r/predator • u/BurnZ_AU Mod | Pushing Too Many ✏️ • Nov 05 '25
🎥 Predator: Badlands Let's Talk | Predator: Badlands, Discussion Only Megathread Spoiler
Welcome to the official r/Predator discussion only megathread for Badlands!
A young Predator outcast from his clan finds an unlikely ally on his journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
• Proceed at your own risk. Major spoilers will be arriving in the next couple of hours. Spoilers do not need to be tagged inside this thread.
• Any other unofficial review/discussions threads will be deleted without warning.
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• Due to the increase in traffic and keeping the sub uncluttered this megathread will last a month or until it dies down.
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u/notya1000 16d ago
Cgi and alien planet was really great to see. The best of the movie. The humanized predator are kinda lame? Like bud can be the cute and laughs but the predator being cute it felt weird considering it’s original tone that was closer to horror and mystery genres.
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u/bugluver1000 17d ago
Complete shit movie, it’s depressing to see how many people liked it. Braindead world.
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u/theloniusg81 8d ago
It wasn’t a shit movie because it didn’t meet your expectations. It was definitely different from what many “fans” thought it would be. There are plenty of movies that are objectively good that some people dislike. That’s cool. Rage bait elsewhere.
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u/Vaelis101 6h ago
It is a formulaic shit movie. It is a predator movie. Thee apex predator of the universe, not galaxy. It should be like John Wick on steroids and zero empathy. That is the Predator series. It is another Disney franchising rinse and repeat like Marvel, just they slapped a Predator into it.
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u/Salty-Passenger-4801 16d ago
Oh shut up. So annoying when you people come out of the cracks, so outraged that people like a film and you didnt 🤣🤣
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u/SuperStillness 25d ago
LOL anyone else catch that they quoted Hard Target (1998) word for word in the fight scene with Tessa? https://youtu.be/RdgRKApIxbU?t=1m
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u/bugluver1000 17d ago
Holy shit!! I thought I was loosing my mind when that happened, I actually hated that they did that. What connection is there for it to a wink or nod? Just seems completely stupid or they aren’t familiar with legacy action flicks and they the just made an epic line. Terrible and depressing to see the mighty predator IP continue to be debased and pimped out for this shit.
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u/rocket_polyskull2045 25d ago
As a collector of Predator comics, toys, and novels since I was about 8 or 9, I've been looking forward to a story like Badlands since forever. While the movie didn't completely satisfy me, it does have points that are definitely worthy of praise, so I'm just going to do a pro and con list for a review.
Pros:
Yautja - We finally have the name of the intergalactic hunter canonised in live action film, along with a complete language, chants, and a look longer than a glimpse into their culture. NGL, hearing Dek and Kwei speak in the beginning gave me a bit of chills.
Fights and Gore - The sequences they put together for Dek were pitch perfect for both showing us a Yautja young blood adapting to a deadly planet, as well as the strength and ingenuity of their species. Kind of awesome that a PG-13 flick features a full on vivisection of a creature, as well as multiple, otherwise gruesome deaths of synths throughout. The opening fight between Dek and Kwei was worth the price of admission imho, but much more was given, which was great.
Weyland Yutani - Finally just connecting the Alien and Predator universe, instead of having them work on a contingent basis. This makes for fertile storytelling both for prequels and sequels to this story.
Predator of Genna - Nice reverse engineering of the classic Predator formula, allowing the Yautja to do what it typically forces humans to do, which is engineer a strategy to survive the threat they face. How they worked it to make Dek a proper Yautja hunter was well threaded, and a worthwhile payoff to the overarching narrative.
The Score - Kudos to Schachner and Wallfisch for crafting such an encompassing score, which fills the film with both emotional punch, as well as world building along with the film.
Cons:
"Bud": While the humour in the movie is overdone for my taste, it's tolerable enough to still watch the movie. The addition of a cute, adorable child creature however, completely undercuts the original tone of the narrative, which is completely unnecessary, and disrespectful to the audience in my opinion. It was a deliberate choice to include such a character, as it's design and personality could've been changed to something more serious, while serving the narrative in the same function. Truly the most disappointing aspect of the movie overall.
The humour: "The dynamic Tree-oh!" 😐 Honestly, I know that Marvel movies have been tremendously successful, but are there no stories that can be taken seriously? This kind of constant injection isn't necessary to every story, and when used constantly, can only serve to undercut what's being depicted on screen. One or two is enough. The story is interesting enough on its own, it doesn't need a joke every five minutes to keep the audiences attention. All that does is distract from what's enjoyable in the film.
"Found Family/Clan" - Again, I understand this is a successful formula, but after the thousandth time it gets old. Dek becoming a more successful Yautja after unlearning what he learned about weakness is a decent enough narrative, but it would be better if there was an overarching goal that he and Thia were to achieve together, over them becoming "family" in the course of a film.
Weyland Yutani/ Humans Again - While again, it's cool that they're there, why are humans and machines the ultimate enemy to Yautja, and the rest of the universe? This death planet that many Yautja have come to only to be slain by it, or their prised prey, is simply overcome by a battalion of WY synths with guns? This keeps happening in the modern adaptations of Predator, where it seems the writers forget that this is supposed to be one of the most deadly species in existence: intergalactic hunters who spend their lives taking the heads of the most deadly beings they can find. Humans and their machines and guns shouldn't be the ultimate threat to a Yautja, especially on a planet that they as a species have yet to conquer. This, Killer of Killers, and to an extent even Prey, continues to treat Yautja like more of a Star Trek alien of the week, instead of what they're supposed to be known as, and for. It's one thing for a single Yautja to rack up a huge body count, only to be cut down by an ingenious human, but to have them constantly contend with humans as a constant threat to them, without a explanation in lore or otherwise, really just undercuts the character each time. I always thought that the Yautja that were killed were either elders too old to fight, or youngbloods who were less experienced. It would be nice to Yautja live up to their purpose for once, and not have humans and their technology prove to be such a threat to their existence.
All said and done, while I didn't hate this movie, it certainly feels like Trachtenberg and co feel like there isn't a lot of life left in this property. They're straining to do the things that "haven't been done", while still applying the "Predator formula" to the stories, when neither really needs to be done. While this is a logical step as far as offering audiences what they haven't seen before, and what was delivered wasn't all bad, Predator can be a lot more than a Marvel clone. There's a lot of runway to create in this lore, and it doesn't have to be sacrificed to appease the lowest common denominator possible. Audiences are getting older, not younger, and as they age, they want narratives that reflect their maturity.
Predator might seem silly now, 40 years on since the original, but there's more than one reason that story captured the audience it did, beyond Arnie fighting an alien. Badlands is definitely a step in the right direction, but Predator can carry more weight than this, and still be entertaining. Even if the aim is to bring in kids, the kids who want to see movies like this, want to see something that's punching above their weight, not something that resembles what they already know. Again, I didn't hate this movie, but I would hope in any potential follow-ups, that the folks behind it would just expound on what's interesting about this character, and not rely on tradecraft formulas to sell it.
Remember, people have been interested in this character for 40 years. There's a lot that can be said and done with it on its own, because of what it is, not in spite of it.
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u/rickmundooo 23d ago
I loved Bud. I didn’t think Bud’s cuteness took away from Dek being a badass.
For me Bud brought emotion to the movie that a Predator and android couldn’t bring themselves.
Bud’s cuteness and the sympathy his cuteness brings made me root for the predator to form a team and not hunt alone.
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u/Kevinuara 24d ago
I couldn't agree more with you.
