Predator Badlands Is a Blast, But Where’s the Bite?
Predator: Badlands pushes the franchise into new terrain under Dan Trachtenberg and Disney—a slick, fun hunt that’s so PG-13 it feels declawed.
Another Predator movie lands, and yes, I went in side-eyeing it. PG-13, extra lore, the works. Still, I ended up having fun with it… just not for the reasons the older movies made me a fan in the first place.
What this one is
The setup is clean: Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a Yautja runt, exiled by his father and desperate to earn his stripes. He heads to Genna, a famously hostile planet where the ultimate trophy is the Kalisk, a quarry the Predators have never quite mastered. Survival forces Dek into an unlikely partnership with a synthetic, Thia (Elle Fanning), who has lost her legs and can’t move without help. The plan: stay alive long enough to claim the Kalisk… unless something even nastier is waiting in the weeds.
How it plays
I’ve been pretty loud about not loving the franchise’s new direction under Dan Trachtenberg. I adored Prey because it felt like a classic Predator hunt. What I didn’t need was a full cultural primer on the creatures. Ridley Scott did that with Alien and the Xenomorphs, and that never fully clicked for me either. But here we are in 2025, where audiences want world-building, and 20th Century/Disney definitely wants a long-running franchise. So yes, this movie gives the Predators language, ritual, and culture.
'This is not your father’s Predator, but if you roll with the shift, it works.'
If you accept that it’s a different flavor, the movie is a good time. If you want the old-school 'unstoppable hunter you barely understand' vibe, this is not that.
The world and the visuals
Genna looks great: a kill-you-just-for-breathing kind of planet where even the plants are out for blood. Dek comes off as surprisingly likable, with CG that sells expression without turning him into a cartoon. More than once it edges toward Avatar energy — not exactly Predator, but it fits what the movie is chasing.
Also, the Alien overlaps are baked in (they’ve been there since Predator 2), and the appearance of Weyland-Yutani synthetics here all but waves a flag for another Alien vs. Predator swing. Fingers crossed they do better than the old ones, because the bar is low.
Elle Fanning pulls double duty
Elle Fanning plays both Thia and a colder counterpart named Tessa. Thia is warm, curious, and quietly longing for her own identity; Tessa is the icy mirror image. If you speak Alien, Thia is the Bishop to Tessa’s David or Ash. Fanning is sharp in both roles and gives the movie some heart it definitely needs.
About that PG-13
Some folks will tell you it 'feels' R because the alien gore pops. I don’t buy that. The tone is clearly built for a younger crowd. Case in point: Dek and Thia pick up a cute sidekick critter they name Bud. It’s a well-executed PG-13, but it’s not aiming for the older Predator faithful. Prey was way gnarlier by comparison.
Will longtime fans vibe with it?
Depends on how welded you are to the originals — which, let’s be honest, have been inconsistent ever since the Schwarzenegger era. From a business angle, trying something new makes sense because the audience shrinks every time they repeat the same beats without him. I made peace with the shift and had a blast.
Bottom line
Predator: Badlands is a slick, younger-leaning spin that trades mystery for mythology. Not my ideal Predator, but it’s a good time if you meet it where it lives. Verdict: Good — 7/10.