Predator: Badlands
I've been watching since the 1987 original, nearly thirty years with this franchise. I went to IMAX the first week Badlands came out.
This film is different from all previous Predator movies. The main character is the Predator itself. Not Schwarzenegger, not Glover, not Naru from Prey. It's a young Yautja named Dek.
The Story
Dek is weak. He's the smallest in his clan, and one of his eyes is blind. His father Njohrr is the clan leader and despises him. He ordered Dek's brother Kwei to kill him. Kwei didn't do it. He put Dek on a ship, and was executed by their father. Dek's ship crashed on the planet Genna.
Everything on the planet wants to kill you. Grass can slice through skin. Trees actively attack. There are giant worms underground. Flying predators in the sky. And there's a creature called Kalisk that no Yautja has killed in hundreds of years. Dek must kill the Kalisk and bring its head back to face his father.
Key Characters
The smallest in his clan with one blind eye. Exiled by his father, must prove himself on the Death Planet.
Played by Elle Fanning. Her leg was torn off, and she needs Dek to help her find it. She has a database of Genna, knows which plants are poisonous, what each creature's weakness is. The two make a deal.
Later they pick up a small creature called Bud. Bud looks like an armored armadillo, small and cute. Bud marks Dek with its saliva, which becomes a key plot point later.
Most of Dek's weapons were damaged in the crash. He only has a family sword, made for his brother's size—too big for him. He has to make weapons from local Genna materials. He makes a mask from one creature's skull. He makes a ranged weapon from another creature's acid. I really liked this part. A Predator forced to abandon high-tech gear and survive with primitive means.
Midway through the film, there's a fight between Dek and the Kalisk. Dek cuts off the Kalisk's head. The Kalisk's head grows back. The Kalisk doesn't kill Dek. There's foreshadowing here, but I didn't catch it at the time.
Weyland-Yutani captures Dek and the Kalisk. Thia's "sister" Tessa runs the lab. Tessa considers Thia's emotions a defect and plans to destroy her. Thia rescues Dek.
At this point Dek realizes Bud is the Kalisk's child. The Kalisk didn't kill him earlier because it smelled Bud's saliva on him.
The Finale
The final scene has Dek returning to Yautja Prime with Thia and a grown-up Bud. He throws Tessa's skull at his father's feet as a trophy. His father doesn't acknowledge him. He kills his father's guards, defeats his father, and lets Bud bite off his father's head. A large ship appears in the sky. Dek says that's his mother.
Some Observations
Dek's Face — CGI & Motion Capture
Dek's face is CGI. The body is a traditional suit, made by Studio Gillis—they've been making Predator costumes since 1987. The face uses motion capture plus digital effects, handled by Wētā Workshop. Trachtenberg said because Dek is the protagonist, the audience needs to see his expressions, and traditional animatronic masks can't do that.
Fan Community Reaction
The fan community has mixed opinions on Dek's design. Some think he looks too "humanized." Some made Photoshop edits to make him look more like a traditional Predator. Personally, I think it's fine. Dek is a young individual—it makes sense that he looks different from adult Predators.
Yautja Language Development
The Yautja language was specially developed. Trachtenberg hired a student of the person who created Na'vi for Avatar. Every line of dialogue has grammatical rules. Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi learned the entire language for this role. Previous Predator films didn't have this kind of design for Yautja dialogue—Trachtenberg said those were "all garbage."
PG-13 Rating Strategy
The film is rated PG-13. This is the first time a mainline Predator film isn't R-rated. Because no human characters are killed, the violence can be intense without triggering an R rating. Androids being torn apart doesn't count.
Box Office Performance
Box office is currently $162 million, on a $105 million budget. This is the highest-grossing entry in the series. CinemaScore is A-, also the highest in the series.
The Film Has Problems
The middle section drags. The parts where Dek and Thia explore Genna are quite long. Some people see this as a strength, like Terrence Malick-style observation of an ecosystem. I found it a bit slow.
Dek's character arc is formulaic. The exiled weakling proves himself. Finds his real family. Returns for revenge. This story has been told countless times.
Bud is too cute. I understand it's a commercial consideration. But putting a cute mascot in a Predator movie feels off.
The ending sets up a sequel. Dek's mother appears in the sky. I don't really like this "to be continued" style of ending.
Director's Vision
Trachtenberg has now made three Predator projects. Prey, the Killer of Killers anime, Badlands. All three have completely different styles.
Badlands is an adventure film, somewhat like Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy.
He says he has ideas for a fourth. Based on Badlands' box office performance, it should get made.
I'll watch Badlands again. Not because it's that good, but because I want to see if it feels different on a second viewing. Some films reveal things you didn't notice the first time.
Badlands has a lot of worldbuilding details—it might be worth another watch.