With so many franchises that Hollywood has produced over the last several decades, there’s a good number that I not as not caught up with as I should be. One in particular that is pretty well known since its debut in the 1980s is The Predator franchise. Full disclosure: I’m not 100% sure if I’ve seen Predator (1987) from beginning to end, but I do know several quotes from it such as, “Dillion! You son of a B****!” and “GET TO THE CHOPPA!!!” so hopefully that counts for something. One I definitely remember seeing was the 2018 film The Predator. While it wasn’t as bad as the trailers made it seem, it was still pretty mediocre film. At that point, I was basically going to give up on the franchise itself, but then I saw Prey (2022) and I thought it was one of the best streaming films I’ve seen. Indeed, it made me wonder why it wasn’t given a theatrical release? Fortunately, Prey did impress some people who distributed it via Hulu and now we’re getting a new entry from the same director, Dan Trachtenberg, called Predator: Badlands.

One detail that I forgot to mention in my previous paragraph is that between Prey and Predator: Badlands, there was another film released by the same director about five months prior to Predator: Badlands, which was Predator: Killer of Killers. Instead of being live action, it’s an animated anthology film that connects three different characters from three different stories at the end of the film, which I thought was an amazing change of pace of the franchise. The one major difference between Predator: Badlands and Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers is that Predator: Badlands is rated PG-13. This contrasts with the R rating that the other films have received. Don’t get me wrong, a PG-13 reading isn’t a total dealbreaker and I’m not someone that craves blood and gore. However, the series is known for its violent content.

In Predator: Badlands, which is told through the title character’s perspective, we follow Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young Yautja (the species also known as the Predators) who is described as the runt of his clan but wants to prove himself. For those who are unaware, the Yautja are a race of hunters/killers who view kindness, sympathy, and forgiveness as a sign of weakness and not fit for the standards of one’s own clan. One day, Dek meets his brother Kwei (Mike Homik), and after a “friendly” sparring match, he then prepares Dek for a hunt (their species right of passage) as a way of honoring not only their clan, but their father as well. While going through the selections of potential prey, Dek chooses the Kalisk, which is a unkillable apex predator that even their father is afraid of. Despite Kwei warning his brother not to pursue such a creature, Dek insists on going after the beast. Yet, as soon as they prepare to go to the planet where their target is located, they get a unexpected surprise: their father Njohrr (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), who happens to be the apex predator of their clan, orders Kwei to kill Dek because of how weak he is and how he is unable to survive on his own. Refusing to do so results in Njohrr killing Kwei though before his life is taken, he manages to get Dek on his ship and activates it to take him to Genna, the home of the unkillable apex predator. After crash landing on Genna, Dek gathers what little he has from Kwei’s arsenal inside the ship. However, while prepping, he is attacked by vicious root vines that outnumber him, forcing him to flee from his post. After that, Dek discovers many dangerous obstacles such as exploding bugs and plants that shoot out paralyzing spikes. While confronting the latter, Dek runs into Thia (Elle Fanning), Weyland-Yutani Corporation synthetic (a corporation/product from the Alien franchise). Her and her crew happen to confront a Kalisk. She is severely damaged in the attack, leaving her without her lower torso and legs. Thia strikes a deal with Dek to help him find the Kalsik, and in exchange, Thia will get back her lower body. Dek agrees to the deal though he only sees Thia as a tool, and from there the two embark on a perilous journey where Dek will not only get his trophy, put prove his worth in his clan as a way to avenge his brother’s death.  

As of this review (early November 2025), I have seen at least over a hundred newly released films and a good majority of them had a predictable outcome. In other words, my assumptions most often prove correct, but I still view them out of curiosity or to see if I was wrong. It’s kind of like watching a professional football game knowing a given team will lose but you still watch because something unpredictable might happen. When it came to Predator: Badlands, however, I had a hunch that it was going to be really good and guess what? It was!

As you could already tell from one of my earlier paragraphs, I am not an expert when it comes to the Predator franchise, and I won’t pretend to be. With seven Predator films that have produced (nine if you count the crossover films Alien vs. Predator (2004) and 2007’s Alien vs. Predator Requiem), there are others that can better explain the mythos of the Predator franchise better than me. I will, however, say that one of the reasons why I think this is one of the best Predator of the lot is how this one is presented. If you ever wanted to watch any of the others in the series but was intimidated by there being nine movies to view and/or thought it was too gory, lucky for you, Predator: Badlands is the perfect film to start. Much like Predator: Killer of Killers, the whole franchise itself is one big anthology with different Predators in each, all of them being unique. Predator: Badlands feels like a first entry as it gives background on not only the characters, but the species of the Predators that most people (including myself) will appreciate. Before watching it, I would have never thought I would have sympathy for a Predator character because most of the time, with the exception of Alien vs. Predator, I’m often rooting against them. In Predator: Badlands, I wanted to see Dek accomplish his mission, not because I wanted our “hero” to succeed, but to avenge his brother who spared his life and sacrificed his in the process.

While I was watching Predator: Badlands, I was thinking about how I was going to spin this through a Catholic lens. It wasn’t until I was thinking about it while I was at work the next morning that it occurred to me that one of the themes that the film unintentionally touches on is toxic masculinity. Let me be clear, masculinity is NOT a bad thing. In fact, it’s definitely needed in our society, let alone our Catholic one. One example that I like to give when it comes to positive masculinity is Keanu Reeves, whereas social media influencer Andrew Tate is an example of toxic masculinity. If you’re unaware of the latter, then God bless you because the less you know about him, the better. So, you’re probably asking yourself, what does toxic masculinity have to do with the Predators? In the film, the Predators are shown to be a ruthless, violent creatures that view forgiveness and sympathy as a sign of weakness. We also see how those traits could lead to violent consequences. Dek initially carries on with them through experiencing his brother’s death and teaming up with Thia. Later, he unintentionally betters himself as a person and forgoes the toxicity not just from his father, but his clan, in order to help accomplish his goal. Sometimes, Catholic men can fall under the influence of leaders who claim to have Christian values, but give harmful advice that we don’t initially see at first, mostly because of some common ground. This film reminded me that we need to be more self-aware of the important people around us and see if they are either helping us, or pulling us back from God and his mission for us.

So, is Predator: Badlands the best Predator film ever? Maybe? I apologize, I can’t fully answer given that I haven’t seen every film in the franchise, but I will say that this is the best out of the three films made by director Dan Trachtenberg for many reasons. They include how standalone it is, how it expands the lore of the species, the care for the characters, and how they were able to make an effective PG-13 Predator film. While I won’t say it was perfect, mostly because of the humor in it, which I did like because it felt forced, it’s still one I highly recommend for those who haven’t seen any other entry in the series. If you have some reservations because of the violence, don’t worry. Yes, it is a violent film but compared to its cinematic cousins, it’s pretty tame. Most of the violence is towards the alien creature and any synthetics (i.e. robots). When I got done watching Predator: Badlands, I thought to myself, “Disney, just give Dan Trachtenberg total control when it comes the Predator franchise,” because so far, he is three for three since he started directing these films. Also, you did read that right, the Predator franchise is owned by Disney due to the company buying 20^th Century Fox back in 2019. Had you had told me that we would be getting three great Predator films in the 2020s from Disney back in 2015, I would’ve laughed in your face. But here we are and I’m fully embracing this weird turn of events.