Rent Predator: Badlands on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Patrick Aison (screenplay by), Patrick Aison & Dan Trachtenberg (story by), Jim Thomas & John Thomas (based on characters created by)
Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
Starring: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
A young Predator outcast from his clan finds an unlikely ally on his journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Verdict
This manages to find new ideas in the Predator world, integrating elements from the coming of age genre. A Predator must prove himself by taking down dangerous prey, but along the way the species that hunts alone befriends an android and a native creature. It's funnier that I expected from this franchise, also sharing elements from buddy comedy movies. It's a serviceable sequel, which is more than you can say about many of the other additions in the franchise.
It depends.
Review
Trachtenberg also directed 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and Prey (2022). The latter reviving the franchise with a narrow focus on survival. This movie expands the concept, adding typical big budget action movie trappings.
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| Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi plays Dek |
Beginning on the Predator planet of Yautja, two brothers fight with the smaller one, Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), losing. The larger, older brother wants to send Dek to a planet to claim honor in the form of a hunter's trophy. Dek instead wants prove himself by hunting a Kalisk, an unkillable prey that even their father fears. It seems foolhardy, but in the Predator world Dek has to prove himself worthy.
Dek travels to the planet to kill the Kalisk where he soon runs into damaged android Thia (Elle Fanning). She states she has a universal translator where Dek will hear his language and everyone else hears theirs. There is no one else, and this translator is purely for the audience. I love how transparent the movie is about it.
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| Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi play Thia, Dek |
Thia offers to help Dek, but even as he states he hunts alone, he also elicits help from the android claiming it's a tool. The android is from Weyland Yutani, the predominant corporation in the Alien franchise. The quiet predator is a contrast to the talkative android. Thia challenges what it is to be a predator as she humanizes Dek. He accepts help from an android and from a local creature on the planet, Bud. Thia tells Dek that the alpha wolf isn't the best hunter, it's the one that protects the rest of the pack. What Thia didn't tell Dek is that her goal was to get back to her ship. Weyland Yutani also wants the Kalisk.
There's more comedy to this than I expected. Dek and Thia are an odd couple pairing. While Thia attempts to reattach her lower half, the Kalisk throws Dek into the ship, undoing Thia's work. The Kalisk seems invincible as it can regenerate.
Thia's sister Tessa (Elle Fanning) shows up in an attempt to capture the Kalisk. Tessa is much like Dek's father. She sees Thia as broken and thus worthless, much like Dek's father saw him as a runt and unfit for the clan. Tessa wants to get rid of both of them. That's the impetus for Dek and Thia to team up and oppose her. Dek uses the flora and fauna on the planet as tools to fight Tessa, as well as the local creature Bud.
Dek faces his father again. I thought he'd use the tricks he picked up from the planet for an advantage, but it turns out he just needed to believe in himself. It's a cop out. Dek rejects his father and his clan, stating that Thia and Bud are his new clan. The movie ends with a bit of foreshadowing and a joke. A ship arrives and Thia asks who it is. Dek responds, "My mother."
While it's not the same level as Prey, this franchise has done much worse. The comedy is out of place with the brutal nature of these worlds. It seems like more of a concession or a way to broaden the potential audience. It's sequel bloat to introduce the largest, most dangerous monster in the universe. I don't believe Bud could have killed it.
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| Title Card |
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