Spoiler Alert / Mature Content: This review may include plot details and adult themes. Reader discretion is advised. This site discusses horror films, which may not be suitable for all ages.

I’ll be the first to admit that for most of my life I have been a casual fan of the Predator franchise. I always thought the movies were fine, but I never found one that drew me in to the point where I thought “okay, this is my jam.” Cut to the year 2022 and a little straight-to-streaming film called Prey. Dan Trachtenberg did something that no other filmmaker had done in my 30-something years (at that point) on the planet: he made me actually enjoy a Predator movie. Prey was absolutely fantastic, and seeing a Predator operate in a period film (the movie takes place in 1719) was such a cool idea to me.

Earlier this year Trachtenberg released another direct-to-streaming Predator movie, the animated Predator: Killer of Killers, and it was just as exciting and visceral as Prey. The man was two for two in getting me to care about a franchise that in the past I would reluctantly consume. It’s hard to go three for three with a film franchise (think of basically any trilogy and one of the films will fall short), so I had high but tempered hopes when it came to this latest installment, Predator Badlands. My gut is usually right when it comes to these things, but this time my gut is conflicted. There’s much to unpack.

From the opening moments of the film we are shown the Predator planet (Yautja Prime) and what it’s like to be Predator brothers. The Yautja are a proud alien race who still live the clan life and force every one of its members to prove their worth with a hunt when they come of age, to join the clan proper and get their cloaking upgrade. Even with all of their super advanced technology, improving your status in the world apparently still requires violence. They are warriors, so it’s fine.

Our Predator for this film, Dek (Dimitrius Koloamatangi), is shown very early on to be the runt of the clan, and his father, the leader, calls for his head. Weakness is culled to keep the group strong, and the one in charge of doing the deed is none other than Dek’s brother. Of course this doesn’t play out exactly as his father wanted. Dek’s brother forces him onto a ship and remotely sends him to a planet to perform his hunt and earn his place in the clan… and loses his own head for his actions.

This sad opening was meant to establish Dek as our protagonist and give us enough empathy to want to root for him once he gets to the planet “where everything tries to kill you.” For the most part it worked, but for me, I still found myself struggling in that first 15 minutes to buy into a Yautja protagonist. Then I remembered something fairly important when it comes to film or novels or even real life… the best villains don’t typically wake up and think of themselves as a villain. They are the good guy in their own story. Plus, it’s not every day that we get to watch an entire film from the point of view of an iconic movie monster. After considering that, I was locked in and ready to see what happened next.

The Predator movies have been many things over the years, but none of those things have been a buddy comedy. That wouldn’t quite fit in with all the blood, would it? Unless we are talking Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, I’m not sure it is the time or the place. Lately, Hollywood has had a bad habit of needing to add a thick vein of comedy through every single action movie (I’m looking at you here, Marvel), and yes, that can work on occasion, but it has been beaten to death. Things aren’t allowed to simply exist without lightening the mood.

The comic relief in Predator Badlands is a synthetic (robot) from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation (the Alien series) named Thia (Elle Fanning). Fanning did such a fantastic job of bringing this legless robot to life that at first, it was honestly aggravating. The jokes per minute were off the scale, and it was slowly becoming unbearable. I really wanted it to end. When Dek was finally as annoyed as the audience, he strapped her to his back and said “there, talk that way,” pointing her away from him. At that moment I realized it was perfect and we were meant to feel what he felt. From there on out, the commentary and running jokes were minimal and not overpowering. It became fine again.

This movie had some amazing action and frankly stunning visuals that I can only assume were mostly CGI, and with the budget they had (reportedly only around $100 million dollars), what was accomplished and put on screen was pretty impressive. The cinematography and shot choices were energetic and kept things fun. The score was on point. The acting was great. Neither character was a human, so who’s to say how a robot or an alien creature should act? Not me.

After many twists and turns, Dek, Thia, and a secret third thing make it back to Yautja Prime where Dek defeats his father (avenging his brother) and is seemingly set to take over the clan when a brand-new ship shows up. Dek gives the best line of the movie (in the Yautja language): “it’s my mother,” setting up something else entirely, and we will all have to wait to see if that scene is ever finished. I hope so; it would be great to see how that all plays out.

My final thoughts are that Predator Badlands is a movie worth seeing. It is the weakest of the Trachtenberg set of Predator films, but in my opinion that still makes it better than 80% of them overall. It was fun, it had heart (weird thing to say about this type of movie, I know), the action was incredible, and the PG-13 rating did nothing to hurt this movie. There is plenty of gory violence, it’s just that the blood is either neon green or white and the MPAA doesn’t care about anything that isn’t red.

Is it a movie that I would watch again? Maybe, maybe not, but I have no problem with the fact that I watched it the first time. I had a great time with it, and in the end, being entertained was the main goal. Is the film what I expected? It was not, but I think it’s better because of that. We have seen the Predator formula so many times that this was honestly a breath of fresh air into the franchise. Setting it so far in the future also gives Trachtenberg room to do whatever he wants, and I for one will be curious. So, should you see Predator Badlands? Only if you like having fun.