Resurrecting What Once Was A Dead Franchise (Predator Badlands review)

 

At a time when Arnold Schwarzenegger was in almost every action movie, Predator was a classic and fan favorite which went on to become a franchise, a more mind-numbing one compared to their nemesis species, Ridley Scott's Alien. After some trial and error, here comes Dan Trachtenberg resurrecting what once was a dead franchise.

After The Predator in 2018, it was hard to tell that anyone wanted to tackle the extra terrestial hunters that should have stayed in the 80's. But after the acquisition of Fox, Disney attempted to revitalize their new catalogue, and left a lot of people skeptical, especially after Trachtenberg was signed to make Prey. Surprisingly, Prey shot new life to the franchise with the trust of it's new storytellers, breathing new hope to longtime fans and fans who hopped on along the way (such as myself after AVP became a thing). Predator Killer of Killers, an animation marvel, continued to show off more the new vision that Trachtenberg began to incorporate, and excitement for a Predator movie had never been higher. 

Predator Badlands is the first theatrical release of the Trachtenberg-led movies, after previously exclusively airing on Hulu. Now, with a big screen, Trachtenberg has decided to world-build with a movie budget. Badlands is a PG-13 movie, which is surprising because no movie in the franchise has ever gone down from an R rating, excluding the AVP movies, of course. Is that a sign of this franchise being Disney-fied? A simple answer can be yes. Badlands has enough to consider it very different from the rest of the franchise. But this is merely a technicality for that it is still a brutal, action-packed predator adventure, but the lack of human blood is what gets away with it, because CGI-animal blood isn't likely to make a grown man nauseous apparently. 

What makes it Disney-fied is the many ideas that are introduced. One of them is the main plot which focuses entirely on the point of view of a Yautja warrior, reminiscent of what Disney has been prone to doing with their villains. The Predator has been an antagonist of each of it's films, but it is not surprising that with the interesting new liberties Trachtenberg has been taking with the franchise, he is managing to pull off whatever he has been playing with so far. 

It follows similar story beats to the any of the previous films, of what the journey the protagonist - this time around, Dek - goes through. It can be argued that these are similar towards the protagonists that Trachtenberg himself have been fleshing out. Although familiar, it is interesting to see through the eyes of a Yautja youngster who aims to please his Dad his worth as a Predator. From making new Yautja designs to seeing them emote and talk, this movie manages to shine a light on what fans have only relied on by pulling on threads and breadcrumbs the other films merely glance on. 

But with including such ideas, it can also ruin the mystery for others or just bring out the haters for no absolute reason or considered it 'woke'. Watch it and let me know, I guess. What can be considered 'Disney-fied' pulls inspiration from other franchise movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, for it's weird creature designs, and somewhat cartoony characters. Elle Fanning's Thia is included in the latter, with her interactions with Dek, and her very obvious connection to the Alien franchise. It all becomes very clear the minute she shows up on screen that not only is the movie aiming for a potential (second attempt) at a crossover but can be bogged down by the intentions of making this a PG film. 

However, I also see these inclusions for it's good reasons, such as introducing a new YOUNGER audience to the Predator franchise, and have Dads talking about Predators and Xenomorphs the way they would for Star Wars. Despite what can be a concern for the general public checking out the movie, I actually liked it. Yes, it was different and it did catch me off guard, considering I spent the last week rewatching the previous films, I went in expecting something similar or at least a heightened version of what we are used to. It may not be the best of the Trachtenberg reinvigoration of the franchise, but it was still a good time at the cinema, whatever premium format you may choose. 

Safe to say, that the Predator franchise has something to say these days. I was happy to walk in a screening full of people who were laughing (yes, this movie has it's charm and humor to it) with the movie and not at it. It's a popcorn movie, with pretty good visuals and I hope fans catch it this weekend. And guess what? You can bring your kid in with you because it can be that kind of movie.