Sunday, November 9. There’s a cold wind outside. I walk into the massive Edwards theater in Greenway Plaza to pay for a ticket for a movie I’m not that interested in. 19 dollars rounded down is what it cost. I cursed myself for paying the price, but I went on anyway. I make my way to theater 18, and I sit down. I sit through the most mind numbing and boring trailers (except Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) ) and as the trailers go on, my face is one of no feeling. I can’t remember the last time I felt this way.
Predator: Badlands (2025) is not the usual type of movie that I enjoy anymore. I’ve noticed my taste straying away from most pop films in the past year or so, with me only watching them as a social experience with friends. The Predator franchise has not ticked me the right way in many years, thinking of Prey (2022) as just some one off fluke. This was a rare occasion for me, and one I embarked on alone. I fully embraced the probability that I wouldn’t enjoy this. Thankfully though, I was just a little grumpy from the weather.
Badlands strays from all of its predecessors in the form of its melodrama. A family filled with pride and violence, a predator who hasn’t earned its iconic invisibility cloak, and a quest for revenge. The scenes of Yautja Prime depict a barren world, where a very toxic society takes hold. One where a father might be inclined to kill his weakest son.
Dek, one of the two leads, seeks to prove himself after so much of what he values is taken away. Throughout the picture though, we can see his mindset of being an apex predator slowly vanish, being replaced by an appreciation for bonds with others. This development takes place via the assistance of a talkative android (depicted by Elle Fanning) and a new tiny creature, one that gives a familiar feeling (it’s a “Baby Yoda like”). This movie, while flowing with silliness and near stupidity, also offers a subtextual look at the titular predator that has never seen before throughout the mythos.
While having somewhat shoddily edited action and a poor look at times, this movie is something that a lot of people can resonate with. It’s at least one that I had a good time at. Sometimes that’s all you can ask of a motion picture.
