Predator: Badlands
Starring Dmitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning
M
4.5/5
Predator: Badlands is another excellent Predator film from Prey director Dan Trachtenberg.
Dek (Dmitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), an outcast of the Yautja/Predator species, teams up with a damaged android named Thia (Elle Fanning) to hunt a deadly creature on a perilous planet.
Badlands is the first Predator film with a Predator protagonist, and Schuster-Koloamatangi gives a fierce, noble performance, sprinkled with vulnerability and humour, as Dek.
The Predators even speak a complete language developed by Paul Frommer, who made the Na’vi language for Avatar.
Between this and the video game Death Stranding 2, Fanning stars in some cool sci-fi this year, and delivers an engaging dual performance as Thia and her “sister” Tessa.
Thia is upbeat and chirpy but also a voice of reason, and Tessa is the cold, driven antagonist.
By the way, Badlands is the first cinematic crossover between the Predator and Alien franchises since AVP: Requiem in 2007, as Thia and Tessa are Company synthetics like Ash, Bishop and David.
The swiftly-paced plot builds upon Dek’s quest to hunt a mighty creature and avenge his slain brother, fleshing out the world and bringing Dek and Thia closer as they reject their corrupt origins.
Their alien native companion “Bud”, a cute but powerful gremlin-like critter, might be a little goofy for some viewers, but he has a solid role in the action and story.
The kinetic, creative action makes clever use of the planet’s wildlife and hazards, and the brutal fights spill buckets of blood – but since it’s green Predator and white synthetic blood, Badlands only gets an M rating.
Predator: Badlands is an immensely entertaining action movie and a well-paced, surprisingly touching journey about finding your own family, and is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