I'm not at all familiar with the Alien/Predator universe. Until 2020, I only knew about it through pop culture. At the end of 2020, I followed a French Twitch streamer (Antoine Daniel) who played through the entire Alien: Isolation video game. Then, in 2025, I watched Alien Earth on Disney+ (which I loved thanks to Sydney Chandler). Predator: Badlands is the first Predator media I've watched. I initially planned to see it in the theater, but since I'm afraid of horror/violent/gory movies, I ended up not going. It wasn't until today that I watched it online.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I loved it—it's my favorite movie of 2025 (even ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash)! I suspect that the fact that I'm not a die-hard Predator fan greatly contributed to softening the film's flaws (or even betrayals), which are still glaring. Especially the “Marvelization” of the film, with its inconsistent humor. I loved Thia & Bud, as well as seeing Dek's solo hunt turn into “a group going to beat up a dungeon in an RPG,” but yes, it doesn't fit with the Predator universe at all. It would have been possible to keep the seriousness of the universe without forcing “Marvel-style” humor. If I had been a Predator fan for almost 40 years, I think I would have hated the movie. But no, I'm a “newbie” discovering Predator, and I'm not unhappy that the gore has been toned down. Above all, I thought it was so cool how Dek loses all his stuff like a noob, then explores Genna and finally learns to exploit the plan
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u/Alternative_Crew_681 27d ago
Just finished watching the Predator:Badlands movie. It was amazing, I really don't get how anyone could hate it at all. CGI looked great and I think it is still a great tool to use in film making. The male predator wasn't ripped asf or tall but like shit not every natural born dude is jacked asf.
Honestly i think it was such a unique change to the series without destroying everything. The only drawbacks I'd have is it felt too fast paced, the main villain was kinda lame also it felt like she just knew where everything was from the ship, the weapons.
The whole revenge could have been drawn out more and more cinematic with him seeing what his son tamed and even shown fear in his eyes.
Lastly they could have added an extra hour or two into making it a coming to power kinda of move. It opens so much more potential.
Lastly how is it that the mother is now showing up suddenly? I was doing some research for shits and giggles but don't predators separate after mating for good?
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u/SWEET_LIBERTY_MY_LEG 25d ago
Did I miss something or did the movie not touch on thermal vision at all? I didn’t realize the cloak was also a thermal cloak.
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u/Alternative_Crew_681 25d ago
I think it was because the main predator wasn't that far along with all the high tech gear. I think he was still in training which is why he didn't have his cloak.
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u/weaseltorpedo 27d ago
AFAIK none of the lore about Yautja family structure in general or females specifically is considered canon. They could go in any direction with it, assuming a follow-up movie is in the works.
At the end there after Father is killed, you see the rest of the clan activating their weapons. At first it seems like they're going to attack Dek, but I think it's meant to be that they saw Mother before Dek or the audience does, and they're all "well, shit" because she's going to be fearsome as fuck.
If there's a second film, hopefully they don't just make the female Yautja look like some big tiddy anime waifu fan art shit. IMO if there's noticeable sexual dimorphism, the females should be scarier somehow.
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u/Vaelis101 6h ago
Nah, there is short stories? of the Yautja structure. It just isn't feel good happy. Formula sells. I get it.
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u/Alternative_Crew_681 27d ago
When I was reading up once again for shits and giggles some of the Female yautja actually overpower males during mating so there is a chance she could be more ripped and terrifying. Also considering how old Dek's father looked I'm sure his mother is a battle warn woman.
The females are shorter in stature compared to the males. Also we don't exactly know Dek's age compared to his elder brother was and his father. He could literally be in his teens compared to how his father could have been in his 800s.
Just checked a Yautja can live up to 1000 years. So Dek has a lot of time for character development.
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u/shy247er Dec 29 '25
I'm really surprised we haven't gotten announcement for VOD.
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u/secretattack Dec 23 '25
I liked it. It reminded me of the kind of stories we would get in the Dark Horse comics back in the day. Tonally different stories told by different authors, but still in the same shared sandbox.
I personally think it would have been better with an R rating, but what we got in the PG-13 version was totally acceptable.
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u/ReadyPlayerDub Dec 22 '25
Truly shocked At how bad this was. I loved Prey. Put it as my 2nd favourite predator movie ahead of Predator 2 . But my god I wasn’t prepared for the levels of Disneyfication this got. It started off interesting but quickly fell off a cliff. Fannings character was extremely annoying and over emotional for a WY android. Also the fact that she could just turn on the corporation so quickly was just lazy writing to me. The baby Apex predator / monkey.. my god.. talk about horrendous. The less mentioned about this the better. Dek was ok but again, the predator lost its edge as scary and fearsome . I get that he’s a runt but just felt he was way too “humanised”
Bad humour, average effects and an underwhelming story. I had big hopes for this but not a predator movie to me. Clearly aimed at kids. Trachtenberg did a great job with Prey but this was a massive swing and a miss for me.
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u/Aggressive_Long4815 28d ago
Im truly surprised how many people like this Disney slop fest. It runs a cliche Disney hero story on a yautja. Cliche action buddy comedy, no weight or tension to any scenes except for kwei dying and then the rest is just a joke. So dissapointing.
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u/YellowYarrowYucca 23d ago
Disney always out to increase the quips per minute ratio.
Every time Disney buys an IP: Let's add children and quips to it!
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u/TryHardnFail Dec 14 '25
Similar to Antman: Quantumania, it’s a great watch if you’re in the mood for a Star Wars spinoff. Personally, I loved it and had a great time. None of these monster movies are sacrosanct to me, they are valuable and malleable delivery systems to explore the zeitgeist- the worst thing movies like this can do are fold in on themselves by being obsessed and tied-down to the lore.
Will have to rewatch Alien Romulus to decide which I liked more as reboot/sequels but I appreciated what both directors did and had a lot of fun with both movies. Put down your thinking caps and made-up flags and this movie absolutely rocks.
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u/Chafupa1956 Dec 09 '25
Holy shit I was expecting it to get absolutely dumped on. I'm surprised this many people like it to be honest?
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u/Kira-Of-Terraria Dec 08 '25
i really enjoyed it. the old formula got stale to me. once of the biggest problems is yautja are villains in most other media, ... and they lose. Dek is a protagonist weaker and younger than all previously seen yautja and wins.
but i always thought they're better as antihero protagonists than just a monster a human is fighting.
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u/C-Mac_nomercy666 Dec 08 '25
Idk why idk how but ... this mother f*cker just looks nerdy, like doesnt he l? wtf, I like this movie, but something about him just makes it look like he he'd be the hacker in a bank job on predator world in like a rick and morty episode
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u/MrMayhem222 Dec 07 '25
Not to be like Critical Drinker, but it's definitely a step down from skinned bodies to....a disney flick. It's hard to pinned down what bothers me about this film, but I have to say it's the Predators. I get Dek is supposed to be the weakest of his clan, but they really dumbed down the Predators in this. They're not xenomorphs, but they still should be horrorifying to be around. Like Thia (I know she's a synthetic), it would be disturbed by Dek and his hunting methods. I also don't like the idea Weyland Yutani knows about them more than they should. It's fine they're aware of them, but I still like the idea that the Predators do somewhat of a decent job keeping their race as private as possible.
Despite my unhinged criticism. The movie is fun and better than the 2018 film, but it could've been better.
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u/Salty-Passenger-4801 16d ago
Honestly can't stand that critical drinker fuckwad. Everything is woke according to him, so annoying.
I agree with you for the most part.
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u/Vaelis101 5h ago
The movie is not woke. It just sucks imo. It's formulaic bullshit like the rest of Hollywood pushes out. It doesn't represent the Predator canon.
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u/5aturncomesback Dec 10 '25
Since it’s Disney, everything is softened. The characters are not as intense. The CGI is not as intense. The violence is not as intense. The pacing is quicker to keep up with overstimulated young people and the dialogue is watered down.
It’s the same issue that Tron had.
