You may recall that I reviewed Predator: Killer of Killers when it debuted on Hulu last summer. You may also recall that I said another Predator movie, Predator: Badlands, was coming from the same director, Dan Trachtenberg, in the fall. Guess what? It's fall! They're back, this time on the big screen! Let's get to the review!
The Predators, officially called the Yautja, don't like anybody. According to the opening text, they are "Prey to none. Friend to none. Predator to all." One of them, Njohrr (Rueben de Jong), doesn't even like his own son, a "runt" named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who also dubs daddy dearest). Dek wants to prove himself by hunting the Kalisk, a functionally immortal super beast, on the death planet Genna. Njohrr, instead, orders Dek's big brother Kwei (Mike Homik) to kill him. Kwei rockets Dek off to Genna, which prompts the old man to kill Kwei instead.
On Genna, where almost anything can kill you, Dek finds half of the android Thia (Elle Fanning). Thia, and her twin sister Tessa (also Fanning), were part of an all-android team sent by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to find the Kalisk. She promises to help him find the Kalisk if he can help her find her other half. They meet "Bud" (Rohinal Narayan), an odd gremlin/ape critter, as well as the Kalisk itself. Dek soon goes from wanting to hunt to wanting to save the Kalisk when Tessa shows up.
So, what kind of world is Genna? Well, our first glimpse of it sees one beast after another getting munched on by something bigger. Past that, we have grass as sharp as blades, sentient snake vines, exploding berries, and the nigh-invincible Bone Bison. Many of these hazards are as surprising to Dek as they are to the audience - especially the berries! The highlight, of course, is the Kalisk, who can survive just about anything and everything Dek does. More than a mindless beast, the Kalisk is a wholly sympathetic creature on its own. The visual effects team, as well as production designer Ra Vincent, do a pretty good job creating this strange new world.
Dek is the first Yautja to carry a movie, and he does it pretty well. It's easy to get behind him as we learn about his complicated family life, which becomes more so during the credits. Kwei, who isn't long for this movie, has a decent relationship with Dek, and his death is a good motivator. We're all for Dek to become a worthy Yautja, even if it's not to his father's brutal standards. It's quite intriguing to watch him, whose cinematic predecessors prided themselves as the ultimate warriors, struggle with his environment. It all pays off when, after Tessa confiscates his gear, he creatively compensates with the environment. His digital face is mostly seamless, even if it's a bit obvious around the mandibles.
Things get livelier once Dek's traveling companions enter the picture. Thia is, perhaps, one of the most delightful chatterboxes in film history, and I don't mean it sarcastically. Bud, meanwhile, is an entertaining critter. It's fun to watch their chemistry together, but it becomes compelling once Dek realizes Bud's connection to the Kalisk. Tessa and Thia are another good cinematic double-act, even if most of their screentime has Fanning interact with a double filmed from behind. Tessa is a bit cruel, but compared to Weyland-Yutani and Njohrr, she's pretty difficult to hate. Still, the final battle between Clan Dek and Tessa - the latter in a mega Power Loader - is a pretty cool finale.
What else can I say about it? As cool as the action is, it can get sometimes overwhelming as it rushes through one battle after another. Alan Silvestri's famous theme isn't around, but Benjamin Wallfisch & Sarah Schachner give us a neat score of their own. I think I said enough there.
Predator: Badlands does a good job humanizing Hollywood's most famous space hunters. I mean, aside from mimicking their prey in the first movie, this is the first time I know of that they actually speak their own language. You won't be lost in this 107-minute jungle, even if you daze off during a set piece. The plot is that simple to follow. I'm already interested in seeing Dek's surprise visitor in person in a new movie. And then, maybe a Xenomorph or two. It might happen if enough people set their laser-sights on this movie.
I think that's it.
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