I remember when the first trailer for Prey came out and many fans thought it’d be the biggest streaming garbage ever. I mean, Disney has a reputation of ruining some franchises with streaming content (Night at the Museum, Ice Age, Home Alone…). So what would stop them for doing the same for the Predator franchise right? Well, Dan Trachtenberg arrived and showed us that we were all wrong about this film and how amazing it ended up being.
And now, after releasing another banger called Predator: Killer Of Killers, Dan promised another epic installment for this franchise and oh boy they really did it again. I think it’s safe to say that this franchise is finally in the best hands ever. Predator: Badlands follows a young Predator that was outcast from his clan finding an unlikely ally on his journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Yes, it’s quite a simple plot but something that we never seen in this franchise. Seeing a Yautja going on a quest to fight an enemy so he can prove to his family that he deserves a place on the throne. It’s crazy how the first 10 minutes of this film is already a wild ride. Amazing action sequences, a lot of blood and of the best visuals I’ve seen in a film so far this entire year.
About the blood, yes this is the first PG-13 rated Predator film. Is this bad? Not at all, I mean, it doesn’t really change anything. There’s no “less blood.” The thing is that this film has no humans at all so all the blood you see is from aliens or robots. But the film is still extremely violent and you’ll still see some characters getting decapitated or even worse.
As I mentioned, the visuals are insanely good. Budget was well used. The VFX work is exceptionally impressive. It’s quite surprising how emotional this film can be at times, the relation between the two main characters is lovely to watch and I can’t believe this is what we got in a Predator film and don’t get me wrong I genuinely loved what they did here. Elle Fanning is great as both of the characters she played and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi is really a star, he nailed this role and did an amazing job.
It’s a simple but quite enjoyable film, Predator: Badlands is not only one of the most visually stunning movies of the year but also an action-packed, surprisingly emotional story that will have fans eager for more.
Predator: Badlands releases in theaters on November 7.
