Predator: Badlands - A Clever Twist on the Predator Formula

****THIS IS A SPOILER FREE REVIEW!! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS ZERO SPOILERS!!****

My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

My Recommendation: SEE IT/SKIP IT. A mixed bag of a movie that could have been better but entertains nonetheless.

Predator: Badlands, directed by Dan Trachtenberg, is the seventh film in the Predator franchise and it tells the story of Dek, a young predator who is exiled from his Yautja family and must kill an unkillable beast on a far-away planet to prove his worth to his father.

The Predator franchise, which began in 1987 with John McTiernan’s glorious Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been revitalized in recent years after decades of disrepair, and it is all thanks to filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg.

Trachtenberg helmed the 2022 film Prey, which set the usual Predator formula amongst a Native American tribe back in the 1700s. I thoroughly enjoyed that film and found it be a clever twist on the Predator story.

Next up for Predator and Trachtenberg was 2025’s Predator: Killer of Killers, an animated anthology that set the Predator formula amongst Viking warriors, Japanese Samurai, and World War II American pilots. I found this film to be a mixed bag – better as an idea than in execution.

Which brings us to Predator: Badlands, which hit theatres on November 7th of last year and performed quite well at the box office – garnering $185 million on a $105 million budget. The film is now available to stream on Hulu, which is where I watched it.

It is undeniably an interesting idea to turn the Predator formula of a Yautja – the official name of what a “predator” from all the movies actually is, from a vicious villain into a hero with whom you are meant to sympathize.

Badlands is aided in this transition in audience expectations by the ever-charming Elle Fanning, who plays Thia, a Weyland-Yutani (the evil company from the Alien film franchise) humanoid robot, who becomes Dek’s sidekick on his journey to redemption/revenge.

All of the pieces are in place for Predator: Badlands to be a big success, and it almost pulls it all off. Unfortunately, it still feels like a better idea than it is a movie. It isn’t a bad movie…it just feels like it could’ve been a better one.

The opening which gives an insight into the family dynamics of the Yautja, is a bit bumpy, but it delivers the message loud and clear – Dek is a runt of the litter and no one respects him. So, he must go prove himself by killing an apex predator – the Kalisk, in order to be officially welcomed into the Yautja klan.

The world where Dek goes to hunt the feared Kalisk, Genna “The Death Planet”, is supposed to be this treacherous place filled with the coolest of deadly flora and fauna, but all the flora and fauna are pretty silly looking and disappointing.

The fight and battle scenes in the film are pretty underwhelming too…repetitious and often-times not very imaginative. Even the big bad Kalisk doesn’t seem so big and bad once we get a look at it…except it possesses one trait which is like a cheat code in a video game.

The best part of the film is without question Elle Fanning’s Thia. Thia, who is a humanoid robot on a fact-finding mission for Weyland-Yutani – the same nefarious corporation behind the mayhem in the Alien franchise (and also my current employer), has been stranded, cut in half and left in a vultures nest on Genna.

Dek stumbles upon Thia and she claims she can help him on his hunt, so he saves her. The problem is that she only has an upper torso, and due to this disability Dek must carry her around the planet on his back.

Thia is a motor-mouth and gives a running and rather humorous commentary on everything going on during their odyssey. Why Thia, a robot, is so funny and sarcastic is beyond me…but this one-sided repartee definitely works. Dek on the other hand, like all Yautja, is seemingly incapable and allergic to humor, so the pairing of the witty Thia and the diabolically serious Dek, makes for as fun a rom-com couple as I’ve seen in years.

The story goes from there and while I won’t give any spoilers away, I will say that it has some twists and turns in it that I did not see coming…which is no small accomplishment.

The thing about this movie is that it does have a lot going for it…Elle Fanning’s charms and a clever twist on the formula being the two prime examples, but it never felt to me like it quite put it all together in the very best possible way.

That said, I am glad that Dan Trachtenberg is in charge of the Predator franchise…and to be honest I’m just glad somebody is in charge of the franchise.

For all of Trachtenberg’s faults – like his reliance on tired woke tropes to spice up storytelling, he at least gives a rat’s ass about the franchise. He is trying stuff…and that is better than the vast majority of franchise entertainment nowadays.

I feel the same way about Trachtenberg’s Predator franchise that I do about the current state of the Alien franchise – namely that they are poised to potentially be interesting science-fiction entertainment for the next decade…middle-of-the-road entertainment…but entertainment nonetheless.

The fact that Predator and Alien are two intertwined franchises makes for the possibility of fun and interesting storytelling…especially with the awful Alien vs Predator stuff having already been done and done badly in the past. One can only hope that these franchises…which seem to be at least headed in a decent direction despite having had some really bad movies in their canon, can keep going in the right direction.

As for Predator: Badlands, I think that there are worse ways to spend your time than with the luminous Elle Fanning – even just half of her, and with a Yautja out for blood.

The movie isn’t perfect…in fact, it is mostly just average, but in a world where the vast majority of franchise entertainment, be it superhero stories or narcissistic Mission: Impossible adventures, are bloated big budget messes and misfires, Predator: Badlands is a harmless bit of mindless entertainment – if you enjoy such things in general, and Predator films in particular, you should check it out.

©2026

Looking California and Feeling Minnesota: Episode 138 - Predator: Killer of Killers

On this episode, Barry and I grab our weapons and do battle over the new animated Predator film - Predator: Killer of Killers. Topics discussed include the potential of the Predator franchise, missed opportunities, and in keeping with the Predator theme...Barry makes the brave admission that he is, in fact, on the Epstein list!! (JK - Barry isn't really on the Epstein list.)

