PREDATOR BADLANDS (2025)

 I was sitting at dinner with my brother complaining about recent remakes and trips to over done franchises where they have simply given us repeats or visually spectacular retreads to hide that they are creatively bankrupt. An hour later I'm watching PREDATOR BADLANDS and I'm enjoying the hell out of a film that actually rethinks what the franchise could be, with the result I found one of my most favorite films of 2025.

To be fair, the Predator franchise actually is one of the best. The first film is a classic. The second one changed things up by moving things to a city. The Alien films at least tried to mix things up. Predators was a clever rethink. Prey and the animated film were actually good little stories. Only The Predator film which sought to restart it all fell on its face. I was hopeful that BADLANDS would continue being interesting and I was more than rewarded.

The plot has a "weakling" predator going to kill an unkillable monster on another planet. Along the way he fights monsters and meets a synthetic human (Elle Fanning)  who was torn in half. Fanning will help our hero so that she can get her legs back.

I won't say more because the less you know going in the better you will like this.It does not go as expected, and even when it kind of does, you won't care because the characters and storytelling are spot on. The characters are so good you won't mind the occasional weak CGI.

And if the world were just Elle Fanning would get an Oscar nomination for her performance here. It covers the spectrum from A to Z and is just as good as it gets. Seriously watch the small ticks and gestures that give depth to her role. Most people won't notice because of the monsters, but I did and she should be up for awards, okay maybe not winning them but in the discussion.

I love this film. Its a wonderful film about finding one's place. It is a brilliant coming of age film but with violence and monsters. This is why I go to the movies, to go somewhere I've never been and see tales that move my heart.

This is cinema of the highest order.

One of the best films of the year- see it on the BIG screen.

(a word of warning a lot of this is subtitled since the Predator speaks his own language and isn't dubbed)