Predator: Badlands [Movie Review]

 Predator: Badlands [Movie Review] | The trailers for the movie got me exciting about it. 

So when it drops, of course I have to watch it as I've watched and enjoyed Killer of Killers.

SYNOPSIS

Predator: Badlands (2025) Trivia

• Starring: Elle Fanning & Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
• Director: Dan Trachtenberg
• Producer: John Davis, Brent O'Connor, Marc Toberoff, Dan Trachtenberg & Ben Rosenblatt
• Production Company: Lawrence Gordon Productions, Davis Entertainment & Toberoff Entertainment

• Distributed by: 20th Century Studios
• Release date: November 7, 2025
• Running time: 107 minutes
• Rating: MA
• Country: United States
• Language: English
• IMDb: 7.6/ 10
• Tomatometer: 85%
• Metascore: 71%
• Dek is the first named Predator as well as the first Predator to be a protagonist.
• There is not one human character throughout the film. 
• This isn’t a sequel to Prey (2022) but takes place in the same Predator universe. Director also made a “secret” pre-Badlands film, later revealed as Predator: Killer of Killers (2025).

Dek was never meant to be a warrior, at least, not in the eyes of his father. Born small and deemed weak on Yautja Prime, Dek lived under the towering shadow of Njohrr, a ruthless Predator leader who valued strength above all else. To prove his worth, Dek vows to hunt the Kalisk, a nightmarish, seemingly unkillable apex predator that reigns supreme on the hostile planet of Genna.

But before Dek can embark on his deadly rite of passage, Njohrr commands Dek’s brother, Kwei, to kill him as a final judgment of his weakness. Kwei, torn between loyalty and love, disobeys. He activates Dek’s transport ship, sending him to Genna to fulfill his vow. Dek watches in horror as Njohrr executes Kwei for his defiance that becomes the very moment that ignites a fire of vengeance deep within him.

Crash-landing on the unforgiving world of Genna, Dek must fight to survive its deadly flora, venomous fauna and crushing storms. Along the way, he encounters Thia, a damaged synthetic from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, stranded after her team’s failed mission to capture the Kalisk. Reluctantly, Dek forms an alliance with her, agreeing to help find her severed legs in exchange for her assistance in tracking his prey. Together, they meet a strange native creature, affectionately named Bud by Thia, who marks Dek as kin by spitting on Dek's face.

When Dek finally faces the Kalisk, he learns the true meaning of strength. Though he manages to behead the beast, it regenerates and instead of killing him, spares his life for an unknown reason. Here also the point where Dek learns that Thia has been using him to get to her shop all along as she is also on a mission to capture Kalisk.

Soon after, Weyland-Yutani forces capture Dek, Thia and the Kalisk using Dek's weapon.

Later, Dek learns that Bud is actually offspring of the Kalisk - thus why he was spared upon recognising Bud's scent on him. Determined to protect both Thia and the young creature, Dek crafts new weapons from Genna’s living ecosystem and launches an assault against the Weyland-Yutani facility. 

Will Dek survive and return to prove that he is truly a Yautja warrior?

MY REVIEW

What I Like:  

• I love that the movie has a balance of family, action and humor to it.
• I love a good origin story.

What I Don't Like:

• None I would say - I enjoyed the movie that much

Will I Watch It Again: Yes, I don't mind watching it again.

Overall: 4.7/ 5.0

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

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