Starring: Elle Fanning | Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Released: 2025
Rating: ★★★
A brave attempt to get inside the head of a Predator, instead of the other way around, that doesn’t entirely work. I’m not sure we want to know their motivations and worries; the appeal of Predator is the same as Alien: these are universe-class nigh-unstoppable creatures. That’s all we need to know.
Badlands' opening quote prepares the way for the film to follow that same relentless path:
Yautja are prey to none,
Friend to none,
Predator to all.
Ok! Let’s go! Alas after an epic opening fight suddenly we find that they are (sometimes) friends to their family, prey to their family, and predators to most. Uh. And the unravelling continues as, turns out, they can also be friends to androids? And cute furry four-legged friends?
And instead of relentlessness, Badlands introduces…Predator humour? And smiley-happy Androids (from the Alien universe: the cross-over has interesting implications) and the aforementioned JarJar, sorry, furry baby beast.
I gave this three stars but now I’m wondering why.