Review: ‘Predator: Badlands’ is a Bold Refresh of This Sci-Fi Franchise
by Alex Billington
November 7, 2025
“I am prey to none!” The latest entry in the Predator science fiction franchise is hitting theaters – where it belongs – and is ready to rock audiences with something completely new and unexpected. And that’s a good thing. Predator: Badlands is the third Predator film made by acclaimed filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg, who kicked off his exceptional sci-fi career with the sneaky sci-fi film 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016. He made Prey back in 2022 which completely reinvigorated the Predator franchise. Earlier this year, Trachtenberg and co-director Joshua Wassung gave us the animated anthology Predator: Killer of Killers. Which makes Badlands officially the 9th movie in the Predator franchise (including the two Alien vs. Predator crossover movies in the early 00s) since it began in 1987 with the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic. This is exactly why it’s refreshing, and honestly quite exciting, to see Trachtenberg try something completely new and take this series in a whole new direction. It’s the first time we ever follow the Predator as the main character, telling the story from his POV instead of a human or something else. As much as it might be overused, sometimes “awesome” really is the right word to describe a very good movie – and this sci-fi action movie is awesome.
Predator: Badlands is a Dan Trachtenberg creation in every sense – he has been working closely with 20th Century Studios to develop this ever since Prey a few years ago. The screenplay is written by Patrick Aison; from a story by Trachtenberg & Aison. It’s also produced and directed by Trachtenberg. There are no human characters in this movie, which not only offers them a sneaky chance to make this a PG-13 movie instead of R (there’s no red human blood spilled, it’s all creatures or robots). But it’s also by design because this time they’re following the story of a young Predator warrior, called a “Yautja” – who goes by the name Dek, who ends up crash landing on a far away planet angry at his father’s desire to get rid of him because he’s the runt of the family. So he goes there to prove himself and kill the unkillable Kalisk alpha predator creature. What’s awesome about Badlands is the intense pace, starting with action, continuing with action, moving right into more action. There are a few nice moments of calm and respite, but Trachtenberg knows these Yautja well and isn’t messing around. They’re warriors. It’s this pacing that works wonders because it keeps this movie exciting from start to finish – even if it changes course part of the way through. Even if it’s not what some die-hard Predator fans want to see, it still has this angry, vicious drive within it to keep things moving along.
At the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Sentimental Value (one of my faves from 2025), Norwegian director Joachim Trier proudly proclaimed that “Tenderness is the new punk.” In defiance of many nasty, dark, aggressive stories these days, making movies about empathy and goodness and love is a rebellious act. The same can be said for Predator: Badlands – which is not at all what I was expecting to write about it when I went into my screening earlier this week. I admire that Trachtenberg has done and the choices he has made, telling this story in this way and showing us that a brutal, violent warrior like Dek actually can be tender and does have a heart and is affected by emotions and does care for others. Even if he is a killing machine. The real ambitious and entirely unique character in this is actually Thia, the damaged synthetic android played by Elle Fanning. Yes it’s a not-so-subtle crossover with the Alien universe as she is an android created by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation like Ash & Rook & David & Walter. But she’s funny and oddly playful and surprisingly empathetic and caring, and flips this whole story on its head once she meets Dek and convinces him to work together / save her (since she’s missing half her body when he finds her on the planet). Then it becomes a sort of sci-fi action buddy comedy, and, well I’ll be damned, they pull it off. It’s a blast to watch.
This balance between totally badass, all-out crazy, brutal action and a tender, heartfelt story of a wolf pack is not an easy balance to pull off. At all. Many filmmakers don’t have the chops, don’t have the tenderness within themselves, to make this work on screen for an entire movie. Trachtenberg does and it’s genuinely thrilling to sit & watch this movie be something meaningful and wholesome and still extremely violent and entertaining. He found the perfect actor in casting the very tall New Zealand actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi to play Dek. It’s also a bold decision to have him play this character entirely in a practical suit with a Predator mask on, speaking entirely in the Yautja language. Thia interacts with him in English, but he speaks in Yautja the entire time. Again, all of this just works, and I believe it’s because Trachtenberg is so confident in his understanding of this story and these characters, that he believes this is the right story to tell and he knows how to tell it. Thus we can sense that love for this franchise on screen, in every frame, in every part of the filmmaking. It also has more ambitious twists and turns in the third act, expanding the story above & beyond the buddy comedy, and delivering an entirely satisfying ending. The wolf pack reigns!
I’m looking forward to revisiting it again, but after my first viewing, it might just be the best Predator movie in this franchise after the 1987 original. Of course, this will be debated endlessly… Some still prefer Prey, which is unquestionably also an awesome movie. Some prefer Predator 2 where he rampages through New York City. I’m a sci-fi geek who grew up on Star Wars, so Badlands is exactly my jam. It’s hard sci-fi with clever choices throughout, taking the Yautja on an adventure where he needs to learn to be more than just a selfish warrior who only cares about kills. Of course, some may argue this is what the Predator character is & always shall be, but I disagree… Now is the time to take this character in new directions, to show us new dimensions, to offer us something new, and to remind us that being alone is not always a strength. It’s also vital to praise the badass score in Badlands, from composers Sarah Schachner (also Prey) & Benjamin Wallfisch. Right from the start, when the Yautja language chanting comes in with the dark theme, I knew we were in for one helluva good time. This movie rocks. I don’t care that it’s PG-13, I only care that it’s an entertaining, action-packed, thoughtful, entirely unique sci-fi movie and it is absolutely all of that and more.
Alex’s Rating: 8.8 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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