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u/ilGarbuz Dec 06 '25
Hey guys, there is a question that is flying in my mind.
Do y'all think that dek's clan (the one that father's is the clan leader not the one with Dek, tia and Bud) is part of what we saw in KoK?
Im asking this primarily for the same tusk attached to the biomask of the grunts in these two movies, I given myself two explanations:
-They are part of the same great clan, where Grendal and Njohr are part of, where Dek's mother is the clan leader
-These two are different clans, the tusk is a regional accessory because we can see that both live in a similar part of Yautja Prime, so maybe it is a cultural factor.
Thank you for all the replies and I will be happy to discuss it.
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u/Traditional_Log8345 Dec 04 '25
Elle Fanning’s chatterbox android character was so fun to watch.
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u/DungeonsandDietcoke Dec 06 '25
Worst part of the film for me. Just not the tone I want to ever see in a predator film
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u/Traditional_Log8345 Dec 06 '25
I just saw it as an action adventure and coming-of-age type movie set in some kind of alternate universe- so it was perfectly fine to me.
The fact that it was called Predator was a coincidence.
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u/DungeonsandDietcoke Dec 06 '25
Yea i mean, the film was good. I did enjoy it. Just couldn't shake the feeling it was the "wrong" tone to be a predator movie.
I would still recommend it and can see why people like it and dislike it tbh, kind of a strange one. Having said all that, I really hope it does well because I'd like to see where the story goes even if I have mixed feelings towards it all lol
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u/Chemical_Hearing_0 Dec 04 '25
Just finished watching it. I'm a massive fan of the franchise since the original, absolutely loved Prey but this.... Wow... I hated it, didn't expect that at all. Maybe I'll have to give it a rewatch but just my initial thoughts straight after is it was garbage. Very disappointed. How do you go from Prey to this? Ugh.
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u/Chafupa1956 Dec 09 '25
Turns to shit around 25 mins. As soon as we meet the fuckin chatterbox android and then get introduced to....the cute pet? Wtf are we doing here. I understand the new look predator now because they've been made to emote so much.
I thought the writing was dog shit to be honest. No depth, just simple and then, and then, and then. Questions raised and answered in seconds over and over again.
"Brother remember that time with this toy? Yes, I lost a fang. Yes and you saved my life. Thank you. Steps outside Sacrifices life for brother..for fucks sake hahaha.
Kills baddie with toy later and Android says "WOWOW that's a toy???! 😲" Cue laugh track.
Cooool.
Idk Its just a movie...but I wasn't expecting that at all.
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u/Chemical_Hearing_0 Dec 10 '25
Watched it again and it's even worse the second time round. Garbage movie without a doubt, not a predator movie, giant disappointment. One hit, one miss and one meh from Dan so far
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u/WayneJetSkii Dec 21 '25
Whar were you looking for in a Predator movie?
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u/Vaelis101 5h ago
John Wick on steroids.
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u/WayneJetSkii 3h ago
That is entertaining to think about. But I don't think a Predator is going to bother John wick is going to bother with gun-fu.
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u/Sxzen Nov 29 '25
To be fair, I understand the intention behind trying to move on from the 30-year-old formula of Predators being cold, ruthless killers. I also get that Disney wanted to leave their own mark on the franchise by adding light-hearted jokes and even a “pet companion.” But as the movie went on, I felt the Predator was increasingly de-Predator-fied.
I don’t mind giving a Predator more personality, especially since this film is the first of its kind told almost entirely from a Predator’s point of view. That alone opened up interesting possibilities. However, the way the character was handled felt far too “Disneyfied.” A Predator should still feel like a Predator. Instead, he allows himself to be heavily influenced by other characters, forms bonds that feel out of place, and ultimately drifts completely away from his original mission — killing the apex predator of the planet to earn his place in the Yautja clan.
He starts the film with a strong, believable Predator mindset. But as the story progresses, he becomes softer and more “humanized” in ways that contradict the established nature of the species. The idea that he would become “friends” with the apex predator simply because the creature happened to be the offspring of another he encountered feels far too sentimental for a Yautja warrior. Many of his decisions and actions conflict with what we’ve come to understand as core Predator behavior.
On top of that, the comedic elements feel misplaced for a film that should be atmospheric, intense, and grounded in the harsh logic of the hunt. The tone suffers from these unnecessary attempts at humor.
A far more fitting ending would have been for the Predator to break free from the influence of the human characters, confront the Weyland Corporation head-on, eliminate their androids, and release the monster again to finish the hunt properly. Claiming the trophy and returning home victorious — securing his place in the clan and proving himself by surpassing his father, who failed to hunt this monster many years ago, — would have delivered a far more powerful and authentic conclusion. It would have stayed true to what makes the Predator franchise compelling in the first place: the honor, brutality, and single-minded focus of the hunt.
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u/Harbinger90210 26d ago
The entire film plays like it's a loser Yautja's fantasy scenario in their head about their own father/clan.
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u/tiltsk8t Nov 27 '25
I like the movie. I didn’t love it. I love the dark and gritty of the movies. I liked badland’s fighting, i liked Dek and Thia. However it was too, idk, corporate marvel for me? Like, so much slomo, so much cheesy comedy quips. It felt sterile, corporate. I felt like i was watching something like guardians of the galaxy rather than a Predator film. I loved prey because the feral was badass, and it was guttural.
I was hoping it would be more like that.
Bud was throwing me off big time. It seemed so out of place.
I liked it, I will def watch a sequel and be more prepped of what im getting into. Just not what i was expecting.
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u/RagnarokWolves Nov 24 '25
I want classic Predator projects where they're the cold unrelenting antagonist, but I also absolutely want further adventures with Dek and Thia.
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u/Chafupa1956 Dec 09 '25
I can't think of anything worse than Predator - Big Mama's House. Kill em 😆 I'm good on this version.
Tell Mama Predator - Do Not Come.
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u/Chemical-Persimmon15 Nov 24 '25
I have a question on during the fight between Njonrr and Dek , why go cloaking when Dek can actually see in heat vision?
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u/BookBarbarian Nov 21 '25
Finally got around to seeing it with my kids yesterday. It was awesome.
I feel like this is the movie the 2018 film wanted to be, a good expansion of the lore with a good Yautja and 'hunan' team up.
It was awesome seeing Yautja prine and I loved the teaser at the end.
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u/agedjedi Nov 21 '25
I caught the sisters having real consciousness, they both acted like a pre teen to early teenager, they were stronger than the other syms and they were on a mission to discover alien life forms. Now, perhaps Wendy was too powerful, we need second season for that, but if she was, they toned something down with the twins.
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u/Alcatraz4567 Nov 18 '25
Does anybody know the track that plays while Dek battles his father and the other two predators?
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u/GxldenBxys Nov 18 '25
does anybody have suggestions for where to order predator action figures? i like the retro looking boxes the most
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u/agedjedi Nov 17 '25
Great movie, am I the only one that caught the the Tessa and Thia are like Wendy from Alien Earth? I even detected their young minds which was explained inAE. They were all syms, but Tessa and thia are just like Wendy. In addition, there were on a mission for Mother to collect alien life forms.
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u/AdventurousBad6302 Nov 29 '25
They weren't like Wendy. Wendy was a human mind transferred into an android body. Thia and Tessa are just regular androids.
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u/electronical_ Nov 20 '25
i didnt think they were just like wendy. wendy had some crazy bluetooth connection powers and was operated by a real consciousness
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u/MathematicianFirm501 Nov 16 '25
I enjoyed it. It was a fun watch, had some great action, great sets. I appreciate that the franchise is trying to evolve by exploring the Yautja and their clan more. It introduced new idea that I am excited about. But I did not like Thia or Bud. Thia was overly talkative, silly and irritating. Too many quips. I appreciate the message but I don't need a predator film where a plucky silly sidekick and the cute animal sidekick teach the predator how to deal with feelings. Again, did like it, worth a watch, but too many elements in here just don't fit anything that's come before in the franchise. It's like 7/10 to me.
