‘Predator: Badlands’ Review: The ‘Prey’ Director Returns With an Inspired New Entry That Has Us Rooting for the Slayer

‘Predator: Badlands’ Review: A Lovable Yautja Runt Teams Up with an Oscar-Worthy Elle Fanning in the Second Great ‘Predator’ Movie of 2025

Dan Trachtenberg continues to find exciting ways to make 'Predator' great again, this time by challenging the core flaw of the franchise's premise.

‘Predator: Badlands’ Review: The ‘Prey’ Director Returns With an Inspired New Entry That Has Us Rooting for the Slayer

Dan Trachtenberg finds fresh excitement in the popular ’80s franchise, pairing Elle Fanning as an 'Alien'-style synth with a runt Predator.

'Predator: Badlands' Review - Starts Strong, Finishes Weak

Thia (Elle Fanning) and Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) in ‘PREDATOR: BADLANDS’ (Photo © 2025 20th Century Studios) Since its first movie in 1987, the Predator franchise has built up a surprisingly deep mythology. Through two Alien vs. Predator movies, it’s even managed to tie itself into the deeper Alien folklore. And while we did get a couple of fun “drop a Predator into different situations” movies in Prey and Predator: Killer of Killer…

'Predator: Badlands' Review - The Franchise Evolves with Grand Spectacle and Surprising Heart

Writer-director Dan Trachtenberg has continuously pushed the Predator franchise in new directions. From introducing the iconic movie monster to an older time period in Prey (2022) to then tripling down on that concept with a fun twist in the recent animated film Predator: Killer of Killers, the series once again feels as dynamic and exhilarating [...] The post ‘Predator: Badlands’ Review – The Franchise Evolves with Grand Spectacle and Surprisin…

Predator Badlands Review: It's Super Fun, but it's also VERY PG-13 and Tame

PLOT: Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a Predator (or Yautja), the runt of his clan, cast out by his father. Eager to prove himself, he travels to Genna, a legendarily deadly planet whose prey, the Kalisk, has long eluded his species. He teams up with a synthetic humanoid, Thia (Elle Fanning), who’s immobile after losing her legs, in order to survive the hostile environment and collect his trophy — but there may, in fact, be even deadlie…