Film Review: Predator: Badlands

Welcome back to the blog readers. As you should know by now, I love me my science-fiction films, especially if they introduce us to new worlds, new concepts, and new stories that we can sink our teeth into. This is a big reason why I love the game The Outer Worlds (2019) and am loving its 2025 sequel. Not having seen a Predator film before got me intrigued at the franchise's new direction for sure, but would I come out of it for the better or the worst? Stick around to find out.

Predator: Badlands was directed by Dan Trachtenberg from a screenplay by Patrick Aison and a story by Trachtenberg and Aison, based on characters by Jim and John Thomas. The film stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi in dual roles. In the film, a runt Yautja (Predator) embarks on its first hunt to impress and get revenge on his father and meets a Weyland-Yutani synth on its travels, learning that its place on this new world is secondary to a greater conflict brewing.

Like I alluded to in the introductory paragraph, I have never seen a Predator film before going to see this film. I was not sure whether that would be to my benefit or my downfall, but my fears were quelled when I learned I did not have to see a single previous film in the franchise. And thank goodness I didn't, because not knowing a damn thing about this franchise made this film a pretty fun watch. I loved the main performances and the music, but the story is good enough that it was derivative but still carved its own path.

I want to start by talking about the performance of Elle Fanning in this film. The younger sister of Dakota Fanning, Elle has carved out her own place in the world of Hollywood by being in such projects like I Am Sam (2001), Phoebe in Wonderland (2008), We Bought a Zoo (2011), Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (2025), and the upcoming Sentimental Value (2025) that she is getting awards consideration for). But as the synths Thia and Tessa, Fanning shows why that consideration is being wrought onto her. As Thia, she plays a warm and comforting synth to our Predator, and she gets to play a bit on the dark side as Tessa in a wonderfully wild performance. Fanning has been having a hell of a year, and I think it will continue into early 2026.

I next want to talk about the performance of Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. After seeing this film, would you believe me if I told you this was only this 24-year-old kid's fourth acting credit? Well, believe it, because not only is this his fourth role, this is his biggest role to date. As the Predator Dek, Schuster-Koloamatangi brings a sort of isolationist darkness to the character, but brings in just the right amount of charisma to get you attached to the character and its plight. Schuster-Koloamatangi also voices Dek's father in a smaller role with a bit more conviction and fiery determination than the role of Dek will allow. I do hope this kid gets more opportunities in the future because he can really turn a lot of heads when he is not wearing makeup or mocap.

One thing I did not mention in the initial thoughts paragraph is that I did like the action that we see in this film. I mean sure, most of the film is Dek kicking the crap out of and violently killing monsters that are way bigger and smarter than him, but you have to admit watching him do that is fun as hell. There is nothing here that is world-breaking or completely innovative to the genre, but that is the point. It does not have to be revolutionary for it to be fun to watch and experience on the biggest screen and the best quality possible because the sound design is incredible, which I can now use to segue to my next topic of interest.

And that topic of interest, ladies and gentleman and everyone else in between, is the score for this film. Our composers for this journey are Benjamin Wallfisch (whose scores I have been loving as of late) and Sarah Schachner (of Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed fame), and the things that they are able to do in this soundtrack completely blew my mind. The sounds that I heard throughout the brisk 106-minute film quite literally reminded me of some of the sounds I heard in the soundtracks of Dune (2021) and Part Two (2024), but exemplified and put on steroids. It sounded royal, current, and absolutely soul-piercing, and should be listened to on the largest sound system possible.

I want to end this review by talking about the story of the film, because I definitely have some thoughts. Like I mentioned in the initial thoughts paragraph, I mentioned that while I thought the story of this film was derivative to other science-fiction films (and even to other genres), I still think it was serviceable enough to be able to provide us with a fun time. There were even enough twists and turns to keep the story moving and interesting, especially that final line. John Campea was right, that final line is one of the best I have ever heard, and I have to hand it to everyone involved for being able to pull it off and sell the entire film for me.

In conclusion, Predator: Badlands is a rollicking good time that almost does everything from performances to action to music right. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.