BADLANDS is the closest that a PREDATOR film has come to feeling like something in the STAR WARS universe… and I mean that as a compliment. In PREY and KILLER OF KILLERS, the director, Dan Trachtenberg, gives us bloody survival and death match-like action sequences with the Predator always being the antagonist. That’s why it’s so much fun to see this series stretch even further into a strange buddy-comedy action film that steers away from hard-R violence and is more of a popcorn film.
Trachtenberg is an expert at crafting environmental action sequences with flawless camera, editing, and sound design. And despite the lighthearted performance by Elle Fanning as Thia, it’s a highly suspenseful time as the Yautja, Dek, chases after a Kalisk.
Final Thought: PREDATOR: BADLANDS met my expectations. It didn’t wow me like PREY and KILLER OF KILLERS did – but it was still worthy of the big screen and one helluva good time. I’m still all-in on Trachtenberg’s PREDATOR CINEMATIC UNIVERSE, and can’t wait to see where this once-dead IP goes next.
It’s available in theaters.