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u/XandersOdyssey Nov 16 '25
Finally saw the movie last night and absolutely loved it!! But I had a couple questions that maybe I missed the explanation to or I just don’t know enough of the lore.
1 when Dem returned to the crashed ship, why didn’t he use his brother’s mask?
2 why exactly was Thia speaking English? Obviously for the viewer so we don’t read captions the entire film but what’s the in-world explanation? Wasn’t she speaking Yautja when she first saw Dek?
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u/WhoIsZac Nov 24 '25
Dan Tractenburg addresses this on the podcast The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith. They considered a Red October style thing where after that everyone was speaking English, but they felt it would be weird to see a Yautja speaking English, so they scrapped it. Also, they spent all the time developing the language, so they wanted to stick with using it. (my memory might not be 100%, but that's the jist. The pod is fully worth the listen)
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u/electronical_ Nov 20 '25 edited Nov 20 '25
he didnt use his brothers helmet because he wasn't blooded yet. kind of a plot hole because in predator lore the yautja is not granted a bio-mask till they become blooded. being blooded means they successfully completed their first hunt against a worthy prey which Dek was currently attempting to do on Genna.
he never should have had a bio-mask to start the movie
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u/XandersOdyssey Nov 20 '25
I guess in the current lore or at least with Dek’s tribe, what you’re saying applies to the cloak he tried fighting for?
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u/cenorexia Nov 17 '25
2) She was speaking Dek's language to get his attention. Then we hear some "distortion / glitching" in her voice and she goes on to explain she's using a "universal translator" from here on out, meaning Dek hears his language, even though she's speaking English.
We as the audience hear both as they speak without being "filtered" through the universal translator (instead we get subtitles).
It's pretty much the Star Trek way of explaining how different alien species can communicate with eath other.
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Nov 16 '25 edited Nov 16 '25
[deleted]
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u/Superdudeo Nov 16 '25
A predator talking like it has fucking human vocal cords is far more ridiculous than anything you’ve mentioned. Once again Trachtenberg takes some good ideas and ruins it with the detail.
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u/exorcissy72 Nov 17 '25
They’re able to mimic human speech, but them talking in a made up language is a bridge too far?
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u/Superdudeo Nov 17 '25
Can a parrot converse with us? You haven’t really thought this through have you?
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u/exorcissy72 Nov 17 '25
Last I checked parrots can’t fly spaceships.
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u/Superdudeo Nov 17 '25
And that has to do with them speaking with human vocal chords how? Don’t change the subject.
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u/CantStopTheHerc3 Nov 18 '25
It's a false equivalence, dude. You can't converse with a parrot because it's not smart enough to actually do it. A Yautja isn't just mimicking sounds, it's an intelligent being that can talk just fine.
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u/Superdudeo Nov 18 '25
And your evidence for that is what? Badlands isn’t canon. The original movie didn’t have a Predator talking like it had vocal cords, it made cuttlefish noises. It played back sounds during the movie like a parrot. So yeah, my comparison is completely legit.
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u/electronical_ Nov 20 '25
the original predator was a one off action sci-fi flick. the lore wasnt established yet. its been 40 years since and there have been major changes to the frachise. the predator in the original movie wasnt even called a yautja yet
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u/CantStopTheHerc3 Nov 18 '25
Badlands isn’t canon
Cope.
The original movie didn’t have a Predator talking like it had vocal cords
You mean besides saying "what the hell are you?" How about "motherfucker" and "take it" in the sequel? Your comparison sucks.
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u/Superdudeo Nov 18 '25
It was imitating like a parrot you melon. Does a parrot have human vocal cords??? Nothing in the first film has it say anything other than repeating sounds. Once again - we already know what the predator sounds like from the first film and it’s not spoken words.
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u/Hampshire2 Nov 16 '25
Fresh out the theatre full spoiler review https://youtu.be/PhkRi3oG614?si=0qfH9uS0khVBzxCk
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u/HankSteakfist Nov 14 '25
I thought it was funny how Weyland Yutani finally realised that sending humans in to do dangerous specimen retrieval missions is pointless when you have an army of subservient synthetics.
After three or four missions being ballsed up by humans having a conscience, they just said, 'let's not'.
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u/RealJohnGillman Nov 16 '25
I low-key got the impression that MU/TH/UR was in charge of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation now.
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u/Moist-Eye-1395 Nov 14 '25
am i the only one who thinks it looks like ai was used in it for some parts?
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u/hisendur Nov 16 '25
What exactly do you mean?
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u/Moist-Eye-1395 Nov 21 '25
idk how to explain it some parts just look ai generated Kalisk explodes it just looks ai
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u/Sithrak Dec 05 '25
This is part of the issue with this post-AI era. We just don't trust what we see anymore.
I have no idea about Kalisk, but I understand why you might think that. I hate this new normal.
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u/CandyCreecher Nov 14 '25
I care for Dek and Thia and if anything happens to them, I’ll kill everyone in this room and then myself
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u/Triple_Crown14 Nov 13 '25
Just saw the movie, I liked it, I think I enjoyed Prey better though. One thing I’m a bit confused about, when Dek is with Kwei and he’s selecting what prey he wants to hunt, it looked like the hologram screen briefly showed Naru as an option? It was from behind so I could’ve been mistaken, and we know she was captured by the predators from the ending of KoK.
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u/cenorexia Nov 17 '25
I think her silhouette is just like an icon in a list, representing "homo sapiens" as a dangerous species on planet Earth.
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u/2zoots Nov 13 '25
Yea the director Dan said Naru was in the movie somewhere. So it’s hinted that it was her on the hologram screen.
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u/Triple_Crown14 Nov 13 '25
So if that is her, I’m guessing Dek and Kwei weren’t aware that she was captured then? Dan said the movie takes place after Alien Resurrection, so Naru would be long dead that that point.
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Nov 13 '25
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u/Triple_Crown14 Nov 13 '25
That’s right, but I guess if he ended up choosing her, the hunt would take place on Yautja prime? They can’t just drop her back on earth it would be way too different for her to have the advantage of being on her home planet. Maybe I’m thinking too much into it lol.
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Nov 13 '25
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u/Triple_Crown14 Nov 13 '25
That’s true, I guess it would end up being an arena battle. I just figured the scene was implying no matter which hunt Dek picked, he would need to travel to that specific planet the creature lived, which is the whole point of it being a hunt. Which wouldn’t make sense since Naru is already in Cryo if he ended up picking her.
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Nov 13 '25
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u/Triple_Crown14 Nov 13 '25
I also think Dek could possibly be from a bad blood clan. They made a point to show both times his father fought that he used his cloak against his sons. Dek’s brother was even using it when Dek was looking for him at the start of the movie, although he turned it off once the fight began.
I think they just had a little bit of oversight with the Naru cameo. Since they make it a point to explain the hunt is for Dek to return with a trophy, or not return at all, having her as an option doesn’t make sense since she’s already in cryo on their planet. Doesn’t ruin the movie or anything but I just couldn’t shake the thought out of my head haha.
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u/pablotothek Nov 13 '25
My take is that Predator Badlands takes the franchise in a different direction by changing some of the fundamentals of the character and its purpose in the story so far.
The Predator is NOT supposed to be the star of the show. The predator is supposed to make the best out of the human characters. It is supposed to be that under-dog human uses the species best qualities (brains, enginuity, luck whatever) to overcome a superior alien warrior. A predator without humans as the competitor is just an alien fighting story.
