Movie Review: Predator Badlands (2025)

Predator Badlands (2025) co-written and directed by Dan Trachtenberg

On the Predator homeworld, a young one named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is considered the runt of his clan. Dek's father orders Dek's brother to kill him. Dek's brother thinks he can still win honor since Dek has sworn to go conquer an unconquerable foe--the Kalisk on the death planet Genna. Dek is sent off in his brother's spaceship as Dek witnesses his brother being slaughtered by their father. When Dek gets to Genna, he finds out why it's called the "death world." Seemingly every biological entity is hostile, even the plants. Dek discovers Thia (Elle Fanning), the top half of an android sent by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to collect samples from the planet as biological weapons. She's been on her own for years and is glad for the company. Dek, being from an intensely hostile warrior culture, is not open to friendship with her. She sells herself not as a friend but as a tool to help Dek in his quest. She has her own motivation--the Kalisk slaughtered her expedition, including another android named Tessa (also played by Elle Fanning) to whom Thia has a lot of attachment. They head off to resolve their ambitions.

The movie provides an interesting starting twist with the Predator character being the hero of the story. Typically the Predators are enemies to be vanquished. The plot looks very predictable for the first two-thirds of the film. Then the movie gives a nice and unexpected twist in the third act, making it more than the B-movie it was shaping up to be. A lot of thought went into developing the Predator culture and into the plot of the film, much more than I was expecting. The action is fun, the CGI is so-so, the performances are okay. Overall, it's a satisfying action film and a top-tier Predator film.

Recommended--highly for Predator fans.

Movie Review: Prey (2022)

Prey (2022) co-written and directed by Dan Trachtenberg

Naru (Amber Midthunder) is a young Comanche woman who wants to prove herself by the tribal tradition of hunting a great prey. Her mother and brother are mildly indulgent, with her mother wanting Naru to focus more on healing and cooking arts while her brother wants to keep her safe. It's 1719 in the Northern Great Plains when the biggest threats should be mountain lions and bears. Unfortunately, a Predator has landed in country and is doing its usual thing--fighting an opponent that seems worthy or hostile. The Predator fights some snakes and bears before it move on to human prey, both the local Comanche warriors and the French trappers who happen to be in the area (and provide some extra villains for Naru and the Predator to fight).

Moving the narrative to a historical, primitive setting is an intriguing idea for a Predator film. Too bad the execution does not match the creativity of the premise. Instead of something fresh, viewers have to go through a lot of typical Hollywood tropes. The natives are good at tracking and living in the wilderness and being unseen when they want to (or the story requires it). The female character is looked on as weak by everyone but herself until the end when she returns to the tribe in triumph. The white European males are almost entirely piggish villains that the filmmakers are happy to kill off and expect the viewers to root for their deaths. The only bright spot is the tender and nuanced relationship between Naru and her brother--they genuinely love and care for each other. They both are less appreciative of each other at the beginning but grow in understanding and interdependence. The Predator is little more than the standard hard-to-kill serial killer, any motivation or explanation of what it is doing depends on knowledge from previous films.

Not recommended--originally, I was going to have The Flash as my Thanksgiving Cinematic Turkey this year, but Prey managed to take over the "worst movie I've seen this year" position.

Movie Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) directed by Dan Trachtenberg

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) flees from her fiance. As she is driving at night, another car runs her off the road. She wakes up in a concrete room. She's chained to the wall and has a IV in her arm. She soon finds out she was saved by Howard (John Goodman), who brought her to the bunker and has saved her from certain death. He built this survival shelter under his farm and is waiting for the fallout to dissipate from whatever biological or nuclear attack has happened in the outside world. Michelle only has his word for it. And that of fellow bunkermate Emmet (John Gallagher Jr.). Emmet claims to know Howard, hinting Howard is both a survivalist and a conspiracy theorist. What is Michelle to believe?

The story unwinds in a tense fashion. Howard definitely isn't right in the head but is he the good kind of crazy or the bad kind? Goodman's performance keeps viewers guessing. As a character, Howard clearly sees himself as good but Michelle is unsure. She wants to get out and has more than one riveting escape attempt. More details are revealed about Howard throughout the film, making it a satisfying mystery since most questions are answered by the end. Michelle is a likable and intelligent heroine well played by Winstead.

The movie has a very superficial relationship to Cloverfield. Occasional hints at connections can be caught by astute viewers but they don't amount to much and are only a distraction from this story. Both movies are thrilling but I found this one much more satisfying. The characters here are more interesting and likable than in Cloverfield. The story is more believable and more tense, making it a much better movie.