Predator: Badlands is a good action-adventure movie but it left me dissatisfied

The original Predator movie from 1987 is a movie that while it may not always be at the top of my head and something I remember, when I do think about it, it gives me a good feeling and makes me go “Man that was such a good movie”. A movie that is pure action and testosterone, but one that is also more than that. I think one day I will write about that movie and everything about it that made it so good and enjoyable. Unfortunately, not all good things in life last. the Predator franchise has had its up and downs, with the lowest being The Predator from 2018, a garbage movie terrible in every way, with its biggest sin being that it messed with the lore and tarnished the name and the franchise. That movie made me lose hope and wish that no other Predator movies are made so that I can be spared the pain and disappointment. This was until 2022, when a movie called Prey was released for streaming. I had heard about the movie but I did not follow the news or any updates or details about the movie. When it came out, a lot of positive feedback started circulating the internet, and it was this that encouraged me to give the movie a chance. The movie was not perfect, but at the very least it felt like a Predator movie, which is more than I can say for trash movie that was The Predator. It was a competent movie that showed me a good Predator movie is still possible and that not all hope is lost. Then there was the animated movie Predator: Killer of Killers that came out earlier this year. While more flawed and had a lot of convenient things happening and plot armour, it did something that I had always been interested in seeing more of, the culture of the Yautja. It is no surprise that I was really excited then when I learned that the next movie, Predator: Badlands, was not going to be set on Earth and instead centred around a predator with a story that incorporates the Yautja and how they live. The plot of the movie is rather simple and one that I was able to more or less deduce from the first trailer. The protagonist of Predator: Badlands is a Yautja, called Dek, that is shunned from his clan due to being the weakest member. Now, to prove himself strong and get his revenge, he must hunt the most fearsome prey he can find and return with its trophy. Along the way he comes along a Wayland—Yutani synth, Thia, that would accompany him on his journey.

Your opinion about the movie is gonna be based on what your expectations were and what you wanted to see. I myself was entertained well enough by the movie, but there were quite a few things that I didn’t get to see and some other things that I was hoping I wouldn’t. For starters, this is a PG-13 movie while Prey was Rated R. A predator movie should be Rated R in my opinion, the blood and gore is part of what makes the Yautja menacing and intimidating. Even though there are no humans in this movie, the combat and fight scenes do not hit the same. For example, when the Yautja kills a beast, the blood is never bright red and the details of the cuts and anatomies of the body parts are not very clear and vague. You can make the argument that of course creatures from other plantes are gonna have different blood colours and so on, but it doesn’t make up for the type of stuff you would see in the Rated R Predator movies. It is clear that Disney wanted a wider audience to be able to see the movie and hence the PG rating.

The tone of the movie takes a hit from this direction as well. I thought that we would simply follow the Dek and Thia as Dek learns to adapts to its new surrounding and become a real hunter. This is till there and it is done well. Dek takes advantage of its preys to try to even the odds when he is at a disadvantage. After all a hunter must understand its prays in order to hunt them effectively. But that is not all. I was thinking that the Synth companion would be just that, someone that happens to end up in the Yautja’s path and is then taken for the ride as she will probably has her uses. This is the case as Dek initially sees Thia as a tool to be used in his hunt, but there is more to this synth. She has her own reasons for being on that planet and has her own goals for tagging along with the Yautja. This is good and I appreciated how there were trying to add more depth to this relationship between them. What I don’t appreciate it the personality they gave her, they decided to make her the witty, funny companion that doesn’t shut up most of the time. In addition to her, a small creature will join them along the way as it takes a liking to Dek. This small creature does have a purpose that is revealed later in the movie, but it too serves as comedic relief. This made it feel like a buddy adventure movie as the characters are very casual when it comes to the planet and its creatures. You forget that they planet they are on is supposed to be a death trap, even for experienced Yautja. There is no tension and no suspense. It lacks the moments where you hold you breath and are uncertain of what comes next, the type of moments that were in the better movies of the franchise.

Even though I didn’t get that, the adventure itself is good. It is well-paced, there are only few downtimes but other than those the plot and characters are constantly moving forwards. There are things that are set up and have their payoff later in the movie as a surprise. While the comedy can be too much, there are some jokes here and there that get a giggle out of me and make me laugh, so at least not all of it falls flat. What the movie was presenting to me was not what I had expected, but it kept me entertained. The worst thing a movie can do is be boring and make me feel like I am wasting my time, which was not the case here.

That said, there is another decision the movie makes that I was not onboard with. Yautja, while they live in clans, are solitary hunters. Your worth in the clan is based on your strength and what qualities you can bring to the table. Dek initially believes that feelings are a weakness and that you should not be reliant on others or be slowed down by them. As the movie goes on, Thia and the occurring events challenge his beliefs and plant the seeds of doubt as to whether real strength comes from being alone or if it comes from protecting those you care about. Again this is fine and adds conflict to the main character and what he thinks is right, something that is often an essential part of a movie, but I did not want to see it in a Predator movie. I wanted the Yautja and their culture explored, but not this way; I didn’t want the first Yautja protagonist in a Predator movie to be going against his ideals and tradition. Furthermore, this conflict gives way to a lot of conversations between Dek and Thia. The Yautja are very talkative in this movie and I don’t know I feel about that. Of course I didn’t expect them to be mute, but I had always thought of the creatures of few words and let their actions do the talking. I was hoping the movie would use visual story telling to represent the Yautja and how the function but that is very much so not the case. The fact that the Yautja would be having conversations meant that their faces must be animated in a way to express different emotions and feelings in a much wider range compared to previous movies. The CGI and animation of the Yautja faces were inconsistent, sometimes you’d buy it without a problem and other times something would be off about the textures or subtle movements of the different parts of their faces.

While the faces might be inconsistent, the overall animation of the Yautja was good. Same thing can be said for the general looks of the movie and the visual effects. There are some shots are actually even more than good, almost artistic but those are very few. Nevertheless the movie looks good. The fight scenes are pretty good too, they are exciting and make good use of the Yautja arsenal and the monsters and the environment. While I was hoping the fights against the monsters would feel more visceral, the designs of the monsters themselves was actually good and they were creative with what type of creatures you would find in such a hostile environment.

With all its good and bads, I was having a decent time with this movie until the finale, emphasis on that part. Because they way the movie ended left me frustrated to be honest. I can’t pin point exactly what but it was very unsatisfying to me. Not only did it feel sudden, but it seem that the movie was more concerned with just wrapping up this story and setting up a possible sequel and continuation. The ending of the movie left a sour taste in my mouth and tipped the scales in the negative direction regarding my thoughts on the movie.

In the end, I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the movie as a whole. It is a competently told story with decent action and pace that keeps you invested. Yet, it was simply not what I actually wanted to see. My head was bursting with imagination as to what they would possibly do, but they ended up playing it safe and molding every aspect of the movie in that way. It feels like an action-adventure movie with a pain of Predator. It is clearly set in the Predator/Alien universe, but I just couldn’t help shake the feeling that they had lost a lot of potential when it comes to a proper incorporation of those elements. To me personally, this is a step back from Prey, another down in the up-and-down craziness that is the Predator franchise.