himself. Faced with shame and death from his family, he escapes to the planet Genna to hunt the ultimate prey, the Kalisk, which has proven fatal to Yautja hunters. Dek realizes this hostile planet is teaming with a multitude of deadly creatures and plant life (razor sharp grass). When he happens upon a damaged synth, Thia (Elle Fanning), the two form an uneasy alliance until the Weyland-Yutani Corporation returns with Thia’s ‘sister’ Tessa, also searching for the Kalisk to add to their bioweapons division. As Dek fights for his life, help may come from the unlikeliest of sources.
Genna is a fully realized world with convincing visual effects (that James Cameron would envy). This is a feast for fans in its details (like the trophy wall), and smartly links to the Alien franchise. Trachtenberg knows his way around the Predator mythos and reinvents the dynamics in a role reversal where the hunter, Dek, becomes the hunted, and by exploring aspects of grief, camaraderie, and survival, the story becomes much more than honor and conflict; but also trust and compassion. Fanning excels in a dual role, and Schuster-Koloamatangi effectively emotes through heavy prosthetics and makeup.
Don’t
let the PG-13 rating fool you; plenty of non-human blood is spilled. Imagine a movie with no humans, about a
character that was previously a horrific
villain who garners empathy amid a thrilling adventure. Imagine what
Trachtenberg could do next?!
****
of ***** stars (add ½* for Predator
fans)
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