A++?
Yeah, I’m as surprised as anyone. And this A++ rating isn’t just based on great action/fight sequences, which were fantastic. No, I’m giving this an A++ because it’s a great story. It has character development, plenty of humor, surprising reveals, internal and external character conflict. This is simply a great story that hits all the right marks.
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Action
Let’s start with the obvious. The main reason everyone goes to see a Predator movie is for the action. And this movie doesn’t disappoint. The movie opens with action and ends with action and there’s plenty in between. But at no point did I think during the action scenes that there was too much or that it was dragging on. That’s because every action scene tells its own story. This is the hardest thing to get right in an action movie. In too many action movies, the fight scenes are just action-porn. They are meant to impress the viewer with the character’s abilities and serve little or no other purpose. A better action scene is one where we learn a non-physical characteristic about a character. This is often something about the character’s perseverance. And that’s true of the action scenes in Predator: Badlands, but it’s much more than that. And some of the meaning in the action sequences isn’t obvious until later in the movie.
Acting
It’s sad that great acting in action movies often goes unnoticed. I get the sense that the label of great acting is reserved for specific genres and scenes of intense anguish. If you ask me, great acting is anytime an actor communicates without using words. It’s the little things, like narrowing the eyes just the right amount to convey a sense of distrust, or subtly relaxing the facial muscles to reveal shock. There are countless scenes in this movie where the actors communicate without using dialogue. Both Elle Fanning as Thia/Tessa and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Dek (Predator) display great acting skill. And special props have to be given to the Fx crew for the mouth effects for Dek. Dimitrius did a great job expressing with his eyes, and the Fx crew used the unique Predator mouth to show expressions as well. Someone give these people an award.
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Story
Great acting and action scenes are pointless if there’s not a story behind it, pushing the narrative forward. And this story is fantastic. There is internal and external conflict and profound character growth. This is where I don’t want to give anything away for those who haven’t seen it yet, but all of the characters have a character arc that are perfectly intertwined. My favorite is when the teacher learns from their own lessons.
Humor
I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud. It was a bunch. Not roaring laughter, but great situational humor, and it was never forced. None of the funny scenes were when someone was trying to be funny. Right now I’m silently laughing inside just thinking about some of the funny scenes. I really can’t wait to watch this again.
Connective Tissue
This is one of the gems of this movie and it’s why I wanted to watch it again as soon as it ended. There are short moments early in the movie that don’t seem important, but connect to the end of the movie. The characters and situations are layered and connected to each other. This is what happens when someone takes a good idea and polishes it. I’ve complained about this in too many reviews to count, but I see too many movies that have real potential, but the script just wasn’t quite ready. That’s because sometimes we get a movie like Predator: Badlands with a script that is as sharp as a Yautja’s blade.
Grade: A++
These are the best Peetimes I could uncover in this movie that is riddled with more meaning in scenes than might first be apparent.
The 2nd Peetime is easily the best. The others will do in a pinch.
There are no extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of Predator: Badlands.
| Rated: | () Strong Sci-Fi Violence |
| Genres: | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi |
| USA release date: | 2025-11-05 |
| Movie length: | |
| Starring: | Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Rohinal Nayaran, Michael Homick, Stefan Grube |
| Director: | Dan Trachtenberg |
| Writer(s): | Patrick Aison |
| Language: | en |
| Country: | US |
Plot
Cast out from his clan, a young Predator finds an unlikely ally in a damaged android and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
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Aspiring author. Would like to finish his “Zombie Revelations” trilogy if he could break away for working on RunPee and the cottage he’s building for RunPee Mom.