PREDATOR: BADLANDS – Review

In a flip from the recent Summer movie fare, let’s take a break from the serious “award-bait” cinema of the current Fall/Winter works and head to the multiplex for a big, loud, thrill-packed SF flick. And talk about “flips” this new release turns the usual movie marketing trend on its ear. While some films like COMING TO AMERICA and HAPPY GILMORE had sequels that went straight to streaming decades later, this newest franchise entry in a series that begin all the way back in 1987 is in theatres after the previous two went right to Hulu. Yes, from big screen to small (er) screen then back to the big screen (not that the last two weren’t worthy of a wide run at the multiplex). Oh, and it’s not a remake or rehash, but rather a fresh spin as we span the galaxy with PREDATOR: BADLANDS.

Here’s one bit of “freshness”: this story actually begins on the predator home planet of Yautja Prime where the “runt” (actually just around six Earth feet) of the “hunter clan”, Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is being “put through his paces” by his tutor big brother Kwei (Mike Homik). The training lessons are cut short by a brutal family tragedy, which traps Dek on Kwei’s spacecraft cruiser. Its onboard navigator whisks him away to the savage, distant planet Genna. Dek had been preparing to travel there in order to “earn his cloak” by defeating a beast that had claimed scores of his kin, the towering killer colossus Kalisk. But first, Dek just has to survive the place, since a new unknown danger seems to lurk around every bend. When it appears that he’ll be a meal for the ferocious forest (the tree limbs are alive and hungry) Dek hears a voice calling to him. It is a human-looking woman who calls herself Thia (Elle Fanning). After he heeds her advice and survives the attack, Dek locates her and is surprised to see she’s missing her lower half. Thia explains that she’s a “synthetic” (much like a robot or android) who was damaged and separated from her “team” that was sent to capture the very same Kalisk for her “makers” at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation (yes, the same company creeps from the ALIEN series). She promises to help him if Dek can return her to her ship, where she hopes to connect with her “twin sister” Tessa. Ah, but it turns out that the Kalisk-damaged WY ship is able to repair Tessa and her army of male “synth” drones. Joined by a fiesty local beast dubbed “Bud”, can Dek and Thia survive against Tessa and her team after they are tasked by “mother” to not only capture the Kalisk for the company, but also “acquire” the lone Yautja predator and his weaponry?

What really keeps us invested in this tale filled with special effects wizardry and action-packed chaos are the two terrific performances at its center. Foremost is Schuster- Koloamatangi who informs us of Dek’s inner-turmoil and profound sadness through his body language, since most of his features are CGI augmented (mainly those “pincer” jaws and mouth, though much is also told with those wide yellow-tinged eyes). Sure, he’s got that warrior swagger down, but somehow this predator commands our empathy as he strives to prove himself and shatter his image as an “outcast”, while now being “the hunted”. Talk about your “family issues”. I’ll be interested in seeing this actor in more roles sans alien enhancements. Adding to his surprising humanity is the pairing with Fanning who almost “steals the show” as the chatty and very,very emotional “artificial” (her eyes state “property of WY Co.”). Thia is very funny, as many of her exchanges with Dek simply drip with snark, be she’s much more than a “sassy bot”. Fanning shows us her compassion for the “runt”, while not hiding her own sadness as she yearns to be with her sister. Let’s hope the fantasy settings don’t distract from Ms. Fanning’s talents, which should garner her many supporting actor nominations.

The guiding force behind this excellent “reboot” trilogy (along with the Hulu exclusives PREY and PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS) is director Dan Trachtenberg, who worked with Patrick Aison on the screenplay based on the original film script from Jim and John Thomas. Despite Fox Studios attempts to revive the franchise in 2010 and 2018, the series seemed to be defunct, even after two dust-ups with the ALIEN, he has proved to be this franchise’s Frankenstein, sparking new interest from older fans while capturing so many newcomers. Every aspect of the production is top-of-the-line, from the look of the different planets (Genna seems like Australia on steroids) to the creative weaponry (love the glowing red tether lines) to the immersive booming audio. (really try to see it on a big screen with a superior sound). Who would think that, since its introduction in the original, we’d be rooting for an offspring of the monster trying to whittle down “Ahhnold” and his merry band of mercenaries in the jungle. It’s a “thrill-ride” that doesn’t forget to engage us with the heroes and villains. Plus, I really enjoyed the “borrowing” from the other Fox franchise, adding to their mythos. Here’s hoping that Trachtenberg and company can continue guiding the series in theatres (though his last two are worthy of a Hulu “trial”) after basking in the edge-of-your-seat triumph that is PREDATOR: BADLANDS.

3.5 Out of 4

PREDATOR: BADLANDS is now playing in theatres everywhere