Predator: Badlands, from the perspective of a newbie.

Now as the title says, I am a newbie, meaning i have absolutely no clue when it comes to the predator franchise, like I do not know who or what a Predator is, other than an online creep or that one topic in my tenth grade biology textbook.

I also watch K dramas from time to time so maybe Jeong Gu Won also counts.

But apart from Ol' Jeongy I really don't know what those four fanged demons are up to...

Which is all well and good because this movie begins by describing what exactly a Yautja is, which apparently is the species of the titular Predators in this franchise.

All things considered Predator Badlands is a pretty self contained movie, which is all well and good because I feel like this is one of those ones that people are gonna use as a jumping on point.

The two main characters of this movie, Dek of the Yautja and Thia the android, or... half of her anyways...

Have to my knowledge never been introduced before, and are definitely original characters for this movie... which makes this their introductory movie and the whole experience a lot more accessible to new viewers.

Yes, many of us won't get the references that other people might, like I for one am ready to bet that the Weyland Yutani Corporation has some pre existing lore in the shared Alien-Predator universe...

I mention Alien because in 2004 some genius decided that the action and horror need to clash in the epic Alien vs Predator Franchise, which is apparently canon to the Predator franchise but not to the alien Franchise.

So seeing that this happens on an alien world for the most part, this could very well be an Alien thing and not a predator thing, I mean who knows maybe those guys are still trying to make that shit happen, even after the Alien movies contradicted the crossover lore, but whatever.

Coming back to the point of this movie, it is the classic dynamic duo story where one is the silent, stoic, deadly hunter and the other is the chirpy overly talkative side kick, and as they travel together the two of them develop a budding rivalry/friendship that helps them both grow into better versions of themselves.

Both supporting each other throughout their journey of growth.

I mean for Dek, it is kind of a do or die situation because he is of the Yautja and they cull their weak, in fact his brother was supposed to kill him in his sleep but then he decided he at least deserves a first hunt...

Their Father disagrees though, and Kwei is killed in an attempt to save his brother.

Not for much because his little Bro decided on the deadliest planet in the entire fucking universe, i.e. Genna, and to go on Genna to hunt the deadliest of deadly creatures ever i.e. the Kalisk.

The Kalisk is known to be the Apex Predator of the planet Genna, it is literally death incarnate.

Or so the stories say.

You see in Nature, a lot of Flora and Fauna that have "I'll Kill you" Powers are actually doing it as a form of Defense or because they need food, very few if any animals kill for fun as a nature of their species itself.

Can't say about individuals from a species.

The planet Genna appears to be no different, a lot, and I mean a lot of the species native to this planet have fatal features, like the plants that have pods that explode and release toxic spines that pierce and paralyze all who dare to get close.

Those lizards that spray acid spit, but really just need to be fed to satiate them.

The blades of grass that are razor sharp, and the rhinoceros like animals that graze on them called the Bone Bison, all appear to be adaptations to live in extremely harsh conditions.

But obviously that's not all the creatures, there are also those who really are true predators, like the pterodactyl like species that flies around waits for the spines to immobilize you before eating you alive.

Or the Lunar bugs that have long tentacles that look like tree roots and pick off unsuspecting victims that wander off into the forest.

There is of course the Kalisk, the Apex amongst all the predators, that quite literally eats the Bone Bison, something that is powerful enough to not only survive but Graze on the Razor Grass and has hide thick enough to deflect the Yautja sword.

But we also cannot forget the biggest predator of them all, man! Or more specifically the Weyland Yutani Corporation, who have sent an all synth mission here to specifically hunt for the Kalisk.

Because you see the Kalisk aside from being a super predator, is also just an animal trying to survive, and since so many people come to kill/capture it, it has an insane regeneration capability.

And that is what the Corporation wants.

Two hunters after the same prey, and I know I am not amiss in calling the Weyland Yutani Corp a predator because in the very first scene we see one of the synths, Thia, she frees herself from a tangle and then jump kills the flying predator and saves Dek, that is how the two end up forming a team.

Speaking of teams, Thia has a sister(at least she sees it that way) called Tessa, who had together been attacked by the Kalisk, after which Thia lost her legs and Tessa lost another chance with the Weyland Corp as they threaten decomission after repeated failure.

Although Thia clearly is a hopeless romantic about such things, it was very clear from the very start that Tessa has a bit of a villainous streak in spite of them both having a high empathy drive.

But that pays off a lot later, first to add to their team we have bud, a monkey like creature that spits on Dek to mark him as one of their clan.

But Dek has a lot of growing to do about what it means to truly be a predator before he accepts this new creature, he takes Thia around because he sees her as a tool to use.

Thia tries to teach him about wolves, but Dek isn't ready yet.

The two are in fact quite soon caught by Tessa alongside the Kalisk, and caught is the right word because Tessa plans to use the Yautja as a specimen, in spite of him being a runt scheduled for execution, and the Kalisk for its regen, and when Thia protests, Tessa decides to decommission her and "culling the weak".

The third act of the movie is pretty much what one would expect, where Thia helps Dek escape, and Dek having had all his gear taken by Tessa, goes around the planet making makeshift gear, Armor from Bone Bison, shoulder gun from the acid Lizard, Razor Grass for the wrist blade and the exploding spine for a makeshift grenade.

Dek attacks the Weyland Base and makes sure Thia's legs can reach her, which she had failed to glue back on previously.

In this process, he meets Bud once again, and realizes that it is the child of the captured Khalisk, something which is hinted at earlier when it jumps into the Razor Grass to eat some sweet sweet Bone Bison.

The final act of the movie is a repaired Thia and a newly armored/weaponized Dek fighting a Yautja geared Tessa in a giant mech alongside Bud the Kalisk child and a freed Kalisk.

It seems the Kalisk just ate Tessa, until she pulls a Drax and kills it from within with a freeze grenade.

So as one would expect, Dek and Thia are the ones to finally kill Tessa.

The final scene sees Dek return to kill his Father and take back his cloak, when the Father tries to play coy by welcoming him back, he brings out Bud the Kalisk which eats the dad, good cumuppance I say.

You would think it is over, because the credits roll, but then, we all have seen Invincible.

So all in all, I think this movie has convinced me to get into this franchise finally, I mean it is not very complex, but Demon Slayer ha taught me that something does not need to be complex to be impactful, it just needs to be accessible and know what it actually wants to say, and then say it well with proper impact, and be well written...

And this film is all of that, not to mention it has absolutely gorgeous visuals and a banger soundtrack, neither of which I can show as it is still in its theatrical run.