Most popular film franchises can do one of two things: have more content and begin to fizzle out in acclaim, or find new life under the right supervision and creativity.
Filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg is an example of how to take a franchise in a direction that is refreshing, and his latest, “Predator: Badlands” (2025), continues his hot streak of directing quality “Predator” films.
Previously, Trachtenberg directed “Prey” (2022) and co-directed “Predator: Killer of Killers” (2025) with Joshua Wassung. Both films were met with financial success and critical praise.
“Predator: Badlands” follows Dek (Dimitrius Koloamatangi), a young Predator who journeys to the treacherous planet Genna to hunt and kill a beast known as the Kalisk to prove his worth to his clan. While there, he forms an unlikely alliance with a damaged synthetic android named Thia (Elle Fanning), and with her guidance, the two are able to navigate and survive the dangerous environment around them.
The first thing that stands out about the film is that it’s told from the perspective of the Predator and not of a regular human character like prior films. Already, this provides an interesting contrast to what fans are familiar with. Plus, it gives nuance to what the Predators are and what their culture is. In the case of Dek, he’s not just a mindless killing machine.
He’s actually given a nice arc, and it heavily reflects the theme of the film with what happens to his brother Kwei (Mike Homik) at the beginning. The work done on the Predators and all of the other alien creatures on the planet Genna is exceptionally well done.
Dek, Kwei and the other Predators were brought to life using a mixture of practical suits and computer-generated imagery. Like Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” (1993), this film knows how to make its effects work together and not oppose one another.
The world of Genna and all of its inhabitants could have easily been overlooked by the production crew, but instead is given a lot of great detail. Although it isn’t a real location, it feels real based on how well-developed it is and how the creatures interact when Dek is on the hunt.
It was fun to see a Predator out of his element, and actually acting as more of the prey in certain cases and not the apex predator. It’s a clever change by Trachtenberg and the writing crew.
Dek’s relationship with Thia is at first questionable, but they eventually find their footing as their bond grows because of what they go through. Fanning as Thia is a casting decision that worked superbly. When one watches the film, it’s noticeable how much fun Fanning is having from playing the role.
Fanning was last seen in Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” (2025) playing Rachel Kemp, and last December she was Sylvie Russo to Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown” (2024). In both of those roles, Fanning played a more serious part. As Thia, she plays around with the character in a film that is far different from her two previous roles.
Where her performance can be a bit much is the overreliance on humor. There are parts in the film where the comedy does land; however, there are many instances where it doesn’t. The “Predator” films are all relatively serious in their approach to telling the story, and the writers of “Predator: Badlands” should’ve stuck with that same tone.
Despite Fanning’s good performance, the inclusion of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation into a world where Predators and supposedly Xenomorphs from the “Alien” franchise co-exist does not work to the film’s benefit.
By no means does this ruin the film either. It just would have been great if the enemy in the third act wasn’t a bunch of mindless synthetics that really hold no threat to Dek or Thia. Even with these criticisms, “Predator: Badlands” is definitely worth a viewing for devoted fans of the franchise and for those who adore science fiction and action movies.
Rating: 3/5
