Predator: Badlands
Predator: Badlands
Predator: Badlands is out this weekend, the latest outing in the storied Predator series. It’s a sci-fi genre classic, but as it turns out, the new films are scoring higher than the old ones, and that’s due to one man specifically, Dan Trachtenberg.
Trachtenberg first landed on the map in 2016 when he directed 10 Cloverfield Lane, and 11 years later, here he is with Predator: Badlands. Not only Predator: Badlands, as it’s his second Predator movie this year. The other is the animated Predator: Killer of Killers. Back in 2022, he also directed the Native American Predator film Prey. These are now the top three scored Predator movies of the entire franchise. Here’s the list below:
- Predator: Killer of Killers – 97%
- Prey – 94%
- Predator: Badlands – 89%
- Predator – 80%
- Predators – 65%
- The Predator – 34%
- Predator 2 – 29%
- Alien Vs. Predator – 21%
- Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem – 12%
Predator: Badlands
Predator: Badlands
You may think the original especially deserves to be higher, but here we are. I think if you’ve seen Killer of Killers and Prey, you’ll agree how good they are. And Badlands appears not to be far behind, and you can watch that this weekend. Here’s the synopsis, which is a lot different than the “Predator stalks people” storyline of almost all the past movies:
“Predator: Badlands, which stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, is set in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator (Schuster-Koloamatangi), outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.”
There’s an Alien connection here with Fanning’s Thia being a Weyland-Yutani synth, and she also plays dual roles as another character in the film. It’s the first movie to have a Predator as the actual protagonist, the unique formatting serving to its benefit. Here’s what some of the reviews are saying:
- RogerEbert dot com – “The takeaway, I think, is applicable to beings all across the universe: sometimes the things you want most are not worth wanting, and until you figure that out, you’ll never be free.”
- TimeOut – “It cleverly pulls at the supposed laws of the series in a way that makes it more interesting without diluting the fearsome nature of the title character. Trachtenberg is making the franchise richer with every installment.”
- The Film Verdict – “Between the wise-cracking sidekick, the adorable non-verbal pet, and the protagonist who undergoes personal growth, Predator: Badlands often resembles the pilot of a vintage Saturday-morning cartoon — but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
One significant change with Badlands is that it’s the series’ first PG-13 entry. That may seem strange for a franchise about brutal butchery, but it’s not necessarily that it’s been scaled back, it’s mainly due to rules about whether blood in violence scenes is red and Predators…do not bleed red. Neither do synths. It also may mean a higher box office haul than normal.
Check out Predator: Badlands this weekend and see if it’s worthy of its #3 placement.
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