Apex Predator

Film: Predator: Badlands
Format: DVD from Cortland Public Library on gigantic television.

The original Predator movie is a classic and the second one is at least interesting, if not that great. And from there, the franchise tanked and it stayed tanked until it was handed to Dan Trachtenberg with Prey. Since this film, the franchise is on an upswing. The animated Predator: Killer of Killers was a great addition to the series, and then came Predator” Badlands. And while it’s not quite at the level of Prey, it really feels like the third movie in the franchise in a row that really gets it.

What’s different this time is that for the first time in the franchise, the film in the main will come from the perspective of the predator (the species refers to itself as “Yautja”) rather than the hunted prey. A young Yautja named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is the runt of his family, and because of this, desperate to prove himself. For his hunt to bring him fully into the clan, he decides to travel to the hell world of Genna and hunt a creature known as the Kalisk, thought to be unkillable.

But before he can go, he is confronted by his father, Njohrr (Reuben de Jong, but voiced by Shcuster-Koloamatangi), who demands that Dek’s brother Kwei (Mike Homik) kill him. Instead, Kwei triggers the ship to take Dek to Genna, and is killed by their father for defending his brother.

On Genna, things quickly become dicey for Dek. It’s a true hell world, with both flora and fauna that is incredibly dangerous. Even the smallest animals are potentially deadly, and everything around Dek can kill or maim him. When he lands, he loses most of his equipment when he is attacked. As he tries to survive, he comes across Thia (Elle Fanning), a Weyland-Yutani synthetic who has been cut in half by the Kalisk that Dek is chasing. She tells him that she will assist him in finding it if he can help her reunite with her “sister” synthetic Tessa (also played by Elle Fanning). Along the way, Dek learns about some of the dangerous lifeforms on the planet and befriends (sort of) a small predator that Thia names Bud.

But all is not adventures and learning about razor grass. Thia is on Genna with a large group of synthetics who are also there for the Kalisk. Why? Because Weyland-Yutani wants it. Why? Surprisingly, not as a weapon. The reason the Kalisk is thought to be unkillable is that it has unprecedented regenerative properties. Cut off a limb, and it regenerates immediately. Cut off its head, and the head reattaches. Imagine the possible medical applications for that kind of ability.

The biggest hurdle that Predator: Badlands has is that anyone who is a purist for the franchise will have a huge problem with the fact that Dek teams up with Thia and Bud when the Yautja are supposed to be the ultimate apex predator who needs no help from anyone, and who would rather die than need assistance. There is some legitimacy to the point—the Yautja are depicted as being not merely independent but seeing any kind of assistance as essentially admitting weakness and thus admitting to needing to be culled.

In defense of the film, though, Dek sees Bud as an annoyance for much of the film, and sees Thia as nothing more than a tool like one of his weapons. In fact, he calls here “Tool” for a good part of the film. It’s also a film that has the brains to support the evolution of Dek’s thinking about using the help of another person. In large part, Predator: Badlands is a film about found family. Dek is clearly put in mortal danger by his father in the opening of the film. His time on Genna is about him creating a new clan, primarily with Thia, but eventually with Bud as well.

This is also a film that, even if it plays with this idea in the Yautja, is one that is clearly happy to build on the legacy of the pure evil of Weyland-Yutani. It further cements the universes of Alien and Predator together by putting the same evil corporation as the source of the trouble in both of the franchises. It’s smart world building.

This movie is fun. It’s a solid addition to the overall franchise, and it continues the excellent revamping of the series over the last half decade or so. It feels like a natural extension of Predator: Killer of Killers in the sense that it shows the Yautja paying respect to opponents and objects of the hunt. Working with them is simply the next step in that evolution, and it works perfectly in the film. Of the recent films in the franchise, I liked Prey the most, but Badlands isn’t that far behind.

Why to watch Predator: Badlands: It’s a fantastic addition to the revamped Predator franchise.
Why not to watch: If you’re some kind of purist, there are aspects of this that will bother you.