Can a movie be good and still leave you let down? That was definitely the case for me while I was watching Predator: Badlands the other night on Disney+.
It’s worth noting that this is the first Predator film since the second barely played theaters in Ontario that I missed seeing on the big screen. Though it had solid trailers and a good lead actor in Elle Fanning, along with director Dan Trachtenberg, who also did the straight to Disney+ Prey, I just wound up not dragging myself out of the house to head to the Badlands.
In this new film, the focus is placed on a young Predator named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), cast out from his family, and who is looking for the acceptance of his father by killing a beast known as the Kalisk, found on the deadly planet of Genna. When he arrives, Dek meets Thia (Fanning), a synthetic sent by the Weylan-Yutani Corporation (you know them from the Alien franchise) to capture a Kalisk for research and development. Dek and Thia wind up working together, forming an unlikely friendship.
By all rights, Predator: Badlands is a good film. Fanning is excellent in the dual roles of synthetics Thia and Tessa, while Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi acquits himself nicely as Dek, even under a ton of Predator makeup. There are lots of creepy crawlies on Genna for the characters to battle with, and the movie often feels like more violent version of Avatar (at least the first one). Still, I was never particularly engaged with the movie because I never felt there were any real stakes for any characters. I didn’t care about the fates of Dek or Thia, and while I appreciated the dynamic between the two of them, I can’t say I ever really believed it.
What was mainly missing for me was the human element, which the earlier Predator films had in abundance, for better (the original two films and Predators) or worse (The Predator, all the Alien v Predator installments). Part of the fun of these films for me is watching the Predator be a hunter of humans, and there’s none of that in Badlands. It’s as if you’re watching a Friday the 13th movie and Jason decides to buddy up with a counselor. No thanks.
I just might be in the minority, mind you, as Predators: Badlands was the most successful film in the franchise so far. And the movie ends with a clever moment that at least had me interested to see a sequel. If there is, hopefully we have some humans being hunted down. Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Heck, I’d even take Adrian Brody.
