Predator: Badlands

Everything has a MOTHER

Right off the bat, Predator Badlands (2025) hits us with an almost ridiculous amount of Star Wars aesthetics. The setting, the atmosphere, even a sword that lights up red. At that point, I already had a pretty good idea of where this was going.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

For the first time in the franchise, we get to experience the story from the perspective of a Predator. That's a refreshing and welcome change, and one that opens up quite a few possibilities for exploring their culture.

There's one rather unusual decision, though. The Predators now speak a language we can understand through subtitles, something we haven't really seen in the previous movies. It feels a little strange at first, considering how mysterious these creatures have always been. But I understand why they went with it. Watching an entire movie about a Predator interacting with his tribe, without understanding any of it, would probably get old rather quickly.

So I'll let that slide. I actually want to understand what's happening within their society, how they interact, and what motivates them.

What's interesting is how quickly the movie establishes the Predator's code of honour. We're barely into the story, and their traditions, hierarchy, and expectations are already being explored more directly than in any previous installment. The movie wastes no time explaining what it means to be a Predator, at least within this particular tribe.

About twenty minutes in, I'm already sold on the premise. A young Predator, struggling to survive on a ridiculously hostile planet where practically everything wants to kill him? Yes, please.

The initial fight sequences are well executed, and the environment itself feels genuinely dangerous. The storytelling works surprisingly well here. The world, its creatures, and the challenges are introduced naturally through the character's experiences. Nothing feels particularly forced, and I appreciate that.

Another interesting decision is how the movie incorporates elements of the Alien universe without actually bringing in the Alien itself.

Weyland-Yutani makes an appearance, although I couldn't quite establish where exactly we are in the timeline. The company's technology looks considerably more futuristic than what we've seen before. Its synthetic soldiers are ridiculously capable, coordinated, fast, strong, and essentially superhuman. But that applies only when the narrative needs it. They become fodder when necessary for the plot.

I expected the movie to introduce humans, or at least something resembling them, eventually. What I didn't expect was for that part of the story to work as well as it does.

The main supporting characters are two female androids, portrayed by the same actress, both connected to Weyland-Yutani. The acting is... fine, I suppose. Nothing particularly impressive, but nothing outright terrible either. Think Star Wars Episode VII onwards. That general level of performance where the actors do their jobs, but you rarely find yourself particularly impressed by any of it. You just see actors acting and not a natural seemless scene.

Now, there's something here that could have gone very wrong.

We have two highly capable female androids alongside a male Predator who, by his species' standards, is practically a weakling. You can probably see why I was a little concerned about where this was heading.

The movie does push that contrast quite hard, occasionally to the point of annoyance. It comes dangerously close to the tired Hollywood obsession with making female characters superior to their male counterparts simply for the sake of it.

Fortunately, it mostly stays on the acceptable side of that line. The androids have a perfectly reasonable explanation for their abilities, and the Predator's weakness is an established part of his character and his personal struggle. The dynamic actually serves the story, but barely.

Besides, I appreciate the decision to use female androids. The synthetic characters we've been most familiar with throughout the Alien movies have generally been male, so seeing female models in prominent roles is a welcome addition. It makes sense that Weyland-Yutani would manufacture androids with different appearances and body types. The unfortunate part about this is that the rest of the synth android army is male and it's a single actor, which mostly defeats any of my defenses towards the choices.

And honestly, the Predators themselves are the best-presented characters in the entire movie.

Their personalities, body language, and interactions are convincing, despite how heavily the film relies on CGI to portray them.

Speaking of CGI, it looks seriously good.

The creatures, environments, and action sequences are consistently convincing. Even the more exaggerated elements of the planet manage to fit the setting without looking completely ridiculous. Considering how much of the movie depends on digital effects, that's quite an achievement.

Another thing I appreciated was the apparent lack of acknowledgment of the horrendous Prometheus and Alien: Covenant movies, aside from some similarities in the modernized visual designs. I'm perfectly happy with that. The less this movie reminds me of those two, the better.

What it does borrow from the broader Alien universe, however, is the familiar concept of a supposedly "broken" synthetic being, an android developing human emotions.

We've seen variations of this idea before, but Badlands puts it to good use. The emotional development actually has a purpose within the story, and the connection between the Predator's personal struggle and the android's unusual behaviour works rather well.

I was pleasantly surprised by how naturally these elements fit together. There's an actual reason for these characters to interact, and their relationship develops without requiring too many ridiculous coincidences.

Good job!

Unfortunately, there's one thing that repeatedly gets on my nerves, and it's something modern filmmakers seem almost incapable of resisting.

The humour. Dear God, the humour. 

Why does every serious movie nowadays feel obligated to throw in cheap jokes at the most inappropriate moments?

We're watching a supposedly dangerous, hostile world where survival is difficult, violence is brutal, and the characters are constantly facing potentially fatal situations. And then someone decides it's the perfect opportunity for a silly pun.

It's not even particularly funny. 

The movie keeps trying to lighten the mood, often right when the atmosphere is finally getting somewhere. It completely undermines the tension. Just when I'm starting to get immersed in the danger of the situation, another attempt at comedy reminds me that I'm watching a Hollywood blockbuster desperately trying to entertain everyone at once.

Humour can absolutely work in a horror or thriller. But timing matters, and so does restraint. A well-placed joke can be effective. Constantly interrupting serious scenes with cheap attempts is seriously just bad.

I genuinely wish filmmakers would learn to let serious moments remain serious.

This is easily my biggest complaint about Badlands, and it costs the movie quite a bit in my eyes. The setting and premise have enough going for them without this unnecessary comedy constantly interfering.

And, of course, the movie ends with a cliffhanger of sorts.

It's a fairly cheap one, clearly intended to leave the door open for a sequel. I can't say I was particularly impressed by how they handled it, but at least it suggests there's more of this story to explore.

Overall, Predator: Badlands is a surprisingly decent addition to the franchise.

I appreciate the change in perspective, the exploration of Predator society, and the decision to put one of these creatures in a situation where it's no longer the most dangerous thing around. The hostile planet is a good setting, the CGI is excellent, and the connections to the Alien universe are handled better than I expected.
The story itself is fairly straightforward, and the acting isn't anything special. But the characters have understandable motivations, their relationships make sense, and the movie generally knows what it wants to accomplish.

If only it could stop trying to be funny every five minutes.
There's a good Predator movie here, and for most of its runtime, I enjoyed what it was doing. I just wish it had trusted its own atmosphere enough to take itself seriously.

Oh yea, and the sound effects were great, but similarly to the new StarWars series, it just lacks the punch. Music/Ambiance in the movie had little to no say, it was unnoticeable mostly.