Predator: Badlands review: "Die-hard fans may be disappointed, but as a blockbuster action-adventure, Badlands kills it"

The mainline Predator movies have stuck to a rigid template for almost four decades, in which human quarry find themselves in the tri-laser crosshairs of the galaxy's greatest hunter. But Predator: Badlands – director Dan Trachtenberg's follow-up to his 2022 franchise-reviver Prey – flips that formula on its head, positioning Yautja as protagonist on an alien world where even the trees are carnivorous.

On the surface, it's a radical departure for a series where the stock in trade is invisible killers slaughtering planet Earth's most dangerous game with razor-edged alien tech, but Badlands' about-face fits the franchise like a fishnet bodysuit. Die-hard fans may be disappointed this particular killer of killers doesn't rip out a single spinal cord (there isn't a human among the sparse cast of characters), but as a blockbuster action-adventure, Badlands kills it.

On the desolate Predator homeworld of Yautja Prime, Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is out to prove he's more than the clan's weak link. Marked for death by Apex Predator Njohrr, Dek is saved by his brother and escapes to Genna. A famed Predator hunting ground, the Death Planet is home to all manner of deadly creatures, most notably the 'unkillable' kalisk, which Dek vows to return with the head of to earn his cloak.

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Stripped of almost all the traditional Predator tech, bar a transforming laser sword, lone wolf Dek is reluctantly aided in his hunt by Thia (Elle Fanning) – a Weyland-Yutani synthetic who lost her legs during a close encounter with the kalisk, and Bud – a mischievous, gremlin-like creature native to Genna. The real danger, however, isn't just the wildlife, but Thia's Wey-Yu compatriots, who are also on the kalisk's tail.

It ain't no man

After putting an assured stamp on Predator with Prey and this year's animated anthology, Killer of Killers, Badlands is further proof that Trachtenberg was exactly the fresh (luminescent green) blood the series needed following 2018 misfire The Predator. Echoing projects as diverse as Shadow of the Colossus, Avatar and Midnight Run, Badlands busts down franchise boundaries, greatly expanding the scope of what a Predator movie can be. Dek, for one, is a much more sympathetic Yautja than we've ever seen on screen. Predators have always been killers with a code, but Dek's position as an outsider in his own clan forces him to find his own tribe over the course of the film, with surprisingly heartwarming results.

Adding irreverence and unapologetically silly humour to a typically stoic series, Fanning's malfunctioning motormouth Thia and oddly adorable CG creature Bud make for an endearing odd couple (odd triple?) alongside Dek during their trek across Genna's inhospitable landscape. Pulling double duty as Thia and identical, Wey-Yu synth Tessa, Fanning is the film's MVP as both unlikely ally and potential antagonist.

Similarly striking is the film's visual scope. Filmed in part on location across New Zealand, Trachtenberg shoots Genna like Middle-earth, with vistas that feel ripped from the covers of 20th-century sci-fi novels. Coupled with composer Sarah Schachner's chest-thumping, percussive score, which incorporates Yautja vocals in a hair-raising way, Badlands is a sensory feast.

Killer instinct

The action is a mixed bag by comparison. Trachtenberg clearly has a knack for staging compelling set-pieces of all scales – a two-on-one fight scene where Thia's severed legs and torso act as two separate entities is particularly fun. But the bigger the action gets, the more it descends into less-effective, pixel-powered fireworks, often feeling akin to a boss rush mode in a video game as Dek slays one enormous creature after another by plunging his sword into weak points.

A late-stage encounter with a Power Loader on steroids is notably underpowered. While the Yautja's impossible athleticism means there are a few too many moments where rubbery digi-doubles pull you out of the action as Dek leaps atop rampaging Lunabugs, and eventually comes face-to-face with the fearsome kalisk.

Wider universe connections fail to deliver as well. While Trachtenberg cautioned Xeno-heads not to expect a certain perfect organism to make an appearance, the fact that Weyland-Yutani synths figure into the story in a significant way has no real payoff – it really could have been any company stationed on Genna. Head into Badlands anticipating a largely standalone adventure, however, and you won't set yourself up for disappointment.

Stick around

There's also the small matter of that PG-13 rating. Stripped of the series' traditional bloodlust, this is a more all-ages take on the Yautja. That doesn't mean the retractable claws don't come out (eventually), but Predator loses some of its edge when it's milky white synth 'blood', or gloopy creature guts being spilled left, right and center rather than hemoglobin.

Adjust your expectations, however, and it's hard not to have a good time with Predator: Badlands. Dek is a refreshing blockbuster lead – for one, he speaks solely in Yautja, his every word subtitled – and there's no faulting Trachtenberg's ambition in turning one of cinema's great sci-fi villains into a hero you can't help but root for.

Where Trachtenberg takes Predator from here is an open question. Everyone and their chestburster may want to see Alien vs. Predator finally done right, but Badlands establishes a new creature feature dynamic for the series that sequels are well placed to capitalise on. Either way, the future of the ugliest motherf***er in movies is looking good.

Predator: Badlands releases in theaters on November 7. For more, check out our list of the best sci-fi movies, and keep up with upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond.