In a world of sequels, remakes and blatant abuse of Intellectual Property within the movie industry these days, the thought of another Predator movie doesn’t really hit the cord of must see box-office films. However, with just enough TLC and a twist on the genre one could create something rather fresh, fun and dare I saw different-ish… which is why Predator: Badlands is not only a truly good popcorn flick but also succeeds in the ways other Sci-fi franchises have failed.
This is not your Arnold Schwarzenegger Predator, stalking commandos in the Jungle or chasing down drug lords in LA. Director/writer Dan Trachtenberg (Prey), fresh off of us previous predator redux, decided this time to follow the predator, making Dek, in this case our main protagonist. Showing that a killer assassin species can be complex, sentimental and lead this franchise into the action adventure genre.
The film begins in a desert-like planet (Yautja Prime), home to the Yautja (predators), where Dek, the youngest and runt of his clan squares off against his brother in preparations to go out into the universe to bring back a deadly game in order to become worthy of his clan name. However, in this Yautja culture the weak are culled out, and this has been the order given by Dek’s father Njohrr, to the eldest brother Kwei, to kill his younger brother.
Kwei cannot follow his fathers orders as he has a soft spot for his brother and in the process of protecting Dek, is killed by Njohrr for disobeying orders. But not before he’s able to send his brother to the far reaches of the red planet. There he will have his chance to hunt the most deadly and fearful game of them all… the Kalisk.
Dek is a typical male teenager of sorts, full of anger, rage, bravado, relying on raw emotion rather than thought, however that is quickly challenged as he realizes that this entire planet is searching for ways to kill him, even before he reaches the Kalisk. Fortunately for him, he stumbles upon a Weyland android (Elle Fanning) named Thia, a scientist of sorts missing her entire lower body.
She’s also different than previous Weyland models, as she has a heightened sense of emotional sensitivity, as she states “ to better understand the creatures of the planet and exploit them.” Fair enough but she still is a robot from an evil corporation with ulterior motives but, she does know the planet and the way to the find Kalisk, so the two team up and with them comes Bud!
This wouldn’t be an epic adventure without at least one more companion and Bud, the cute comic relief, resembling a mix between Sonic the Hedgehog and Crash Bandicoot, joins the duo after seeing Dek’s heroics in action.
But the adversary along this journey isn’t just this unbeatable animal. It turns out Thai has a twin “sister” on the planet as well, Thea, as the two were brutally damaged in their first encounter with the Kalisk. Thea is the darker of the two sisters. Where Thai is light, bubbly and optimistic, Thea is cold and direct with a militaristic mentally to finish her mission…. Capture the Kalisk for Weyland experiments and take care of the Yautja while she’s at it.
Yes I’m seeing some similarities here too. Who would have thought in the world of the Predator that there would be so many in-house issues with droids and Yautja… almost empathetic and human-like.
Suffice it to say the groups encounter each other forcing Dek to an uncomfortable growth development if he’s to survive and return home victorious.
I can’t say this is a great movie because it’s not, however, it’s perfect for changing up the narrative and finding something new in a species and world not yet explored, with a storyline straight out of Greek mythology. But it does work and you do grow to love Dek’s wolf-fang, scaled face and hope he overcomes this human dilemma that has plagued many teenage adolescents for all of time… to simply please their father.
Oh, and hopefully start an action-adventure lead Predator sequel in the process.
Can’t say Hollywood is too original with this sort of idea but for this installment it’s a change that worked.
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