Dan Trachtenberg Archives - Sean Kelly On Movies

A Yautja runt seeks to prove himself by hunting an unkillable predator in Predator: Badlands. Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a runt from Yautja Prime, deemed too weak to survive. Dek hopes to prove himself by travelling to the dangerous planet of Genna and hunting the seemingly unkillable Kalisk. Before he leaves, Dek is saved from execution by his brother, who Dek's father, Njohrr, subsequently kills. Upon landing on Genna, Dek comes across Thia (Elle Fanning), a damaged Weyland-Yutani synthetic, who survived an encounter with the Kalisk. Dek reluctantly takes Thia along to act as a "tool" and provide data on all the dangers of Genna. However, Thia's sister Tessa (Fanning) is also after the Kalisk and won't let Dek disrupt her mission. Predator: Badlands Synopsis Three years after the pre-colonial set Prey, co-writer and director Dan Trachtenberg once again reimagines the Predator franchise with Predator: Badlands. This time around, the alien Yautja is made the protagonist of the story. New Zealand-born Samoan-Tongan actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi plays the Yautja runt Dex, who is an outcast from his clan, due to his perceived weaknesses. Dex aims to prove himself by going on a hunt to the extremely lethal planet of Genna. However, the dangers of the planet almost overwhelm Dex until he is assisted by the android Thia, played by Elle Fanning. Dex reluctantly makes Thia his companion as he continues his hunt for the Kalisk. My Thoughts on Predator: Badlands While viewed as a companion to the Alien franchise, complete with two crossover films, the Predator franchise is probably more notable for the number of attempts to continue the franchise past the original 1987 Predator and 1990's Predator 2. 2010's Robert Rodriguez-produced Predators ended up being a standalone one-off, with the same being said about Shane Black's Predators from 2018, which is also my personal least favourite of the franchise, due to Black's problematic depiction of autism. Based on the fact that it went straight to streaming, there was arguably little expectation for Dan Trachtenberg's Prey when it was released in 2022. However, the film arguably breathed enough new life into the Predator franchise that Trachtenberg was given full creative control of the franchise. This includes the animated film Predator: Killer of Killers, released to streaming earlier this year, and now Predator: Badlands. Without a doubt, Dan Trachtenberg's creative decision to not only make the Yautja the protagonist of Predator: Badlands, but also give him a more humanoid appearance, is polarizing to purist fans of the Predator franchise, who would prefer the franchise stick to its gory sci-fi horror roots, rather than take this film's more action-adventure route. However, Predator: Badlands is arguably still a gory film, though the violence is primarily carried out against non-humanoid creatures, which results in this being the second in the franchise, after the original Alien vs. Predator, to receive a PG-13 rating. For the type of film that it is, I have to say that Predator: Badlands makes for satisfying popcorn entertainment. Yes, this is not the same Predator that hangs skinned victims upside down and rips out spines, but it also doesn't erase those films either. After the success of Prey, Dan Trachtenberg is perfectly free to explore new directions for a franchise that has its fans, but also many starts and stops over its nearly four-decade existence. Before concluding, I want to address one criticism of Predator: Badlands that gets on my nerves, and that is blaming the Disney acquisition of 20th Century Fox for grievances about Dan Trachtenberg's direction with the film. This is an incredibly lazy criticism that purposely ignores both Prey and last year's Alien: Romulus, two R-rated sci-fi horror films that were made after the acquisition. Yes, Predator: Badlands has a cute alien sidekick named Bud, who is a target of these Disneyification criticisms, but it also feels like fanboys being cynical for the sake of it. Like it or not, Predator: Badlands is a film that dares to try something new with this franchise. While not perfect, props should be given to Dan Trachtenberg for not sticking to the same formula that was used since the original 1987. Not everyone will like this direction, but it was well worth trying.

Dan Trachtenberg

Predator: Badlands

Prey

The Prey

10 Cloverfield Lane