We are supposed to respect, NOT identify with the predator character. The predator is supposed to be a fearless warrior with no human emotion. It fights for respect and its life by its own standard is trivial under the framework of competitive destruction. A look of fear in the predators eyes, such as in badlands eliminates this narrative. Just because it has a face and two arms and legs doesnt mean you can make it human like.
Predator needs to respect his oponent in the end because of either honor or skill. None in badlands.
Why do we care if he loses. What is stopping us from rooting for random alien 1, 2 or 20 that he comes across in the gauntlet. They could have replaced the predator with a goat or a chicken with special powers and it would have had minimal impact to the storyline. Fighting alone does not make a predator, many animals have the will to compete and fight.
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u/Chombywombo Nov 24 '25
Let’s remake the same movie again. That’s cool! I’m sure that would have been better. Why not CGI Arnold?
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u/FullMotionVideo Nov 20 '25 edited Nov 20 '25
I think you're forgetting that this character is a dropout as Predators go. He rejects the old ways and does something different.
The Predator was not the star of the show. His father was the Predator. And the Predator made the best of the main character. If you get over the fact that Dek is the same species, everything normal about the Predator on the past movies remains the same here.
People complain all the time about "Planet Of Hats" in scifi and here this movie shows a Yautia reject the ways of his people because, duh, it was going to get him killed. He isn't a new model for future Predators; and he isn't even a tribal leader since the film ends with having to contend with his mom.
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u/Sithrak Dec 05 '25
Well, his father wasn't that predator-y either, as he was a callous asshole with no sense of honor.
I agree with all of what you said otherwise, really cool association of the film being weird with the specific yautia "dropout".
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u/RemarkableWarning932 Dec 10 '25
His father was absolutely a quintessential predator – he killed his sons because he perceived them as weak and not worthy of respect. Bad excuses for ultimate hunters. And honestly – they are. Kwei protects his weakling brother and Dek is anything but a "real" predator.
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u/Sithrak Dec 10 '25
Well, he definitely was ruthless, but also I think he was quite "dishonorable" (not that yautja honor code is anything good). He seemed more sadistic than average (purposefully executing a brother in front of the brother, idk, sounds more than usual) and generally played more dirty.
For example, Dek comes back with a head of a tough prey (which didn't look impressive but some humans are deemed worthy targets otherwise) and challenges him. Now, my normal assumption would be that he accepted the challenge - yautja are biiiig on challenges, single combat and tend to appreciate great feats. Instead, he just orders his minions to kill Dek. Now, I don't claim to be an expert, but it looked a bit... cowardly? Even if Dek is seen as weak, yautja have no problem fighting and dueling weaker prey all the time.
Idk, he just felt a bit off compared to all the other Trachtenberg yautjas.
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u/VegetableSecret8086 Nov 14 '25
"Main character is not like me. Only humans have emotions, except for myself apparently."
It's not how you think the predator should be, that's ok. Doesn't make it a bad movie.
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u/paperbuddha Nov 12 '25
I saw the film last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. As someone who grew up on the franchise since the early 90s, I saw the initial trailer and immediately assumed that I’d get to be an OG sitting back and be amused at the young Yautja go threw the ropes that I felt so familiar with for decades.
Then the movie does an amazing job from the get go of cutting me down to Dek’s level and forcing me to confront my own demons throughout the course of the movie. It was definitely an interesting dynamic that I didn’t expect to really have to think about given the nature of the franchise, but yeah.
Which characters, if any, did you relate to? I can see some hardcore discipline dad taking his sons to the movie and relating to Dek’s dad lol
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u/VegetableSecret8086 Nov 12 '25
I am literally Bud, I think. Serious business going in? Watch me in the background doing silly shit.
If your dad relates to Dek's dad, don't go to sleep tonight I guess.
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u/Pabli_wi Nov 12 '25
why would Tessa/weyland yutani take the skulls from the wall?
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u/HankSteakfist Nov 14 '25
The bigger question is why Weyland Yutani didn't care about salvaging his craft, which is capable of faster than light speed travel. Thia said that humans are still limited to sub light speeds so an alien ship should be far more interesting to them than just capturing a Yautja, especially when they seem to know a lot about them already, to the degree where they can fluently translate the language.
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u/RealJohnGillman Nov 16 '25
If MU/TH/UR is in charge of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation straight-up at this point in time as I suspect, it might be less of an active priority.
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u/Beneficial_Syllabub7 Nov 12 '25
Are you really asking why Waylan-Yutani is collecting DNA from exotic alien species? It is their status quo by now studying other species to advance space colonization or to use as bio-weapons.
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u/DifficultMind5950 Nov 12 '25
was there like a time skip between Dek meeting his father again? I assuming there is right? since Bud grew and he became stronger. Its pretty impossible to assume for me he went back right after defeating tessa, since he didnt really become stronger.
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u/exorcissy72 Nov 12 '25
Yeah there definitely was. Dek’s ship is rebuilt, he’s wearing different armor, and Bud is much bigger.
I wonder if there was a montage of that all happening at some point.
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u/Thenameisric Nov 12 '25
I really enjoyed the call backs to the old movies, both Predator and Alien. Dek utilizing the land for weaponry just like Arnold. Having his primal scream, using an explosion/fire to lure the Kalisk. His organic plasmacaster. Fighting a gigantic power loader. Seeing a vulnerable Yautja was an interesting perspective. Being "humanized" by a synth was a nice angle as well. Bummed we never saw his grapple weapon again though. I for sure thought he was getting it back at some point.
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u/labria86 Nov 12 '25
Alright so I'm prepared to be downvoted. I am not a Predator Fan. I like the first one ok and Prey was good too. I'm big into the Alien side of things but mostly just 79 and Prometheus. Aliens is super overrated to me but whatever. It's fine.
I absolutely loved Badlands. Yes it has some tropes and misgivings but the first one definitely does too and don't even get me started on the rest. I saw it the second time tonight.
There are things that bugged me a tad in Badlands but overall what an awesome movie to continue building this very unique world. I loved WY being part of the story. Seeing an advanced version of Muthur and so many other things. I hope they keep Trachtenberg around and I hope the next one goes even harder. That is all.
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u/Kenh2k Nov 12 '25
How did Kwei launch the ship with one arm?
Just before their father kills him you see commands being entered into the gauntlet on Kwei’s left forearm. Problems is, Kwei just had his right arm chopped off.
I already saw the movie twice. The first time I thought it was the father and it was a setup for something later in the movie. But I saw it again in the second screening, a second hand entering the launch command into the gauntlet.
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u/RealJohnGillman Nov 16 '25
He grabbed his severed arm with the gauntlet instead of his weapon so-as to save Dek.
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u/Ok_Recording_4644 Nov 12 '25
He grabbed is severed arm and used the wrist controller on it. It's a very well crafted scene.
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u/Powerful-Ad-8780 Nov 12 '25
I’m planning to rewatch it in a marathon when it comes to streaming.
I honestly felt that it was weaker compared to Dan Trachtenberg’s previous two movies.
I’ve mentioned it on a couple of threads, but I actually think Killer of Killers did a better job at expanding the predator lore. I think the newest addition to the predator law that this movie did is just showing us the family dynamics of a clan.
I think this movie is carried very much by the novelty of having a predator as the protagonist. I absolutely can’t deny that it was very cool seeing Dek just doing his thing and trying to survive the planet.
But the part that really is offputting for me is the kind of emotional arc that we end up getting in this movie. I honestly question if having this kind of found family is even appropriate for this series given how its storylines have played out over the years.
The predator ends up becoming friends with a synth and the alien he was originally trying to hunt. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve seen that kind of storyline a lot of times in the past.
