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He’s an alien hunter – proud to be the “killer of killers.” She is an android collector of alien specimens, programmed with a cheerful talent for commentary, even in mortal danger. Together with a cute creature, i.eAs they have the agility of a rhesus monkey and the face of a pug, they have to fight their way through dangerous landscapes.
From the jungle to space
And yes – when one of the two tears out the spine of a monster and holds it up triumphantly, there is no doubt: we are in the middle of a buddy comedy. One where the co-star is a Predator. [Einspieler: „The Odd Couple“-Thema].
Once this killer from deep space was just another obstacle standing between Arnold Schwarzenegger and his survival in the Central American jungle. But Stan Winston’s legendary design made him a cult figure. Sequels, comics, video games, action figures and even an animated film followed. He was even allowed to fight a duel with the Xenomorphs. A star was born.
The sixth film in the series – or eighth if you count the “Alien vs. Predator” spin-offs – stays true to the mix of B-movie action, pulp horror and sci-fi. Large parts of the dialogue are in “Predatorese”, the language of the Yautja.
The action takes place on two planets that look as if they were created together by Frank Frazetta and Roger Dean. But at its core, “Predator: Badlands” is a comedic road movie story – with as many laughs about unlikely partners as gallons of alien slime.
Family strife and bounty hunting
The young Predator Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) wants to prove himself in the traditional rituals of growing up in order to finally earn his invisibility cloak. To do this he has to defeat his brother Kwei (Mike Homik). But when his father banishes him because of his supposed weakness, Dek vows to capture the head of a Kalisk – an almost immortal monster on the inhospitable planet Genna.
There he meets the android Thia (Elle Fanning), a creation of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation – yes, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. She was also sent to capture the Kalisk. This officially merges the “Alien vs. Predator” canon. Their first meeting: a pterodactyl, poisonous plants and a nest. Thia is trapped – and cut in half. Dek helps her find her legs again, quickly straps her to her back, and together with the monkey dog “Bud” her adventure begins. [Einspieler: „Movin’ Right Along“ aus „The Muppet Movie]“.
Between splatter and slapstick
What follows is a mixture of thrill, chaos and language confusion – it’s amazing how much humor there is in “Predatorese” dialogues. Fanning brings a Pollyanna-like innocence and menacing coldness to her android as she plays the evil twin version. Director Dan Trachtenberg, who revived the franchise with Prey (2022), is once again staging spectacular monster attacks, breathtaking landscapes and grotesque humor.
Dek muses about “strength through dominance” and beheads opponents – and yet the punch lines still fly. A sequence in which Thia defends herself against Weyland-Yutani mercenaries despite missing legs is already cult.
Morals and mandibles
At the end, before the final boss fight, the tragic climax and the post-credit scene, a message flashes through: It doesn’t matter which murderous family you are born into, but which one you choose. Or to put it another way: true hunting success is the friends we make along the way.
“Predator: Badlands” dares to do what no other film has done before – humor between blood and goo. When the franchise reaches out into new genres, one can only say: more of this, please – perhaps as a teen musical rom-com with Predator?