November 10, 2025
To prove to his father Njohrr (Reuben De Jong) that he was a worthy member of their Clan, young Yautja Predator Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) planned to hunt down the feared Kalisk on planet Genna. However, Njohrr believed that Dek was a hopeless runt, and ordered his favored son Kwei (Mike Homik) to execute Dek. Kwei disobeyed the kill order, activated his space craft to send Dek to Genna, and got himself executed instead.
Up to this point, all the dialog had been in the Yautja language, so subtitles were necessary t0 understand what was being. The only time we hear English was when Dek encountered Thia (Elle Fanning), a friendly bisected android made by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, on Genna. If that company name sounds familiar, they are the same notorious technological company that was the true corporate villain of the "Alien" franchise.
The specific alien species which Arnold Schwarzenegger fought with those distinct snout and sharp teeth in the first film (1987), and those in the sequels, was never identified. However, since Steve and Stephani Perry coined the name "Yautja" in their 1994 novel "Aliens Vs Predator," it had also been used in the comics and video games. "Predator: Badlands" is the first film to use Yautja to identify Dek and his clan and Yautja Prime as their home planet.
This film designed Genna as a wilderness with deadly vines that captured and crushed its prey to death and grass that can cut flesh sharply like crystals. There was a cute monkey-like creature which Thia called Bud, with those deep pools as eyes (think Puss N' Boots). Of course, there was the invincible behemoth Dek was looking for -- the Kalisk. These special visual effects, together with that of Thia's upper and lower halves, did not disappoint.
I never followed every "Predator" film over the years, so at first I was not sure I wanted to see this one. It was fortunate that I did go watch it because I enjoyed it. You do not really need to know much of the "Predator" lore to understand the story being told by screenwriter Patrick Aison and director Dan Trachtenberg. It was a typical coming-of-age story of a young man wanting to prove his worth on his own, then discovering the value of a team. Reversing the previous tropes, a Predator was now the hero we rooted for. 7/10
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