Predator: Badlands
Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator universe expands with his third film, Predator: Badlands, and in my opinion, it’s his best yet. Prey felt like a TV movie, and since Killer of Killers was a multi-chapter story, the quality level varied, but Badlands is a legitimate, feature length action film, made for the big screen, and it looked AWESOME! The planet and character designs are incredible, and the action sequences were really slick. While this movie, is plagued a bit from MCU-style “cute humor”, where dramatic moments are often undercut by a joke, which while it may be funny, sort of takes you out of the scene, and detracts from the darker tone of the universe. But that gripe, aside, this is very fun, and I hope Trachtenberg makes as many of these as he wants to.
-Z
I didn’t enjoy Prey and Killer of Killers as much as everyone else it seems, so my expectations for this were a bit low, but I was pleasantly surprised! With very few characters on the screen, it really is impressive how action-packed it feels. Elle Fanning does a fantastic acting job here that really elevated the mood of this movie for me. Genuinely excited to see where this franchise goes next!
-E
It has been a long time since I have felt this way about a blockbuster. I was wanting an action filled movie that was on the nose and looked cool, and boy did this deliver. I will tell anyone how I cannot believe Predator exists after the original being terrible, but this was really fun. I will continue to watch these and am genuinely excited to see where it goes. Overall, it is what it is, but I really think it hit!
-J
