Film Review: Predator - Badlands

 

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Acceptable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

The original Predator is one of the greatest action movies of all time.  It is pure masculine mayhem in the best possible way.  It is unlikely that any movie will be able to come close to capture that lightning in a bottle.

In the years since, there have been several sequels that have attempted to recapture that magic, with varying degrees of success.  The latest attempt, Predator: Badlands, decides to do something radical: make the Predator the hero of the story.  As the sage once said: "It's a bold strategy, Cotton, let's see if pays off for 'em."

The movie centers around a Predator named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatanji) who is the runt of the clan.  Because of this, he needs to prove himself by going to the most dangerous planet known as Genna and kill the unkillable creature known as the Kalisk.  Dek crash lands on the planet and soon discovers that everything here is deadly from the animals to the flora and fauna.  Along the way he encounters Thia (Elle Fanning) a Weyland-Yutani android who is is missing everything below her torso.  She makes a deal with Dek to help him find the Kalisk if he gets her back to her people.  What follows is the standard reluctant partnership that slowly turns into friendship as the journey changes both of them.

If that plot summary sounds like this is a kinder, gentler Predator movie, that's because it is.  This looks and feels a lot more like a Marvel movie than a standard Predator film.  The tone, the humor, the action, the characters, and the violence feel like the could have come out of Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off.  

And here is the catch: if that is a deal-breaker for you, then this movie is not for you.

If, however, you are like me and can accept this change in tone, then Predator: Badlands is fairly enjoyable.  There is something lost when you remove the mystery and mystique of the Predators.  But what you get instead is a fairly straightforward reluctant friendship adventure.  Some people I have read found Thia cloying and off-putting.  However, I found her to be the right counterbalance to Bek.  Her constant chattiness and optimism are foiled against Bek's stoic silence.  

Plot-wise, the film is fairly standard with no real depth.  But that doesn't mean that it is bad.  The chemistry between the characters is fairly decent.  And the movie does one of the things I really like which is that it has good payoffs in the 3rd act that are set up in the 1st act without you realizing that they are being set up.  The movie rewards you for paying closer attention to how this world operates.  And it is fun to see Bek adapt to the surroundings, going from barely surviving to thriving.  It echoes Dutch from the original Predator, but the callback works.

The special effects work nicely in this film.  You get a strong sense of the ever-present danger of the planet.  The overall look of the Predator suffers by bringing it directly into the light and not keeping him in the dark shadows.  The action is very competently executed, with excitement and flair.  Bek can't rely on the normal bag of tricks that we've seen in other Predator films, but has to get creative, which adds to the enjoyment.

As I mentioned, the story's simplicity is reflected in its themes.  But those themes are still pleasing to see play out.  Bek's clan hates weakness and sees mercy as poison.  But in finding friendship and cooperation, Bek becomes stronger and better.  Again, it isn't revolutionary stuff, but the writers understand what their assignment is and they hit the correct thematic notes throughout.

No Predator film has lived up to the original.  But Predator: Badlands is not a bad way to spend a couple of hours of sci-fi adventure.