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Very few theatrical films have been smash hits recently, but the newest Predator
film was an unexpected box-office and critical success. I have never been crazy
about the Predator series of theatrical films. Still, this one has much-improved character
development, a more engaging and emotionally resonant storyline, and is by far
the best (though the made-for-streaming
Predator Prey was near perfect) in the
series. It has also become the highest-grossing Predator film to date.
The film was specifically made to please sci-fi fans, and devoted genre fans
will especially appreciate it. It opens with people fighting with
light-saber-like weapons, which recalls Star Wars (1977), and it goes on to
allude to many other classic sci-fi films, including Alien and Star Trek.
The last decade has been a perfect time for women-led action films. There have
been strong female action characters in
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Atomic Blonde
(2017),
Wonder Woman (2017),
Captain Marvel (2019),
Battle Angel: Alita (2019),
Birds of Prey (2020),
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021), Damsel (2024),
Abigail (2024),
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024),
Predator Prey (2024), and Ballerina
(2025).
Predator: Badlands is a male/female buddy action film. The peak of the buddy
film era was, of course, the eighties, when films such as 48 Hours (1982),
Lethal Weapon (1987), and Stakeout (1987) were made. Predator: Badlands is
similar to these films because it features two characters who are thrown
together by fate and gradually come to like, respect, and appreciate each other.
Predator: Badlands breaks with other films in the series in several ways and
finds a totally new angle. In the other films, the humans are the heroes, and
the predators are the villains. In this film, all the heroes we root for are
non-humans, and there are no people at all. But the film is elevated
immeasurably by a superb performance from Elle Fanning (The Greatest), who plays
Thia, a very human-like synthetic being. There is talk that she could be
nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, but this is a long shot.
The film begins when Dek (played by a New Zealand actor, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamamatangi, with an almost unpronounceable name) is introduced as part of a
highly aggressive, battle-based, but honorable warrior race called the Yaujta,
who are similar to the Klingons on Star Trek. Dek wants to prove his worth in an
initiation. But he is seen as overly emotional and sentimental by his hard-nosed
warrior dad; it doesn't help that he is short, which earns him the nickname
"runt." His dad, Nojohrr, who is voiced by the same actor, sees his brother as
taking pity on him. Nojohrr abhors his display of weakness and brutally kills
him.
Dek wants to prove to his dad that he is a real man by going to Genna, an
inhospitable planet, to kill an almost indestructible beast called the Kalisk.
The whole planet is a weapon, and after the predator is nearly killed a half a
dozen or more times, he cleverly figures out how to use elements of the
hazardous terrain as a weapon. For instance, he throws exploding worms at
threats using them like grenades, and he also makes the razor grass into whips
that can tear through flesh. All the scenes on the planet were actually shot in
New Zealand, which already looks exotic and almost otherworldly even without
special effects and CGI.
Dek finds that there are two identical synthetic human bio-clones on the planet
who want to catch the beast. In a plot twist taken from Alien, the corporation
wants to use it as a bio-weapon. In fact, the same corporation from the Alien
films is referenced in this film. One of the bio-clones (Elle Fanning plays
both) is the cute, slightly annoying, and constantly quipping Thia, and the
corporation made her extremely human, compassionate, and ethical. In contrast,
her doppelganger/twin, Tessa, is cold, dispassionate, and is only loyal to the
corporation.
Dek encounters Thia first, the good one. She is missing her lower half, which
the Kalisk took off. So Dek reluctantly carries her around on his back so that
she can give him intel because she intimately knows the planet. At one point,
when her upper torso is near her severed limbs, she controls them and uses them
to fight enemies in a scene that recalls Re-Animator.
The film cleverly reverses one of the best action film scenes ever. In one of
the high points of Aliens, Sigourney Weaver's Ripley wears an artificial
mechanical suit to fight a giant alien monster, and Ripley is clearly the hero.
In this film, the evil synthetic twin woman, Tessa, fights a giant alien
monster in a mechanical suit, but here the woman is clearly the villain.
This film, like Disney's
Werewolf by Night, references a larger, overlapping
film universe. And we see a trophy wall similar to the one in WWWB. We see a
skull from a harvester creature like the ones in Independence Day, and the
synthetic creature woman uses the same AI system that exists in the Alien
universe films. Also, there is a T-Rex skull, indicating that predators hunted
T-Rexes in the past. All this seems to be leading to a massive
Alien/Independence Day/Predator crossover that might involve time travel.
After a while, the relentless, almost endless monster fights get tiresome. But
if you are a fan of action sci-fi films, you are nearly sure to like this film.
It is not in the same league as the last two entries in the Mad Max series, Fury
Road and Furiosa. But if there was a better or more enjoyable sci-fi film
released this year, I have not seen it. And much of this is due to Fanning's
excellence in the lead female role and the unexpected ingenuity and cleverness
of the script.
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