It’s not often given much thought or credit, but we are blessed to be able to enjoy a world filled with “fandoms.” The 1990s were a time of monoculture, giant legends of the moment were known by every citizen (Madonna, Michael Jordan, Kurt Cobain). But here in 2025, we exist not in a culture of one team versus another–be it red vs. blue, haves vs. have-nots or one profession vs. another—instead it is a bifurcated world, of literally thousands of subcultures blooming in size, constituency and power without the world truly understanding almost all of them exist. Take your pick whichever direction you look: pickleball, Netflix’s Arcane, Pokémon, Texas Hold-‘Em Poker, blacksmithing. All of these fandoms create giant audience, spectacle, mythology and heroes, and for the average person, you probably wouldn’t hear about any of them because of the myopic approach to coverage that mainstream media takes in its curation. One such fandom that has always been massive in size is the legion of fans enamored by what are known as the Predator and Alien franchises. While each has their own, totally unrelated origins, they are often lumped together because of a beloved Dark Horse Presents comic book addendum that brought the two fictional monsters together called Aliens Vs. Predator in 1990 (several years later, two AVSP movies would be made that were more violent than good). Some of you reading this may find surprise in that asking, “The film where the guy says, ‘Get to the choppa!’?” Yes, the very one. Beyond monsters killing humans, there was always one aspect that united fans of these franchises: a passion for the lore, scientific creativity, design of the monsters and their impact on the world. It’s that world building that was always one of the main drawing factors. The new film Predator: Badlands is a master class in in how lore building and creativity can make for a breathtaking cinematic experience.

While the first film Predator became one of the most beloved of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1980’s action vehicles and Predator 2 starring Danny Glover was a solid but perhaps almost too violent and cynical look at our world, not all Predator films have lived up to the quality and cult-classic status as the first two. The 2010 release Predators and 2018 The Predator had their moments but seemed steeped in the nostalgia for the original film rather than bringing anything amazingly new to the intellectual property of the series. Dan Trachtenberg (who initially directed the brilliant mashup genre thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane) took the helm of the franchise with Hulu-first release of Prey in 2022. For the first time, a Predator film was a massive hit and a critical rave almost instantly. Prey was an origin story of sorts, showing some of the earliest times the Yautja (that’s the formal name for the Predator species) came to Earth to hunt in 1719. On the back of that, Trachtenberg directed another Predator film, this time an animated anthology movie, Predator: Killer of Killers released just earlier this year. Well Predator fans rejoice, as Trachtenberg took the sometimes-mishandled alien species and gave it a movie that lives up to the wonder, lore building and inventiveness that made it a success all the way back in 1987. Predator: Badlands is an immaculate effort that powerfully sticks the landing.

This film opens with an expansion of the background on the Yautja, giving a viewport into the clan-based social strata where strength and conquest are prime society values. Weakness is a liability, and sensitivity is only another form of weakness, all deemed necessary to be expunged from existence. Dek is a young, and small for his species Yautja Predator working hard to earn both his personal cloaking device (a staple for the Predator film’s hunting arsenal) and his brother Kwei’s approval. Before long, tragedy strikes and his journey to what they refer to as a “Death Planet” named Genna to hunt an apparently unkillable creature called a Kalisk is now doubling as Dek’s rite of passage and a quest for redemption. For those that are students of exceptional video games, there are several bits of this construction that instantly evoke some of the best archetypes the games industry has produced since the year 2000. Our first look at Genna, at first glance a seemingly carnage filled battle-planet, evokes the jaw-dropping imagery one might see in a vista from Shadow of the Colossus or God of War. A simple title card greets you to the world and then we’re off and running.

Dek is played by newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, an actor hailing from New Zealand. This is an immense challenge as his Yautja warrior character speaks only in his native tongue and the famously fanged face of his character is heavily animated over Schuster-Koloamatangi’s performance. Props to both the visual effects department and Schuster-Koloamatangi as there is a crap-ton of effort here to bring forth the character development of Dek, and one that requires more stage direction than complex dialog. Nearly every animal, bug or plant of the resident flora/fauna seems evolved specifically to kill everything on sight.

Quickly, Dek stumbles upon a Weyland-Yutani synthezoid named Thia, one that has literally had her torso and legs ripped off (Aliens fans will instantly understand this Weyland-Yutani connection). Thia is played by Elle Fanning (Super 8, Maleficent, A Complete Unknown) and is pretty much perfect casting for what the role needed as she pretty much burns up the screen with likable charisma. From the first moment she aids Dek saving him from being killed she’s instantly funny and charming. We won’t discuss why she’s on Genna or what her goal is in aiding Dek becaused you really need to experience the story arc for yourself, but again harkening back to video game archetypes this is reminiscent of hero/buddy combos done brilliantly and humorously in games like Ratchet & Clank. For a story that has numerous Monster Hunter-level battles with terrifying beasties—another prime video game connection—any moment without action Fanning’s Thia is charmingly musing on the moment or driving the character development forward. It’s the necessary counterweight that helps balance a story that could at its surface appear to be a glorification of big game hunting, driving it to something far more relatable and gratifying.

Any film is tough to review without inching into spoilers, but this is one that it’s really worth absorbing not knowing some of the key things that make it exceptional. Just know, like the legendary Super Metroid, this film is teaching you something basically every step of what you’re witnessing. It might seem like a series of escalating challenges, but the story by Dan Trachtenberg and screenplay by Patrick Aison & Brian Duffield flips your expectations upside down as you rocket towards the final sequence. Just like the very first Predator film, Predator: Badlands may not be a story about macho excess after all, but you’ll want to drink this in to see it rendered home. Since the release of the famed Lord of the Rings trilogy, and perhaps recently debated even more heavily in regards to the letdown finale of the Game of Thrones series, the value of a quality “stick the landing” finish has proven to be a differentiator between something good and something truly great. Predator: Badlands manages a killer ending sequence as satisfying as any sci-fi action film could hope for (save maybe James Cameron’s masterpiece Aliens). And all the while leading up to that ending, the viewer gets heaping helpings of lore and world building as everything builds to that climax. Lore, lore, lore and more lore. Lore about Dek’s weapons, lore about the creatures of Genna, lore about just what Thia was doing on the planet prior to being bisected and lore about the Yautja and their species’ philosophies. This is all world-building on steroids, and will likely inspire watch parties, both video and tabletop RPG game adaptations and further sequels for decades to come.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Make no mistake, Dan Trachtenberg fully understood the assignment and nailed the tumbling-down-the-rabbit-hole nerdy heart of this fandom. It’s all inventiveness and creativity hard-wired to lose yourself in action fun on a sub-lightspeed rocket towards a super rewarding finale. Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi deserve heaping helpings of praise for so expertly rendering their characters. In lesser hands, this could have been massively hamfisted or awkward, but you lose yourself in the building relationship between Dek and Thia instantly. Arguably the best film in the ever-growing Predator franchise, Predator: Badlands is a modern science fiction/action classic.