‘PREDATOR: BADLANDS’ Is the Alien vs. Predator Movie We Deserve

Other blockbusters take note: the Predator franchise just can’t seem to miss latest. The newest entry, its sixth live-action film, Badlands, is stripped to the stark white bone, yet still taps into the pulsing artery of what makes this movies like this so fundamentally compelling: a culture of necessity. There isn’t a single ounce of fat on Predator: Badlands, which is a lean, mean, killing-machine of a tentpole movie that tells a thrilling coming-of-age story through the lens of IP and somehow enriches both in the process. Director Dan Trachtenberg, now three for three in the Predator franchise, has emerged as something of a modern-day James Cameron, only leaner, less cringy, and frankly, more consistent. He understands that the best genre films aren’t just about the spectacle. They’re about how environments shapes the character as much as the plot and use special effects and thrilling fight sequences to further that idea.

Trachtenberg also seems to have cracked the code for how to keep this particular series evergreen: shift the point of view every time. In Prey, we experienced the hunt through the eyes of a young Native woman. In the shockingly-effective animated flick Killer of Killers, it played out as a time- and culture-spanning patchwork of carnage: Viking clans, samurai warriors, and WWII dogfighters all faced off against a network of Predators. With Badlands, we see events through the eyes of a young Yautja Predator himself: a scrappy but undersized aspiring warrior named Dek, desperate to prove his warrior bona fides. Dek (Samoan-Tongan actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a Yautja youngling – a would-be alien trophy hunter from a culture that worships strength with the fervor of a death cult. Weakness isn’t just frowned upon. It’s heresy. Unfortunately for Dek, he’s a Yautja runt, which is as good as being marked for death. Eager to impress his disapproving father and live up to the teachings of his older brother, Dek dreams of becoming a killer worthy of the Yautja. His shot at glory comes in the form of a trek to slay an “unkillable” beast, the Kalisk, on the hostile planet Genna. A bitter family feud ignites the final fuse for Dek as he is sent reeling offworld with blood on his mind and a chip on his shoulder.

Genna is less a planet and more a murder ecosystem. There, Dek faces off against a gauntlet of predatory flora and fauna: giant tree bugs that swallow you whole, vines hellbent on tearing any and every thing to pieces, razorgrass that slice like blades, and flowers that explode in venomous plumes. And that’s not even accounting for the massive monsters roaming its surfaces and air. Every inch of the landscape is a weapon, laid out like a network of environmental Chekhov’s guns, just waiting to go off. And the film never wastes a single chance to exploit the various traps it lays out early on because, like the American natives and the bison, nothing is wasted in Predator: Badlands. The leanness of the storytelling extends to the characters too. It’s basically just Dek and a defunct Weyland-Yutani synthetic, played with lighthearted precision by Elle Fanning, roaming the countryside, hunting the Kalisk and the glory its death would bring.

And yes, you heard that right: Weyland-Yutani is folded into the proceedings as Badlands brings the Alien and Predator universes back into alignment again. And this time, it actually works. After the disastrous AvP crossover attempts of the early 2000s, you’d be forgiven for thinking this kind of fusion was creative bankruptcy given a new bankroll. In Trachtenberg’s hands though, the crossover actually feels earned. The film doesn’t just drop in the OG antagonistic OS MU/TH/UR or name-check Weyland-Yutani for cheap fan service. It folds the two mythologies together with purpose, letting them share a narrative ecosystem instead of just smashing the two universes’ big bad aliens against each other like a kid with his action figures. The result is smart, seamless, and surprisingly elegant; the kind of crossover that makes you wish this shared universe had been the blueprint from both sides all along.

Fanning’s Thia brings a surprising warmth and humor that plays perfectly against Dek’s grim, mission-driven loner character. She’s studious and curious, an optimistic and peppy survivor who’s adapted to Genna’s challenging ecosystem long enough to be useful. Dek wants to have none of it – he’s the lone wolf type, allergic to help, and set in his ways – but her utility cannot be denied, especially when he’s constantly under siege by every nook and cranny of Genna’s world. The dynamic between Koloamatangi and Fanning crackles, even under layers of prosthetics. He’s stone-faced and stoic, all grit and kill mode whereas she’s got a dry wit and enthusiastic bite. The result is a sort of reluctant buddy movie energy that cuts through the movie’s dramatic heft. That the whole thing is built around pretty much just these two actors is a small miracle in itself, and a testament to how tightly and economically this thing is built.

And that’s the throughline across all of Trachtenberg’s Predator films: economy. Prey felt like a self-contained, stripped-down punch to the gut. Killer of Killers expanded the mythos with time-hopping ambition but did it with the resources at its disposal; namely, by being animated. And Badlands flips the whole paradigm, letting us see the universe through the eyes of the adversary. What was once just a snarling, dreadlocked silhouette with heat-vision and cloaking powers is given flesh and blood.

The world-building is next level. The special effects are fantastic. The logic of the world holds tightly in place. This place has structure, danger, and rules, and they all matter. This is the kind of blockbuster we don’t get anymore: tight, tactile, rough-edged, and not constantly winking at the audience with a checklist of references or tension-alleviating jokes. It believes in its own world and invites us to do the same.

The script from Patrick Aison and Brian Duffield is lean, its pacing sharp as a Yautja edge. It digs into themes of solidarity and warrior culture while also poking just enough fun at the Yautja. The script actually wrestles with the notion that real strength isn’t about domination – it’s about protection. Dek’s arc is compelling because he’s not just a killing machine and we can sense that from our first brush with him. He’s someone conditioned to see empathy as weakness, slowly learning it might be the only way forward – a fact solidified by the actions of his brother and father alike. And Fanning’s Thia adds a spin on the classic heartless synthetic trope but her empathy here isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. And perhaps what makes her powerful and ultimately useful to this clan.

The action in Badlands is crisp, brutal, and shot with real clarity as are its stash of high-tech weaponry and various beasts to slay, but what makes these elements stand out is how seamlessly they all serve the story. Every fight pushes Dek forward. We see him adapt, outthink, and evolve. He grows not just as a warrior, but as a being. These aren’t empty spectacle scenes; they’re full of consequence and cleverness. And on top of that, they look phenomenal. The film’s aesthetic is singular – a planet that feels alive and lethal, lit with the eerie red glow of Yautja weaponry slicing through imposing alien forms. It’s slick and tactile, cool and badass, all while sporting a PG-13 rating. James Cameron should watch his back… Trachtenberg has three dots aimed squarely at his legacy.

CONCLUSION: The kind of effortlessly enjoyable franchise movie that we don’t see enough of at the theater these days, ‘Predator: Badlands’ continues Dan Trachtenberg’s absolute god-tier revival of this franchise, this time telling a story through the lens of the titular alien to badass effect.