By Zuzanna Spiewak

The Yautja are prey to no one. Friend to no one. Predator to all.

Predator is a long-lasting franchise, frequently overshadowed by its more popular sibling Alien. Despite both film series taking place in the same universe, Alien has seen great success with its shows and spin-offs, while newer Predator installments were regarded poorly. However, with the help of Predator Badlands’ director, Dan Trachtenberg, it may finally be its time to shine.

This is Trachtenberg’s third film for the franchise, with him always doing something different to set the film apart from others in the franchise. Prey (2022) featured a female lead, and Predator: Killer of Killers (2024) was animated. What sets Predator: Badlands apart is that for the first time ever in the series’ history, there are no human characters, and a Yautja is the protagonist.

Not only that, but our predator is also a notable outlier from the other Yautja we’ve seen before – instead of having a tall and powerful frame, long dreadlocks and giant mandibles, our protagonist Dek is small, weaker, less threatening.

This is crucial to the plot, as Dek is shunned by his family because he doesn’t live up to Yautja standards. He’s a runt: too weak, too small, and to quote his sidekick Thia, “not an ideal specimen.” This makes him want to desperately prove himself and attempt an impossible hunt to show that he’s worthy.

The film follows his journey in attempting this hunt. Dek is sent to Genna, an incredibly dangerous and deadly planet which is the home of Kalisk – Dek’s bounty, a monster so powerful even his father is afraid of it. He’s driven by desperation and grief, knowing he can never return to his home if he doesn’t succeed.

Along his journey, he meets a Weyland-Yutani synthetic named Thia, played by Elle Fanning, who was disconnected from her legs and is now a crawling torso. She is someone who has studied the planet for a while and joins Dek as his guide through this dangerous land if he helps her find her destroyed base – as well as her legs.

The film is much different than your average Predator film and can sometimes feel more like a buddy-cop adventure in the best way possible. There’s non-stop action throughout it, and the banter between Thia and Dek really lands due to their conflicting personalities but great chemistry. Predator: Badlands gave the Yautja more character, culture and lore than all the other Predator films combined.

A full language and alphabet was developed for the film. Fans got to see the Yautja speak on the big screen for the first time ever, and it sounds incredible. It was developed by professional linguist Britton Watkins, who also created the Na’vi language from Avatar. Most of the movie dialogue is spoken in Yautja, something that Dek’s actor, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, had to learn for the role.

The soundtrack was also fantastic. Composed by Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch, it grabs your attention the second it plays. The thunderous vocals, beating drums and electronic components were masterfully crafted, and “Yautja Prime” has been playing through my earbuds non-stop.

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi (Getty Images)

It was also really interesting seeing the Yautja in a human way, rather than emotionless hunters. Dek struggles, fails and grieves throughout the film, and even smiles in a scene – something that surprisingly, didn’t look as uncanny as it sounds. You feel empathetic towards our protagonist, as well as relate to him.

The movie has seen its fair share of criticism though. Despite the great reviews it received, some fans of the first Predator film felt that they babied this species of legendary hunters and that Trachtenberg’s take on the movies were a mistake. And though I could maybe see where they could be coming from, I find that kind of perspective shallow. The Predator franchise has been down in the dumps since The Predator (2018), the movie which infamously made autism a weapon and superpower.

Doing the same thing over and over again is the definition of insanity. Predator fans finally have a director who not only isn’t afraid of trying new things but can make them work. What the franchise needed was something different, and this is what the film was. There are so many movies about humans being hunted and dying by the hands of a Predator, what we needed was something original.

I loved the film through the small flaws it had, because it wasn’t afraid to be different – and I can’t wait to see what Dan Trachtenberg has planned next.

5/5 stars!

Predator: Badlands Review