From the other Predator movie I had previously seen, I was expecting the usual Predator formula here too.... An invisible being begins hunting down the humans, and one by one, they are taken away until someone finds a way to survive.
Cearly the Writter an Director said, "Yeah... OK... Lets do something totally different this time.
This is the first time that the main character is the Predator.
Which is surprising because I enjoyed it.
The film is about Dek, a young Predator that is treated more like a weakling in his clan. His father does not think him worthy, and following a vicious battle, Dek is banished to a perilous world where he intends to prove himself by hunting a creature that is practically considered to be untouchable.
I really felt sorry for Dek, I can't believe I would say that about a Predator.
Typically, they are the fearsome predators. They're the thing you should be afraid of... But here we are following one of them and really seeing the things from his perspective... You'll learn about his struggles, his family and why it takes him so much to prove himself.
He meets Thia..... Thia is a man-made android and is essentially the exact opposite of Dek. She is friendly, curious and much more interested in knowing things, whereas Dek is pre-occupied with hunting and proving his strength.
I loved their relationship, one half being a Predator and one half being an android.
I didn't think I'd end up caring about their friendship, but as the film proceeded their friendship became more and more a part of me.
Elle Fanning was also really good. She's really a lot of personality for Thia, given that a lot of Dek's emotions have to be expressed in physical acting and body language, as he's a Predator, after all. Many of the good reviews have also credited their chemistry as one of the film's great assets.
This was another huge part of the reason I liked this.
Some pretty badass looking fights in this film.
It's the planet's inhabitants are totally mad and pretty much anything appears to want to kill something else. The movement is physical and brutal but is not difficult to follow. I felt no like the camera was moving around solely to make the fight look more intense.
And Dek is a lot of fun to watch.
He is equipped with all the Predator arms you would find, but he's using them as the protagonist is very different. Don't mistake the action and the hunting for a sudden shift in the Predator's character, either, as there's still plenty of them.
He's still a Predator.
He's still dangerous.
This time, he's just... our Predator.
I also much enjoyed the planet itself. I think one feature I liked best was the world building, so I'm not sure. Dek and Thia are being attacked and threatened by weird creatures, harmful plants and everything else. Makes the entire area feel like a massive survival game.
But come on, I don't mind seeing more of this world.
However, there are a few things that I dislike about the film.
Which is probably the largest of them all, it does not seem to be as frightening as the older Predator films.
I get why,
It's hard to make Predator a scary figure when you're urging us to cheer for him.
The original movie succeeded because Arnold and the others were not aware of what they were facing. This mysterious animal lurked in the jungle, watching them, and slowly, picking them off one by one, one by one, was the Predator.
Here, we already know Dek.
We understand him.
We're following him.
So some of that mystery has been erased.
I also believe that the story isn't that complicated. In a nutshell, a young outcast struggling to prove his worth in a very dangerous world and an even more dangerous enemy. This is not going to be a very complicated thing, with all ten twists, but it works.
However the simplicity was not a problem for me.
There's a time for everything, and sometimes simple is good.
I really liked how this movie actually did give the Predator some personality without taking away too much of his coolness.
There was a strong possibility that it could have been a disaster.
But a film in which the Predator is the protagonist doesn't sound like it should succeed.
It kind of does, though.
There are definitely folk who will not like this means. I can see where you're coming from. If you are a fan of the Predator of the original movie, and all its spooky and scary aspects, this may be a little too soft or different. Some have complained precisely that, saying that if the Predator is made human, he ceases to be a special character.
Personally, I liked the change.
Since all those films, I feel like we needed something new and Dan Trachtenberg appears to be that person. He's not just looking to repeat the same Predator story after Prey, is he? Badlands leans into its character in other ways, but keeps providing fans the weapons, creatures, fights, and brutal action they were expecting.
I was quite taken aback at the end by my affection for Dek.
I was going to watch the film and say, "Okay, let's see what they do with this.
Afterwards, I was like, “Okay... I want more of this guy.”
I would say, I think that's the best compliment I can give the movie.
Badlands isn't like previous Predator films. It's not a matter of a man being hunted for sport, but rather a Predator attempting to understand himself, to prove his value and to find someone he can trust.
It's different.
It's weird.
It can sometimes be very amusing.
But, quite honestly, it has more heart than I would have thought for a Predator movie.
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Rating: 80/100
