After the failure, at the box office and critically, of 2018’s The Predator, it looked like the Predator franchise was going to need a long break once again, before taking another run at it. However, it wasn’t long before Dan Trachtenberg stepped up with a refreshing take on the IP that would breathe new life into a franchise that had struggled. In 2022, Prey was released directly to Disney+ and was met with the highest critic score of any in the franchise history. I imagine at this point Disney, quickly turned around to Trachtenberg and told him he could do what he wanted (For comparison, Prey got a critic score of 94% and The Predator has 34%). It was actually earlier this year that his second Predator film was released, Predator: Killer of Killers was released to Disney+ in June, this time in the form of 3 interconnected animated stories , which certainly tease where the future of the franchise could be heading.
Predator: Badlands features a series first of being told primarily from the point of view of a Predator. Dek (performed by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a young Yautja, seen as the runt of his family, but he’s out to show his father what he can do by travelling to one of the most dangerous planets in the universe, to take on a deadly creature, even his father fears. Once there, he forms an unlikely ally in a synthetic being, Thia (played by Elle Fanning) who helps him traverse and survive this deadly planet, in order to find his prey.
Out of every film in this franchise so far, it definetly draws the most similarities from Prey, however getting to see everything from the point of view of one of the Yautja certainly adds an interesting, refreshing new aspect to this universe, and deepens the lore, that has only been expanded upon in comics.
Despite being a child star, Elle Fanning has recently been able to step out of that shadow and forge her own path, especially recently. She is also currently in Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, which is set to pick up a host of Academy award nominations, and Elle is one of the favourites to pick up what would be her first Oscar nomination. She actually has two roles in this film, playing 2 different polar opposite androids, and does a good job with both. Thia, the main one that helps Dek, can be quite annoying, but I don’t put that down to Fanning’s performance but rather the nature of the character. Performing opposite a character that not only doesn’t speak English, but speaks in an entirely alien language, is an easy task, but she does well.
It can be hard to critique the performance of an actor when they are behind such a heavy make up and costume, and visual effects, but there are certainly nuances to the performance by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, which make it the best performance anyone’s done as a Predator in these films, but in his favour is that he has the most to do by quite a long way.
Another big shout out for this film, has to go to the visual effects, both the practical and CGI. There’s such a high level of detail especially on Dek, and any of the Yuatja that really help flesh out this universe. Unfortunately, I don’t see this film picking up any recognition in the production design awards, but certainly feels a contender for visual effects.
I’ve spoken before about the admiration I have for Dan Trachtenberg, after his work on The Boys and 10 Cloverfield Lane, even before he got onboard with this universe. He completely understands this world, and what he can bring to it, as well as having a plan for where this story goes, and keeping audiences engaged by giving them something they haven’t seen before. He’s also already teased that the next installment will not just be that, but something we’ve not seen from a science fiction film before.
Overall, Predator: Badlands is a refreshing entry in this universe which feels like it’s just at the beginning of an overarching story (which I imagine will lead to another Alien v Predator crossover). At a time when blockbuster cinema is feeling like the same thing over and over again, this film does more than enough to keep you entertained and leave you wanting more.
What did you think of Predator: Badlands?
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