Predator: Badlands Deservedly Crushed At The Box Office This Weekend As Director Dan Trachtenberg Has Officially Revived The Franchise And Should Be Given The Keys To Do Whatever He Wants With It

Daniel Perez. Getty Images.

For years the Alien/Predator franchise had been in the gutter. Where to begin? AVP: Requiem really set us down a bad path. Probably didn't help that the entire movie was filmed in a dark pouring rain, but man did that movie suck. Predators had at least a fun concept with a bunch of bad people sent to a planet to be hunted, but it still didn't stick the landing. Prometheus and Alien: Covenant were interesting enough to give the Alien side of things some hope. Then came The Predator which really made everyone feel terrible about how things were going. If we were on any positive track, that movie sent us off a fucking cliff. You had a bad feeling with Olivia Munn being the star, but holy fuck was that bad.  

All of a sudden director Dan Trachtenberg came along and came up with Prey, which if you haven't seen yet go check out on Hulu. That movie absolutely rocks and it may very well have been the lifeline this franchise needed. 

On the other side we got Alien: Romulus paired with the TV show Alien: Earth. Both were pretty good in my opinion, even if Alien: Earth's ending left much to be desired. They weren't perfect, but they did give you the vibe of what an Alien movie/show should be. 

Next up? Predator: Badlands with Trachtenberg back on the sticks. Admittedly the trailer didn't give you the best hope. Thankfully that meant nothing as the movie itself pleasantly surprised. Not only did it receive well with fans like myself, but it crushed at the box office too. Based off these numbers, we're going to be see plenty more of the Yautja. 

Was it the perfect movie? Did it top the original? No, I don't think anything should be able to top the Arnold Predator. Was it better than Prey? I'd definitely hear an argument, but I still have that one by a nose. What it did was convince me that Trachtenberg should be given full rein to do whatever he wants with these movies. He's got the vision. Let's quickly talk about it…

SPOILERS

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Positives: 

-Elle Fanning's character as this sidekick to Dek initially gave me pause. When you see this is where the movie is headed in the trailer you instantly think it's gonna be a mess. You imagine Disney ruined yet another franchise by injecting some bullshit into it. Well, Elle's Thia was actually a really nice component to the movie, even if it probably was a mistake to cut off her lower half for most of it. 

Lionel Hahn. Getty Images.

But she actually was really good in her role. A nice surprise. Her comedic timing helps make the movie fun. I like her way more than her sister Dakota, whose talent really was just screaming really loud in her movies. 

-The world-building of Genna is fantastic. The introduction of all the things on this place that are trying to kill you is very cool.

-Dek's Yautja is not a suped up, expert killing-machine like the ones were accustomed to seeing. That's the point of the movie though. Tweets like this make zero fucking sense. You are missing the point!

It's not like they fucked up his design by accident and just botched what the Yautja are. Dek's brother is ordered by their father to kill Dek because he's a weakling and an embarrassment to the family. Dek then escapes on the ship, set out to prove to himself that he can become worthy to his clan, fighting for the honor of his brother. He's meant to appear like a runt because that's what he is! He's still learning the ways to become this perfect killing machine. As the movie progresses he starts to figure it all out and at the end when seemingly at his lowest, he prepares himself for the big battle by strategically using what Genna offers him. In a way, it reminded me of Arnold gearing himself up for the final battle, by using whatever he could find in the jungle as weapons. I don't know if that was an intentional mirror or not, but I enjoyed it. Ties back what we've learned about Genna in the first half of the film and uses it to win in the end.

-The concept of the Kalisk was sick. The first time it regenerates was a great visual. 

-Bud ending up being the offspring of the Kalisk was a good twist. 

-I was nervous about the Yautja getting actual dialogue and lines in this movie, but I think it played fine. 

Negatives

-The actual fight scenes with the Kalisk were pretty underwhelming, For being the focal point of the plot I expected more. Great concept of a big bad monster, but not something I remember the movie for. 

-I hate when movies copy bar for bar something that was iconic in an original movie. The Jurassic Park movies do this as nauseam and it's insane no one has stepped in to suggest some originality. I guess the only way for the evil twin synthetic of Elle Fanning to battle Dek is to get into some sort of robotic device, but I rolled my eyes when she got in the Ellen Ripley power loader. Maybe I'm just looking for something to complain about here. 

I don't know what the plan is next for Trachtenberg and this franchise, but I'm excited for it. Apparently Predator vs. the Nazis was on the table at some point. Do we revisit that? 

Maybe now that both Alien and Predator are headed in the right direction we try to run back AVP the right way? Whatever it is, just give the keys to Dan and get out of the way. 

P.S. In the quick shot of the Yautja's trophy wall, it's been confirmed the Alien from Independence Day's skull is the one dead center. Fun little easter egg for ya.