“I can survive on my own. But who would want to survive on their own?”

Dan Trachtenberg returns with his third take on the Predator franchise, this time with a twist. Our main protagonist is actually a Predator/Yautja (for the first time ever) named Dek, set out on a journey to prove himself to both his father and his clan by hunting down and killing a beast no one’s ever defeated before. Throughout the story, we see him meet new allies and come across new adversaries as he journeys on his quest. I have to admit, I was a little worried going in, both with the fact that it was rated PG-13 and because I wasn’t sure how they were going to pull off making the Predator the main protagonist in a film in this franchise. Before I dive into that, though, I want to dive deep into the movie itself.

I think it’s safe to say that Dan Trachtenberg knows what he’s doing when it comes to the Predator franchise. With each of his three films, including the straight-to-video one, he’s expanded the lore and mythology in new and very interesting ways. All three of his films have been good to great for me, and I actually wouldn’t mind if he essentially took over for this franchise going forward. When it comes to the lore and worldbuilding in Predator: Badlands, I think he does the most so far. The worlds are both incredibly interesting and full of life (not necessarily human life, but still), and are breathtaking to look at. This is by far and away the best-looking movie in the franchise yet, and I wouldn’t say it’s all that close. The cinematography is fantastic, and the visual effects, both practical and computer-generated, are great.

I really loved the new creatures that Dek came across here, too. They were not only cool looking and cool conceptually, but made for some pretty awesome action scenes. As mentioned at the beginning, I was worried about how the PG-13 rating was going to affect the movie, as none of the other Predator movies have been anything other than very R-rated, but after watching the film, I think it’s very safe to say that this MPAA rating had very little to almost no effect in reality. With no humans being in the movie, they were still able to get away with the same gnarliness and gore that all the previous movies had, because all of it was with these new creatures, who are essentially animals, and also have different colored blood. It’s actually still surprisingly squemish at points, and at least I think, heavily pushes its PG-13 rating. Definitely not borderlining on an R rating, but pushes the PG-13 one.

I also mentioned that I was worried about how they were going to pull off making a Predator the main character, and while there were definitely mixed aspects to it that I’ll get to, I think Trachtenberg pulled it off for the most part. There is definitely a sort of novelty to seeing this creature, one of the most iconic creature killers in film, deconstructed and written to be more human with emotions and everything. Like I said, there were mixed aspects to it and potential downsides for this franchise going forward, but as a character, the main protagonist, Dek, was written really well. I actually cared about him and his mission, and there was some pretty emotionally impactful stuff with his character, especially at the beginning.

I already mentioned the action a little bit, I guess by mentioning the gory stuff, but to dive a little deeper, this definitely has the best action in the whole franchise. If you are looking for an action-packed and adrenaline-filled movie that’s incredibly entertaining, this is definitely the movie for you, whether you are even familiar with or a fan of the Predator franchise at all. I loved the new swords and weapons used here, another thing that sort of expanded, at least the Yautja creature, and it made for some really exhilarating and exciting action sequences, to which there are plenty of throughout the short but effective one hour and forty-seven minute runtime.

I also really loved how the movie ended. I didn’t necessarily see it coming, but I had a thought early on in the movie as to what the ending was going to be, and while I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that it was actually going to be the ending or not, it basically was. Predictability is usually a negative for me in movies, but to be honest, it didn’t really affect my experience with Predator: Badlands because what I thought the ending was going to be was exciting and had me eager to see it. And exciting it was; it both perfectly caps off Dek’s character arc/journey, while potentially setting up a sequel if Trachtenberg wants to do that going forward, and let’s just say that ending and final shot really makes me want to see that sequel for sure.

Now, for as much as I enjoyed this movie, it’s not without its flaws, and I would probably have to say that this is Trachtenberg’s weakest Predator movie, which isn’t really saying much, but still. As far as the mixed stuff, I usually mention the mixed stuff as things that I see audiences potentially liking or disliking, but in the case of Predator: Badlands, it’s also a mixed bag for me, too, because I don’t really know how to feel about it. When it comes to the mixed, I really only have one thing and it does, in fact, have to do with a Predator being the main protagonist. Yes, there is a novelty to seeing a Predator as the main protagonist, and it’s certainly interesting, but at the same time, deconstructing this creature this way kind of removes some of the mystery behind the creature, which in turn removes some of the intimidation factor that the creature has. It’s cool to see a deep and emotionally resonant Predator, but it also removes, again, the mythology behind the species. I’m not really sure if it will have negative ramifications for the franchise going forward, but I am a little worried. I guess another mixed thing I have is Ella Fanning’s character, Thia, who I didn’t find all that interesting which is why I haven’t and won’t really talk about her in this review.

I only have one negative, but it was pretty easily what kept this movie from being great to me. I definitely do think that Predator: Badlands has some tonal issues. It tries to balance an epic, serious, and at times, emotional story, while trying to appeal to mainstream audiences by being funny and more of a “fun little adventure.” Unlike, say, The Lord of the Rings, I don’t really think it did balance these two all that effectively. This is by far the least suspenseful and intense of the franchise by far, and I was definitely disappointed with that. Maybe this is a personal thing, but I saw the trailers and was really hoping to see a purely grand, epic, and serious movie all the way through. It can be that at times, but it also has humor and comedic relief that I don’t think I particularly liked all too much. I’ve seen this criticism online, and the responses to it are that the original Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenneger, had plenty of humor, but in my opinion, never at the sacrifice of being intense, which unfortunately, Predator: Badlands definitely did.

While my main criticism definitely impacted my experience overall, I think that for a lot of people, that negative will be a positive. Even then, I really enjoyed this movie, especially with the lore-building, and I can’t wait to see what Trachtenberg does next. I’m still hoping for that samurai Predator movie and hope Predator: Killer of Killers didn’t ruin the chance of that happening (it probably did, though), but even though I prefer Prey to Badlands, I honestly kind of hope we get a sequel to this rather than Prey, as I don’t see as much sequel potential in Prey. Maybe there is, though, as I haven’t seen that movie in a while.