There’s nothing wrong with a shift…sideways?

In theatres now; Predator: Badlands is a solid little effort that spins some of standards of the franchise on its ear while still staying true to the canon of it all.

In the future on a remote planet, a young Predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Elle Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.

Ultimately, Predator: Badlands is a solid entry into the franchise but its gentle pivot into PG-13 territory ends up polishing the franchise’s sharp teeth to the point that it barely breaks the skin.

Co-Writer/Director Dan Trachtenberg is in firm control of this universe on now his 3^rd entry into the franchise with Prey & the animated Predator: Killer of Killers from earlier this year coming before it.

With a strong script that quite literally flips the narrative and turns our Predator into a sympathetic character, there’s more than enough going on here to allow audiences to turn off their brains and enjoy the ride but it ultimately comes with a cost that takes things down a notch.  The vicious hunter is now a fully fleshed out individual that we feel empathy for and that kind of takes the carnage of the franchise out of the equation

He’s played deftly enough by young actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who handles the physicality of it all admirably but it leaves us in peculiar territory that is hard to ignore.  As he crash lands on this mysterious planet in search of the ultimate prey to take back to his clan, this plays more like a morality play with a young man coming into his own learning that the things he wants most in life might not actually be worth the cost or even make him happy.

Joining him on the ride is Elle Fanning as Thia who is channeling the “eccentric partner” in classic buddy cop comedy mode, and it actually works.  She gets a fair amount of moments to not only to crack wise about any given situation that they are in but also to build the bridge and make us genuinely care about these two as they navigate the pitfalls of the planet in search of their prey.

The action pieces are more than solid as the production threw the bulk of the budget on the screen and when you drop some tasty universe building nuggets throughout the narrative (Wayland-Yutani anyone?) it makes Predator: Badlands an entertaining enough affair but there’s just one thing this film can’t shake.

Had this been the movie that went straight to Disney+ during COVID over the more adult Prey which really deserved a proper theatrical run fans would have been overjoyed.  Predator: Badlands is a fun action ride that opens it up to a wider audience and gives the franchise a place to go in future installments which is always important, but it’s not necessarily the movie the hard core fans of the franchise wanted either.