Predator: Badlands (2025) 20th Century/Sci-Fi-Action RT: 107 minutes Rated PG-13 (sequences of strong sci-fi violence) Director: Dan Trachtenberg Screenplay: Patrick Aison Music: Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch Cinematography: Jeff Cutter Release date: November 7, 2025 (US) Cast: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Kolomatangi, Mike Homik.
Rating: *** ½
Predator: Badlands, the sixth entry in the Predator series (seventh if you count the animated film, ninth if you count the two AvP movies), carries a PG-13 rating. It’s the first Predator film to do so (unless you count the first AvP). I was worried. I didn’t really want to see a watered-down, teen-friendly Predator flick. I like them violent, bloody and brutal. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. Predator: Badlands is anything but watered down. This movie is super, super violent. It got away with a PG-13 because the violence is directed at aliens and androids (aka “synthetics”), NOT humans. In fact, there are NO humans in Predator: Badlands. It’s the first Predator movie to do this. It certainly takes some risks, but the good news is it all works out in the end. This movie ROCKS!
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (Prey), Predator: Badlands is the best one since Predator 2 (1990). I like almost everything about it. The only thing I’m not crazy about is the Predator himself. He’s not as awesome as practical effects Predator (played by the late Kevin Peter Hall) from 1 & 2. It’s still a guy in an alien costume (Dimitrius Schuster-Kolomatangi), but now CGI does a lot of the heavy lifting. Also, this new version of Predator doesn’t look as fearsome. He looks almost human from the waist down. Why did the makers change him? The alien creature didn’t need any “improvements”. It’s more of a downgrade. This, thankfully, is a minor glitch in an otherwise awesome movie.
So what sets Predator: Badlands from the rest? It’s the first one to be told from the perspective of the titular alien Dek. He’s the protagonist this time. This is the one fans have been waiting for. We finally get to see where they’re from, a planet called Yautja Prime, a hot and brutal place where survival of the fittest reigns supreme. It’s home to the species Yautja. They worship strength and despise weakness. They’re a tribe. In order to be a full-blooded member, they have to prove themselves by going on a solo hunt and coming back with trophies (i.e. the skulls and spines of their prey). Nobody thinks Dek is up to the task, especially his father who dismisses him as a runt and too weak to live. He orders eldest son Kwei kill the little brother he always protects. He refuses and helps him off the planet instead, an act of defiance that costs him his life.
Dek has a plan to prove himself to his dad. He goes to a planet called Genna to hunt and kill an unkillable apex predator called the Kalisk. Now that’s an ugly mother f***er! A Kalisk is a big, spiny, regenerative monster with teeth like daggers. Nobody has ever succeeded in taking one down. Dek intends to be the first. He’ll finally receive the coveted cloaking device given only to tribe members.
Dek isn’t the only one after the Kalisk. Not long after arriving on Genna, Dek encounters Thia (Fanning, A Complete Unknown), a damaged synthetic with no legs. She’s part of a team of synthetics sent by the sinister Weyland-Yutani company to capture the Kalisk and bring it back alive to the bioweapons division. The operation didn’t go as planned. All she wants is to find her legs and her sister synthetic Tessa (also played by Fanning) who she believes is alive. She and Dek agree to team up to track down the Kalisk. Tessa, leading a team of armed synthetic goons, is also on the hunt. In direct opposition to Thia’s sweetness, she’s cold and ruthless and will stop at nothing to fulfill her directive from master computer MUTHER (yep, another tie-in to the Alien franchise).
Predator: Badlands may be silly, but it’s not stupid. It’s a lot of fun with all the action and interplay between chatty Thia and taciturn Dek. She drives him crazy with her non-stop questions, but he needs her around to guide him across the unforgiving terrain of Gemma. She knows the flora and fauna. She’s his only hope of survival. What’s really interesting here is Trachtenberg’s approach to this aspect of Predator: Badlands. The director cites Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) as one of his main influences. It even carries the subtitle Badlands as in his 1973 film. The filmmaker known for his meditations on nature and its connection to humanity might seem like too lofty a shout-out, but Trachtenberg goes for it. He takes the time to show Dek observing a world alien to him with its various lifeforms. True to the series, what he learns will come in handy later when he uses the natural environment to aid him in the final battle.
I’ve long contended that Elle is the more interesting Fanning sister. She makes bold choices when it comes to the roles she selects. As a child, she starred in Phoebe in Wonderland (2008), The Nutcracker in 3D (2010), Somewhere (2010) and Super 8 (2011). As a teen, she did Low Down (2014), The Neon Demon (2016) and 20th Century Women (2016). Last year, she co-starred in the Bob Dylan biopic. Now she plays a dual role in Predator: Badlands; two androids, two completely different personality types, two equally convincing performances. Thia has this innocence, this naivety, while Tessa is cold and pragmatic. It’s not every actress who can nail it like Elle does here.
There is so much to enjoy in Predator: Badlands like the obvious nod to the Star Wars movies with the introduction of Bud, a puppy-like creature who imprints on Dek. He’s something you might find hanging around outside the cantina on Tatooine. Then there’s the action. WOW! It has some mighty impressive sequences including one featuring a cargo loader a lot like the one Ripley uses in the climax of Aliens (1986). It’s used in the same way too.
I had this big goofy smile on my face almost the whole time I watched Predator: Badlands. It’s more cartoonish than its predecessors, but that’s not such a bad thing. Here’s the deal. The original Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger will always be tops for me. You can’t beat a testosterone-fuelled cast like that! The 1990 sequel is also great. This new one takes the series in a different direction. It even leaves the door open for a sequel. I hope it happens because this one is so much fun.