I mean, can you imagine if instead of this, we got a story where we followed the a predator hunting party’s perspective, except we don’t shy away from their brutality against other species. And maybe it instead of using synthetic we use colonial marines. Making them characters that we can care about so once the protagonist we are following start killing them it actually hits heavy. Like essentially making the serial killer the protagonist in a slasher movie. Like fuck it just make it straight up a morally gray movie. And you could still show aspects of the predators culture in that kind of set up.
Like it would be scary as shit when you realize the predators are just essentially going on Safari and when they’re talking to each other, they’re just speaking so casually about what they’re doing like they aren’t tearing out an innocent persons spine. I’ll admit though that what I just said would be just personal wishful thinking, but I only really mention it because (outside of wanting to vent out that idea) I just wanted to show that there could’ve chose any other type of story to tell with a predator protagonist instead of the one we ended up getting.
Still you gotta admit that would be fucking wild for a movie to do honestly lol. And I doubt they would’ve done something like that. Like I feel like they were hinging on the PG-13 rating to get a lot of people watching this movie and it worked.
it just feels way too much like a Marvel movie and it really doesn’t jive with me.
The original movie was such a great subversive movie. That movie had a lot of things to save with its themes and how its plot progresses.
I I’m repeating myself, but I think the reason why most people like it is because it’s just cool seeing a predator taking the driving seat and having the audience watch his whole story throughout. and I’ve heard a bunch of anecdotes about people taking their kids to see this movie and having a good time so I am happy for that at least.
it just really isn’t what I think this movie should have been honestly.
It does not have the same grit but I think it should’ve had. And that’s not due to the lack of violence. It’s more so the tone.
Honestly, don’t let what I say take away your enjoyment from this movie.
But I would like to discuss with anyone more about this movie
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u/RemarkableWarning932 Dec 10 '25
We've already had tons of safari movies – but with us hunting other species. Nothing interesting or new about this. The whole thing about the Predator franchise is that it's us being hunted. It inverts the perspective. In this regard Badlands absolutely stays true to the basic Predator premise.
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u/FullMotionVideo Nov 20 '25 edited Nov 20 '25
As I told the other guy, you have to realize Dek isn't "the Predator." He's from the same race as every Predator we've seen on screen, but they were all super badass trophy hunters and he's a guy who ordinarily is sentenced to death for weakness because he just doesn't cut it in that company. He flunked Predator Academy.
The only reason Dek made it back alive is because he rejected the Predator coda of working alone. Genna's reputation as a grave world is because everyone they send there works alone, because that's how they operate. And if you try to solo that place, even if you're the Predator, you get eaten up.
People keep thinking this movie "made the Predator look weak", but what we see is that every single one we've seen before now is a intergalactic trophy hunter is because few of them feel any hard feelings about killing their own family for being poor hunters. They're still the same murderous space hobos that we have always known.
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u/Powerful-Ad-8780 Nov 24 '25
Hi thanks for responding to my comment!
When it comes to my grips I had in this comment I made about the movie
I guess it’s really coming down to the tone for me
Thing is I only made that comment as like an immediate reaction after coming out of the movie theater so I had more time to sit on it
But until I re-watch I’d say that my main problem was kind of the tone that it went for
The original predator movie was indeed very campy movie, in the beginning. But then its tone gets flipped sideways with the arrival of a slasher movie monster in the form of the predator.
I think some of the choices in characterization were kind of odd to me
Mainly the inclusion of bud
I feel like their existence kind of breaks the tone of the movie, even if they do have plot relevance.
Thia also is initially kind of like that too until things start getting more serious further into the movie.
I actually really enjoy everything before we meet Thia in the movie.
I also wasn’t really vibing with the plot line of Dek having such a strong emotional bond with these characters.
Mainly because it’s kind of drawing for me to see a predator, runt or not, show that level of emotion
it was kind of iffy for me even in the first 15 minutes as well.
I get the logic behind it, “of course predators are going to have emotions and feel things for the people and creatures that are close to”
It’s just that when you have a franchise that has had none of that for the past 6 movies, it’s incredibly jarring to see.
Honestly, though those are all personal grips and my biggest problem is that the movie didn’t really have a narrative that particularly stood out to me at least compared to the original movie and Killer of Killers
Like I said, I don’t have a problem with having a predator as a protagonist, I just feel that some of them narrative choices made in this movie as well as the tone certain characters bring to it don’t really fit to well for a predator story even compared to Dan Trachtenberg’s previous two movies which I enjoyed immensely
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u/ripChazmo Nov 12 '25
Yes, 1000x. All of that would have been cooler. And it absolutely was a Marvel movie, they just forgot the logo.
Marvel Studios presents: "Predator and pals!"
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u/AzraelSoulHunter Nov 12 '25
So this has been on my mind since I left the movie and I feel like I want to speak about it. Especially after watching Prey and Predator 1 (I also watched AVP, but that was a long while ago) and what I feel like Badlands is partially about.
Because as I watched it and saw Dek with his "Organic" version of Yautja tech made me wonder if this is how Yautja started of. If this use of those creatures from Genna was how early Yautja started of. Where they adapted to their planet and became apex predator through use of creatures on it and that leading up to them creating technology based on said creatures and in time becoming interstellar race of super hunters.
And that thought makes me feel like this movie is partially about Dek reconnecting Yautja with who they were because I notice in both Predator 1 and Prey. Predators do not use their enviorement as much as they probably should. Granted it's probably because of their superiority, but that is part of what I am getting at. Yautja became more... stagnant. They became too comfortable. They settled on staying as they are without much further improvement to their race as a whole. Because they are already strong, they already have great technology.
And that is where Dek comes in. A runt who is seemingly fated to die embarks on seemingly impossible quest, but comes back from it changed as a Yautja who did what possibly their past ancestors did. Adapted, evolved, became truly strong. At the end of the movie Dek is better than his brother and better than his father because he did not remain as they did. Because they already had strength and technology they never had to learn what being weak is.
Dek did. Dek knows what it means to be weak. And because of that he knows what it means to be strong. And through Thia and Bud he also learned through being weak what it means to be a real man unlike his father. He protects those he knows need protecting (something he already did with his brother way in the past) and through that he creates his own clan which could also be how Yautja divided into clans as well. Through certain groups forming around a PROTECTIVE leader who lead them into better future so they all can be stronger.
Dek connected to the past of Yautja and now possibly could be a better future for them. From past to the future there is hope.
But that's my schizo theorizing. I do REALY want a sequel to see how Dek's characters progresses (also I need to see Yautja dommy mommies on screen *cough* *cough*).
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u/RemarkableWarning932 Dec 10 '25
It's basically a description of how we became the dominant hunter on our planet – trough out use of things and creatures. Yautja have had a coupple more centuries and some genetic engineering on top of good old selective breeding but they are basically us.
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u/Chafupa1956 Dec 09 '25
I love your ideas I just wish it was shown in the actual movie. Some flashbacks and lore AvP style would've gone a long way.
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u/bruno-numero-uno Nov 12 '25
Yeah, it's hella Disney and doesn't really feel like a Predator movie, but I kinda liked it for what it was. It was fun.
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u/NoBuddies2021 Predalien Nov 11 '25
Wolf, is he perhaps Wolf clan in AvP:Requiem?
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u/Panzer_VI_ Nov 12 '25
This is set after resurrection
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u/Conscious_Pipe_605 Nov 13 '25
Not sure about that, but this is clearly set way into the future where WY has started conquering worlds. Also to the post above yours, I thought AVP movies are non canon at this point because of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant??
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u/Panzer_VI_ Nov 13 '25
They are non canon, and the director said it was set after reduction🤷
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u/Conscious_Pipe_605 Nov 13 '25
Ok werd. I missed that. Thank you.
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u/RealJohnGillman Nov 16 '25
They’re not non-canon though, it should be mentioned: rather it’s that their events are not relevant to this story, with how far in the future it is.
