FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/predator-badlands-movie-review-dan-trachtenberg-earns-the-franchise-keys-by-flipping-the-hunt/ "Predator: Badlands is an audacious exercise in reinvention that takes a risk and triumphs. The movie excels in every technical department, featuring a spectacle of creature design and sound work, and offering a new thematic vision for the saga's longevity. Elle Fanning's superb performance and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi's powerful physicality ensure Dek's journey — the creature who forgoes the Yautja code of honor in search of a d…
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Predator: Badlands
Overview
Cast out from his clan, a young Predator finds an unlikely ally in a damaged android and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
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Release date
05/11/2025
Votes
3,434
Popularity
36.7
Elle Fanning
Thia / Tessa
Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Dek / Father
Ravi Narayan
Bud
Michael Homick
Kwei (Suit)
Stefan Grube
Kwei (voice)
Reuben De Jong
Father (Suit)
Cameron Brown
Drone Synth
Alison Wright
MU/TH/UR (voice)
Matt Duffer
Kwei's Ship Computer (voice)
Ross Duffer
Kwei's Ship Computer (voice)
Original Soundtrack
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Predator: Badlands is the first Predator film since 2022’s Prey. It is also the second Predator-related media released this year. Hulu’s animated anthology film, Predator: Killer of Killers, is now streaming. All three titles were directed and/or written by Dan Trachtenberg. Badlands follows Dek, a young Predator who yearns for his father's approval but struggles to escape the shadow of his bigger and older brother Kwei. Their father, viewing proud Yautja lineage as something reserved for only the strongest, sees Dek as weak and useless—wanting him dead to preserve the family’s honor. Dek’s…
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“Dek” is the runt of the “Yautja” clan so his militaristic father has asked his elder brother “Kwei” to get rid of him. Luckily, his brother isn’t so brutal and so with an impossible task on his hands to prove his worth, “Dek” manages to escape to a planet where he seeks to make a trophy from the menacing “Kalisk”. Thing is, this place is riddled with all sorts of flesh-eating monsters and plants so his own survival chances aren’t especially high until he encounters the top half of synthetic “Thia” (Elle Fanning) who is quite hot on keeping him alive and who agrees to work with him to achieve …
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> Director of his 3rd Predator project, I think…3 times a charm…Dan Trachtenburg , obviously understands Alien. I think he brought the “aliens” in Cameron style to this pg13 Disney + friendly film. So maybe for a newer audience that wants to understand and identify with the originals. Movies now get “universe” in comic book format is how we lay film work. New normal. So get with the program, ya hard-to-please Treky Boomers. If you watch Badlands with all things considered, you find it delivers well. The originators of Alien and sci-fi alike also started woke back then. The real kind . It wa…
Read full review →"Predator Soy Boy" shows us all that no matter how wimpy you are, the power of diversity, equality and inclusion, is on your side. Biology be damned. Suffice to say, this is a rather ridiculous take on the Predator universe. Weird looking Dik oops I mean Dek, is the wussiest of the predators. Dad who dresses like a demonic deer, wants to croak Dek, for this very reason. Of course, he could have done so in infancy, as the Spartans did, if this is the kind of society they inhabit. Anyway for no obvious reason he lets Dek hang around embarrassing him and because its such a hassle to do him in,…
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I thought it was a great idea, telling the story of the Predators and their culture! In fact I was hoping for more of that from when "Predators" came out. Loved how they tied it in with the "Alien" franchise also loved that when they first did it with AVP. But there were a few niggles that killed it for me. Firstly, reading subtitles for too long that really isn't necessary especially when they had a synthetic speaking English anyway, like hello. The idea of Predator has always been the hunt is everything so I can forgive what they did here it was creative but again the story felt off like the…
Read full review →"What time is it? It's !@#$% r@ping time!" Wrong movie in the franchise, I know, but I can't help it. I like me some Walton Goggins! I really like this movie for finally giving us a different perspective. I was concerned that this movie would irritate me after Prey (2022)'s ending irritated me, but I was pleasantly surprised, and I am now looking forward to the next entry from this director. I hope he doesn't !@#$ it up somehow. **MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD:** Dek, Thia, and Bud, join Dutch, as my favorite characters in this franchise. Bud is just absolutely adorable throughout the…
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Predator: Badlands is a masterclass in subverting expectations while staying fiercely loyal to the primal roots of the franchise. By shifting the narrative lens directly onto the Predator, the film achieves a level of intimacy and world-building we have never experienced in previous installments. It is a bold, visionary move that transforms the iconic hunter from a mere slasher-movie monster into a complex, nuanced protagonist. The storytelling is exceptionally tight, managing to balance the brutal, high-stakes action the series is known for with surprising moments of humor that feel organic r…
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LOL...I mean, serously. What is the term the braindead woke zombie goose stepping morons use everytime they trash an IP? Subverting expectations? Something like that? Well, they did it again. Once more they subverted audiance expetations by making a predator movie that's not a predator movie, which, honestly, isn't very shocking. The last thing Hollywood wants to do at the moment is give the audiance what they want and deliver a Predator movie when they pay to see a Predator movie. But, whatever, it pushes **_THE MESSAGE_**, which makes it the exact same movie as basically every movie …
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This is how you build That Predator and Alien are part of the same shared universe is a thing since the Dark Horse Comics books in the 90s, and there have been mentions here and there, but this is the first time we see how this integration of two intellectual properties can synergize well. The story is decidedly predator-focused, with the "human" element mostly there as a point of view, but the vision is realized well, the effects, shot-composition, sound and directing works well, and the overall impression is really good. An absolute must for any fan of the predator-franchise.
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If you crossed the Brothers Grimm's classic 1819 short story ***The Bremen Town Musicians*** with a Klingon Warrior's rite of passage, and set that within the Predator universe -- you end up with writer and director Dan Trachtenberg's **PREDATOR: BADLANDS**. One cannot argue that Trachtenberg, who is single-handedly ushering in a Predator renaissance beginning with his 2022 **PREY**, followed by this year's animated, gory actioner **PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS** has [(which I reviewed here)](https://letterboxd.com/fixateandbinge/film/predator-killer-of-killers/) pulled off a brilliant Preda…
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