Looking California and Feeling Minnesota: Episode 138 - Predator: Killer of Killers

Thanks for listening!

©2025

Predator: Killer of Killers - A Review: Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS!! THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW!!**

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

My Recommendation: SKIP IT. A wasted opportunity that gets bogged down in poor storytelling.

Predator: Killer of Killers, is a new animated science fiction anthology action film that is currently streaming on Hulu.

The film is the sixth film in the Predator franchise and is the second Predator film to be directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who directed Prey (2022).

I liked Prey and thought its premise of a predator taking on Native Americans in the 1700’s was a very clever one. The film wasn’t perfect, for example it had an unhealthy amount of the usual virtue signaling of woke politics that has become so commonplace nowadays. But despite that, I found it to be a compelling take on an old action franchise and I particularly liked the lead actress Amber Midthunder.

In fact, in my review of Prey I wrote that the franchise would be wise to stay on this track and move forward and set new Predator movies in other interesting times and places, like “Shogun era Japan…”, and lo and behold that’s exactly what they did…sort of.

Predator: Killer of Killers is an anthology of four different stories, the first set in Viking times (Scandinavia 841), the second in Shogun era Japan (1609), the third during World War II (1942), and the fourth on the Predator planet itself.

Unfortunately, still prevalent in these stories are the tiresome woke politics of our own annoying times…sigh. For example, the first section is about a female Viking warrior princess who kicks everybody’s ass…because of course it is…and the second section is about Japanese men – as it should be, and the third about a Latino man…because apparently leading white men are now entirely anathema in the Predator cinematic universe, even when they’d make the most sense…like in the Viking story.

I know this is animated science fiction and all, but it still beggar’s belief that creatives don’t understand how when you subvert reality to such an extent that a woman is the greatest Viking warrior around, it makes suspending disbelief that much harder and the story that much less interesting.

This Viking warrior princess should have been a man as both history and myth would tell us, for the arc of her story is, frankly, a masculine hero’s journey, and when a feminine agent takes the masculine hero’s journey it deprives the myth of its archetypal and sub-conscious power.

This first story does feature some cool animation and action sequences, but it could have, and should have, been so much better because it is a really cool idea. One can only imagine the predator taking on beserkers in a gory battle sequence…but alas t’wasn’t meant to be.

The second story is set in Shogun-era Japan and features two Samurai warriors with a long-held grudge against each other.

This segment is the best in the film as it is really cool and looks fantastic. It is by far the most compelling and profound story in the bunch as well, and its action sequences are the most vibrant.

The third section, which follows a young Latino man who yearns to be a pilot and then ends up being one in World War II, is not good at all. In fact, it is incredibly asinine and inane.

For the life of me I cannot understand why they chose this time and place, and this protagonist, as all of it feels terribly trite and not the least bit captivating.

The introduction of “modern” WWII technology into these stories just accentuates the technological advancement of the predators all the more, and makes the storyline moot, as the whole idea behind the Predator story is that man must return to his most basic, primal nature to take on the predator and OUTSMART HIM – think of Arnold Schwarzenegger mortally wounding the predator in the original film with a trap using a sharpened log and its heavy counterweight.

There are also some of the dumbest and least believable action sequences imaginable in this WWII section – which is saying a lot since it is an animated action movie after all.

The final section, which brings together the three protagonists from the other sections, is a total mess and patently absurd to the point of being ridiculous.

What really struck me watching this movie is that in the first Predator film, it seemed impossible that Arnold would actually kill this thing as it was such an elite predator. But in this anthology, all of the predators seem really bad at being…well… predators….like they don’t have minor league predator abilities…they have little league predator abilities.

Another frustrating thing about this movie is that it felt like the franchise wasted these story ideas on these short sections rather than making them better and expanding them into feature length tales.

For example, imagine a predator film (even animated) set in a Kurosawa or Shogun tv series type-of setting. That would be amazing and it would give proper respect to the culture being portrayed and give audiences a chance to connect with characters…which doesn’t happen in the short stories told here.

And just imagine how kick-ass a real Viking predator movie (again even animated) would be where the predator takes on a bunch of Berserkers and Viking warriors ravaging some village somewhere….that would be awesome.

I also think it would be great for predator to take on Spartans at the height of their military power, or Genghis Khan, or Attila the Hun, or Vlad the Impaler, or Crusaders in the Holy Land.

And if we’re gonna do a World War II story, flip the script and set it in Nazi Germany and have predator go apeshit on some Nazis, or have him destroy Japanese soldiers during the Rape of Nanking…in essence making Predator the good guy because he’s slaughtering the “bad guys”.

The possibilities are endless, but the hope that the people running the Predator franchise, people like director Dan Trachtenberg, will get it right, is slim to none at this point. It seems the only thing Trachtenberg really cares about is expressing his dislike of white men and virtue signaling his ‘perfect’ politics.

Ultimately, Predator: Killer of Killers felt like a wasted opportunity, which makes it a very frustrating viewing experience. If you’re a die-hard Predator franchise fan than I’m sure you’ll check it out and overlook its notable flaws.

But if you’re a normal person just looking to be entertained for 90 minutes, then Predator: Killer of Killers just isn’t the thing for you as it fails to entertain and fails to live up to its promising premise.

©2025