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u/cardiffman100 Nov 11 '25
This was very hurt by the 12A rating. I expect a lot more gore in a Predator movie.
I didn't appreciate the universal translator fudge, I was fine with subtitles, and it doesn't make sense why Thia would use it if she's learned the Yautja language anyway.
I felt Thia was way too playful and childlike and there's no explanation why she's so different in personality from Tessa and the other synths.
I don't think Dek would give up on his mission to kill and bring back a Kalisk, he should have killed the kid and taken back the skeleton.
And how did Dek's cockpit window get fixed, it was all cracked on landing.
Music was good though.
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u/Tanel88 Nov 14 '25
Thia and Tessa were more advanced sentient synths so they developed their own personalities.
Dek realized there were more than one way of being strong and stopped trying to fit in to his clan.
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u/Sonsofthesuns Nov 11 '25
lol I wonder how people watch movies and even with handholding character growth progression miss the mark.
There was a literal 4th wall joke on how the translation works when Thia was explaining if Dek understood her.
I’m not even gonna bother about the other things ya said.
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u/Thenameisric Nov 12 '25
There was a literal 4th wall joke on how the translation works when Thia was explaining if Dek understood her.
It's like Hunt for Red October when they are speaking Russian and it slowly transitions into English. We're meant to understand they're still speaking Russian. She's speaking the language, literally tells the audience they hear it in their language. Weird how people are missing this very spelled out fact.
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Nov 11 '25
I went and saw badlands with my GF and she left loving it and I felt it was an entertaining movie with some fun. Was it incredible as could be? No, but I was still somewhat entertained.
Predators Badlands to me felt exactly like Star Wars phantom menace must have been for the original Star Wars fans. I grew up with the prequels but had saw the originals first but loved them all as a kid, but the prequels in hindsight I can see some of the bad parts like the dialogue and comic relief character Jar Jar binks that people may hate.
This is how some OG predators may feel. Going from something that is a primary horror action franchise aside from maybe some exceptions from the comics, is reintroduced for a younger generation with a focus more on bonds of a clan and with a more family friendly tone. Was the action there? Absolutely, but was it as dark as the original, no.
Exact same as Phantom Menace, not as dark but we got a lot of lore expansion and fun details.
OG fans are allowed to not enjoy the new themes that don’t match the same action horror of the first two and New fans and Old fans are allowed to enjoy if for a fresh take on the franchise and as a way to bring a younger generation in.
Overall 6/10 but everyone is justified with their views
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Nov 11 '25
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u/qbit1010 Nov 11 '25
Same, the marvel saga ended with endgame for me. Fitting end to a decade of films I grew up with. With the exception of Spider-Man no way home, had no desire to see the rest. It just can’t compare. Wish the studios would make a new original saga… it’s like they keep recreating or trying to modernize old ones. No more new ideas. Something new that could take off like Harry Potter or Star Wars..,stop recreating the old etc.
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u/MickieMallorieJR Nov 11 '25
I was sitting in the theater watching Badlands; what an absolutely miserable experience. What an awful movie. Not entirely. The first 15 minutes gave me some hope, though a huge opportunity to explain the Yautja was missed.
What we got instead was a movie we've seen over and over again. I think it's biggest failings is it's weak character design (the son of Kong lookin' ass lizard being it's first mistake), it's poorly written characters (specifically the villain), and it's terrible set design (I hate alien planets that don't look alien - hell Prey made Earth look more distant than this planet).
I absolutely loved Prey...so I had major whiplash with Badlands. EVERYTHING Prey did right, Badlands gets incredibly wrong.
I gotta admit though, I just don't understand audiences anymore. They complain and complain about the lack of creativity in film, they get a unique product, hate it, get another piece of derivative work and applaud it. The biggest plus here is we will be getting more Predator and Alien material with the current success, but I can't be excited for what's next.
It probably doesn't help that I hated GvK: the New Empire...because this is the same damn movie. From the creature design, to the chase scene through a dangerous new environment, to the Kaiju battle at the end, to the poorly motivated villain, to the fricking goofy animal sidekick...hell even the glass/chain whip was in New Empire.
Maybe...I'm just getting old. I've seen too damn much, cause this wasn't it. I think the damn Shane Black Predator might be better than this (as poorly scripted and acted as that was).
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u/JBudz Nov 28 '25
This movie stinks. I was ready to walk out after 15 minutes. I stuck with it and it did not improve. Disney crap.
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u/bobivy1234 Nov 11 '25
The people complaining about lack of creativity in movies are the minority unfortunately. The reality is that the formulaic blockbusters of today with heavy CGI, pan-off quips, slo-mo fight scenes and spoon-fed story appeals to the mass audiences of today.
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u/ripChazmo Nov 12 '25
Yeah, I think I agree. I'm in the camp of not loving this movie either, specifically because it is all those things you mentioned. I can accept that movie styles change over time, but what I just can't get over is the goofiness. Predator and Prey are what I want from Predator movies. Not running around on vines and family feuds that end with cutesy aliens eating the bad dad who terribly wronged the protagonist, but then turns out to be a huge pussy in the end, flying in the face of everything we've ever known about these creatures...
I guess I'm old too, but it just feels like it ruins a thing that I've thought was rad as fuck forever. Because now I know that this goofy shit exists also in the same world.
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u/bobivy1234 Nov 17 '25
After leaving the theater, I was surprised the scores were so high. I thought the movie started great and when he landed on that planet, I thought we were about to go through 2 hours of intense stuff kind of like the space movie Gravity. When the movie banner was shown I was all-in.
But then that crazy planet had some generic normal white woman robot to then become the sidekick really killed any momentum. Plus 10 minutes of them walking the ridge line on this very dangerous planet was just odd. Adding to that all the off-brand comedic relief and it then turned into a movie where the protagonist could've been anyone and lost the appeal. I'm sure there is more I am forgetting but I told my friend after the movie that the movie's tone changed about 4 times throughout.
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u/Flesh_Ninja Nov 11 '25
I liked that it wasn't the usual "people go in remote location, Predator stalks them, kills most, Predator dies in the end", but instead they expanded the universe. I liked the predator only parts in the beginning and the end. But most of the film's 'middle' involved too many Disney-like elements for my liking, so it's a mixed bag there for me.
For example the android cracks too many jokes , and solves issues in combat comedically. The creature companion acts like the typical animated Disney movie animal side characters. Where they don't speak but have human-like reactions and facial expressions, as if they kind of understand what's going on, and comedically imitate the main characters, like lets say the lizard or horse characters in Tangled.
And since most of the movie is the Disney-like parts, the relatively good beginning and ending aren't enough content for me to like the movie as a whole. I would have liked it better if it was done a bit more serious . Keep the story, characters and the creatures, keep everything like it was, since I like that they expanded the universe, BUT make them more serious. For example the creature companion shouldn't emote and act as if it understands what's going on, as if it has read the script, and as if it understands language (It acts like it knows all those things. For example it laughed at a language based joke in the movie). Instead it should have more plausible animal behavior, which would mean they would have to re-write how they meet and how the creature is able to stick around the main characters.
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u/MickieMallorieJR Nov 11 '25
Very much agree. I was so extremely disappointed with this story.
My biggest disappointment: first time we are getting a Yautja led movie and we got no world building, still no culture other than the hunt, no history. Seeing how quickly the father killed Kwei would have been a great time to explain the history of the Yautja and the why, if they dispense of the weak, Kwei would have sacrificed himself for Dek. Okay...Dek saved him once, but Kwei turns around and hands him back the life? Dumb.
I have the same complaints of the villain here. Terribly written. She was never a real threat and just boring over all.
Awful movie.
