Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | Film | November 7, 2025
Like any red-blooded American, I was a fan of the original 1987 Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Beyond that, the franchise succumbed to sequelitis (Predator 2), franchise-itis (Alien vs. Predator, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem), and then reboot-itis (Predators, The Predator). Some of them weren’t bad — the first Alien vs. Predator was good schlocky fun, and I didn’t actively dislike Shane Black’s 2018 entry as much as others did.
But with 2022’s Prey, Dan Trachtenberg made arguably the first great Predator film. He didn’t just reinvent the franchise — pitting a warrior of the Comanche Nation against one of the first Predators to land on Earth — he also made it relevant. He made it interesting. And holy hell, that movie rocked.
It’s hard to imagine anyone improving on Prey, especially without Amber Midthunder, but in Predator: Badlands, Trachtenberg reinvents the franchise again, blending the ferocity of Prey with what might be the most purely enjoyable entry in the series. Predator: Badlands is a blast — clever, funny, and surprisingly emotional. For the first time since Gary Busey’s death in Predator 2, Trachtenberg makes us root for the creature.
That’s the real magic of Badlands: Trachtenberg turns a character who’s been the villainous monster for nearly 40 years into a sympathetic protagonist. He gives him a name — Dek — and by the end of Badlands, you’ll love him.
To pull that off, you have to make the Predator the prey — turn him into the underdog. Here, Dek is the runt of a clan on Yautja Prime, where weakness isn’t tolerated. His father, Njohrr, despises him for it and plans to kill him to strengthen the clan, but Dek’s brother, Kwei, defies the order to execute Dek and pays with his own life.
Dek escapes to the deadly planet Genna, determined to slay the Kalisk — an unkillable apex predator — and bring home its head as proof of his worth. But Genna’s hazards are more than he can handle, so he teams up with the torso of a synthetic named Thia (Elle Fanning), who agrees to help him navigate the planet if he helps her find her legs. Literally.
Along the way, they befriend a native creature they nickname Bud and ultimately face an even greater threat: the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, whose synthetic army — led by Thia’s sister, Tessa — plans to capture the Kalisk first.
There are surprises and a few clever twists, but at its heart, Predator: Badlands is a buddy road-trip action comedy featuring a runt Predator, half a robot, and an adorable yet deadly creature — the Baby Yoda/Groot of the bunch — who softens us enough to eventually sympathize with a monster that’s been killing humans for seven movies. Elle Fanning, of course, is the glue holding it all together, bringing humor, intelligence, and some jaw-dropping action scenes involving her detached legs.
What really elevates Badlands beyond its excellent action and laughs is just how inventive it is. Trachtenberg’s planet Genna teems with personality — deadly flora and fauna that feel alive and unpredictable. It’s like Jurassic World only infinitely more imaginative: Razor glass, killer trees, something called a Luna Bean — it’s all delightfully deranged.
Badlands is kick-ass, joyous, and flat-out entertaining. Turning the Predator into an underdog opens the door to empathy and reinvention, and Trachtenberg walks through it like he owns the goddamn place. The writing’s sharp, the effects stunning, and the performances — Fanning’s and even that of Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Dek — are really affecting. It just works — and it’s the most fun I’ve had in a theater in a long time.
