Predator: Badlands

Predator, as a franchise, has long been a challenged one. Up until the past few years, it has never had the benefit of a consistent guiding hand. It has endured (some would say suffered) constant reinvention and creative pivots, starting with its first sequel, that failed to capture what made the first movie so beloved. In fact, it is safe to say that it is a franchise that has perpetuated in spite of an ability to produce a movie even half as good as the original. Yes, it is common for the first movie to be the best one -- everything from Alien to Elm Street to The Godfather proves that -- but almost every other series has some sequels worth watching, and some that even hold their own against the original. Predator could never. And then Dan Trachtenberg was handed the keys, and suddenly, we have a Predator-sance. Prey finally corrected course, putting the galaxy's ultimate hunter against a Native American woman looking to prove herself as good a hunter as her brother. Killer of Killers told three short stories, dropping Yautja into tales of revenge, warring brothers, and a soldier looking to prove his value. It wasn't that Trachtenberg was changing setting or time period -- Predators and The Predator did the same thing -- but it was that he remembered a good story needed to go along with it. So for his third go-around, he flipped the script; the Yautja, always the antagonist, was now the protagonist, and he would be accompanied by a dismembered android that liked to talk and tell jokes. A narrative gamble, for sure. I've seen quite a few different opinions on this, and the negative ones all amount to "this isn't a Predator movie". Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but to them I have a question: "says who?". Why must a Predator movie follow a rigid formula? The original Predator isn't exactly Citizen Kane as far as intelligence level; it's a bunch of muscle-bound soldiers getting whittled down by an unseen enemy. It's practically a slasher movie, and the movies didn't get any smarter from there. There's plenty of room for Predator to try new things, like exploring deeper themes and trying its hand at comedy. Enter Predator: Badlands. It's by no means original -- the concept of found family, not being beholden to family because of blood, honor, pride, self-esteem -- but it's not always about originality. It's about execution. Dek, the Yautja protagonist trying to kill a beast that is considered unkillable, is basically cast out of home for being a runt, and he is fighting to prove he isn't. Thia, an android that has a twin named Tessa, is trying to get back to her "sister", but has grown so much in being stranded, she's too individualized and too far removed from Tessa's basic programming. Badlands is all about how these two grow out of their situations, learning about themselves and what makes a family beyond having a similar origin point. Yes, it's a plot point done to death, but it's done well here, and I'm not going to pretend it isn't. There's plenty of carnage for those looking for what drives a Predator movie, and even though sometimes the CGI can get a little creaky, it's still fun, and the world is inventive. There's some serious imagination on display here. And moreover, this movie is FUN. The most fun since the first movie, really. The humor isn't Monty Python, but if it was, it would be glaringly out of place. The humor is quick and situational and never breaks the movie's stride. Elle Fanning is delightful as the wide-eyed, relentlessly positive Thia (and gets to be the robotic and uncaring Tessa, too, and pulls it off), cracking little jokes here and there and lightening the mood when it needs to happen. More impressive here is Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who plays Dek. Despite being buried under make-up and prosthetics, he puts in a strong physical performance, giving Dek actual character besides "hunter" just through physicality. There's no need to go into deep analysis of a movie like this. A Predator movie has one requirement: have fun. The fun can come from pure action like the original, crazy spectacle like Killer of Killers, or the action-comedy route like Badlands. Dan Trachtenberg's re-invigoration of the series has been nothing short of extraordinary, and with Badlands, he's gone 3/3. I can't wait to see where he goes next.