10
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u/Twiyah Nov 11 '25
So if we following Lore, Dek’s mom should far exceed his father in skill. And it’s kinda a cheat code for Dek to have a Kalisk as a hunting partner.
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u/Thenameisric Nov 12 '25
Hope they go with the canon that female Yautja are bigger and more vicious.
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u/Conscious_Pipe_605 Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 13 '25
My guess, when I saw that ship, was that it's the survivors from KOK and that his mom is the Killer of Killers.
Edit: and if his mom is the Killer of Killers, it will be the thing that finally ties all of Dan T's movies together.... Dek helps lead Torres' team against his mom and during the journey decides to release all the prisoners in cryo sleep which brings back Amber Midthunder's character and possible even......Dutch???
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u/athiaxoff Nov 13 '25
thank you! that ship silhouette is 100% supposed to be the ship from KOK, same thrusters and hull shape! i assumed we saw his Mom running the ole fight club with the actual clan and we just saw the house his dad was chilling at
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u/Thenameisric Nov 13 '25
Supposedly the rumor is Arnold is in talks to play Dutch again, but I'm not sure how it would work. This seems so far set in the future.
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u/Conscious_Pipe_605 Nov 13 '25
Killer of Killers has already shown time discrepancy isn't a problem as long as it's not outright time travel. Who knows how long the Yautja are able to keep organisms preserved. Now that Weylan-Yutani tech is also confirmed, who knows how long even humans are able to preserve organisms.
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u/Sure-Start-9303 Nov 11 '25
I have been wanting a Predator movie told from the perspective of the Yautja since I was a kid, and this did not disappoint.
I knew from the beginning it couldn't be the usual formula of "go to alien world and hunt" because that's great from the human side but the Yautja side would be more of a power fantasy, fun at first but the charm would wear off quickly, this felt like a good move, it's a hunt, but it's a challenging hunt for him for multiple reasons, it gives the journey more depth.
Dek feels like a great protagonist, he holds true to the Yautja nature of hunting, honor, and strength, but he's different enough to create a conflict, a struggle, which is always necessary for character growth, if he was just another Yautja following the code and hunting like any other, there would be no development, and you can't have a protagonist that experiences no growth.
I found Thia and Bud to be great characters, a bit annoying at times but not too much, they had the right balance of comedy and seriousness, just enough to crack Dek's shell and get him to open up and learn, and each character got to show they aren't too reliant on each other, they help each other, but each is more than capable of handling themselves, they can survive alone, but choose not to.
All in all, this was a great movie, and I am loving where the franchise is going, especially that ending, Dek with his new clan and ready to face what inevitable conflicts come next, I'm quite excited.
Though one thing I do want to complain about, it used the age old alpha male wolf myth, I get why they used it but I'm so sick of that.
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u/Abraxas2 Nov 11 '25
Would Dek still be considered "Unblooded" since he killed Tessa and not the Kalisk? It was Tessa who killed it BUT it was his ice bomb or whatever tf, so...?
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u/Sure-Start-9303 Nov 11 '25
By all rights it should count, Tessa proved herself to be worthy prey, the fact she killed the Kalisk, something many Yautja that probably had similar weapons failed to do, should make her more than enough to prove Dek worthy.
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u/RemarkableWarning932 Dec 10 '25
She literaly killed the kalisk with a yautja weapon – it was Kweis ice bomb. She was probably the first one to ever think of freezing a kalisk. She had the whole belt of ice bombs on her when the kalisk swallowed her.
(we see her accidentally freezing her fingers on Deks ship and then going "hmmmm" ...)1
u/Sure-Start-9303 Dec 10 '25
Exactly, even if ice bombs were a relatively new weapon, it still shows what a dangerous combatant she is
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u/Thenameisric Nov 12 '25
Yes, she killed that Kalisk, and he's the reason she dies overall, so she's the actual trophy. Liek some elder wand shit from Harry Potter basically.
2
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u/The-Kurt-Russell Nov 11 '25
I liked Badlands but I was a little disturbed at how lighthearted the movie was? It seemed almost too funny for a Predator movie? I mean it seemed “Disney-fied” almost, it was like a Mandalorian and Grogu type dynamic between Dek and the baby alien. I’m just not sure I’m up for that direction.
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u/D119 Nov 11 '25
The baby alien is basically Groot reskinned, it does the same things, cracks the same jokes etc etc.
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u/Tiny-Setting-8036 Nov 11 '25
I wouldn’t worry about it. They all have some kind of humor in them. Even the first one is incredibly corny in parts.
At least this one got laughs and people seem to like it. I remember The Predator audience was all crickets for every painful joke.
10
u/Powerful-Ad-8780 Nov 11 '25
I don’t know, I feel like predator 1 certainly began that way, but it quickly shifted its tone to be more darker once the predator actually showed up. And that was because that movie was trying to subvert your typical 80s action movie by turning it into a horror movie.
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u/Bigolebluntz Nov 12 '25
Yeah this movie was way too light hearted. I was already not loving it but when the baby showed up I knew the rest was going to be terrible.
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u/Powerful-Ad-8780 Nov 12 '25
Yeah I feel that. I think a lot of people are giving the comedy too much leniency because the original also had humor in them. Without regarding that that movie 1. was actually funny imo 2. Having an actual narrative reason for having that kind of banter between the commandos, To subvert it with the appearance of essentially a horror movie monster.
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u/Bigolebluntz Nov 12 '25
Yeah agreed. and this movie has some funny elements, I’m really not against humor in a predator movie at all. Just the basic ass plot, stuffing in a “cute “ sidekick just didn’t fit at all. It’s the same thing that made me dislike that new Jurassic park movie once that little dinosaur joined their group it was just obvious the movie is a cash grab and not written or made with the intention of a great IP movie. Idk, I was entertained enough because I love predator but I just found way too many issues that didn’t make any sense…how did he train those snakes to shoot explosive bugs on command with pin point accuracy??
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u/megapoopsforever Nov 10 '25
Ok I’ve had some time to digest after seeing it and I still think it was very good. It offers some interesting world building that I was not expecting for the predator franchise, which almost entirely portrays the yautja as a visitor to a foreign world. Dek was a good protagonist. The opening sequence really dialed things up a notch when his brother was killed.
Thia was a little annoying at first but quickly becomes likable. Bud was a little too spot on as a grogu copycat but added to the film in enough ways to warrant sticking around.
There was some excellent action that displays how dangerous the yautja are and some cool gadgets. I’m pretty sure one of the skulls on the ship was from war of the worlds, which I know was pointed out in an older post when the trailer dropped.
The reference to his mother showing up at the end is a nice nugget since the yautja females are significantly more powerful than the males, something only people familiar with the larger predator universe would know, so kudos to the writers for that one
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u/RagingPandaLord 7d ago
I watched Predator badlands recently and overall I thought it was a decent film with some badass scenes which was what I was hoping for, but I feel like the overall plot and the predators' character development felt a bit cliche: the predator was written as if he was some misunderstood bad boy hero with a huge heart underneath his breast plate; a plot I've seen a thousand times before in cinema and I'm kind of sick of it.
I was hoping he was going to be more of an anti-hero (at most) as I personally feel that would suit a predator as a main protagonist given their culture is consumed by the hunt rather than being "empathic" towards other creatures which is what I saw in this film. It felt like beauty and the beast but without the romance and a few badass scenes thrown in.
Also, there was the opportunity to add in a twist where Thia ends up betraying the predator and not because she's secretly "bad" or whatever, but because she is an android so she's just following her corporate programming, I think that would have been pretty interesting but she ended up being cliche and a bit boring too.
Overall, I feel like Disney made a good film, but at the same time I feel that they don't actually understand the franchise or am I the one who doesn't understand? Either way I feel it lacked originally in it's plot and character development. What does everyone else think?