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| Images courtesy 21 Century Studios |
Dan Trachtenberg's latest Predator film hits theaters tomorrow night. After the good will that he brought to the franchise with 2022's Prey, audiences are about to be served a fully neutered version of the one-time bad ass killing machine that was first introduced in 1987. Gone is the gore. The suspense is missing. Practical effects are now non-existent in a CGI laden adventure that brings this IP into the realm of being a family friendly movie that devolves into a space born buddy film. The once promising franchise restart has been turned on its head into a mediocre at best science fiction movie that takes this series in the absolutely wrong direction.
As Trachtenberg and crew attempt to world build, which they do with success here, Predator: Badlands falters by being rather boring by almost all means. Death is always served with a wink and a nod on a planet inhabited by all types of new and not so interesting species. Badlands plays like a video game turned into a two-hour movie with no real stakes and a bland story about familial pride in a galaxy full of scary scary things. Unfortunately, Elle Fanning, even at her best, cannot save a script that's devoid of creativity or dynamic. The worst part is that the Predator has become the exact opposite of how it was originally introduced or intended. There's just no grit to this movie....nothing to latch on to.
The highlights of Predator: Badlands lie in the interconnectivity they finally establish between the Alien and Predator franchises. With both brands flying under the same banner, fans are given the movie they've wanted for decades. The teases of a connected universe finally come to fruition with the lead character Dek coming in contact and partnering with a Weyland-Yutani synthetic on an adventure to kill a massive alien beast. They smartly meld the franchises together without ever using callbacks or silly fan bait. The costuming, vehicular design, and character elements bring us straight back to Prometheus and Aliens, which in turn expands this universe while never feeling desperate for gotcha moments. This is where Badlands exceeds expectations.
The hardest pill to swallow with this chapter is that Prey was so different than the others. The time period change felt refreshing after the distinctively bad The Predator. Trachtenberg was able to pull the series out of the dregs and brought it back around to something primal and it felt so very new. Amber Midthunder did an amazing job carrying that movie. With Badlands, Elle Fanning (The Neon Demon) plays dual roles with enthusiasm that far outweighs the finished product. Sure, this is a fun flick that people will unapologetically enjoy, but it misses the target so hard in so many areas that it will be totally forgotten in time.
After the critical success of Prey, it was said that they would explore numerous eras when the Predator visited earth. That idea seems to have fallen by the wayside as we're back in enemy territory in a movie that's a relatively successful galactic expansion for the two biggest science fiction horror series ever, but is a far cry from the days when we'd cower in fear at the sight of the Predator. It's been far too humanized at this point which totally abandons the premise that drove the first two movies. Predator: Badlands is a watchable exercise in how franchises are forcibly murdered by creative bludgeoning and soulless cash milking.
Go for the Predator. Stay for the Weyland-Yutani plot devices. That's where the core of this movie lies. This is like a comic book movie side mission that can't remember its origins. And damn, I miss Stan Winston.
-CG