Predator Badlands (2025) Movie Review

Hello

everyone and welcome to the concession stand here on the KB radio network.

I am your host Kevin Reed and this is the review of Predator

Badlands the

7th.

overall film in the predator franchise the night if you want to count the alien versus predator films which i don't and so this is the sixth live action film uh this is the second predator

film that we're receiving just this year yes we got a uh animated predator film predator killer of Killers,

which premiered on Hulu earlier this year,

which was

Awesome.

That film was directed by Dan Trachtenberg.

He also directed the last live-action adaptation to this franchise with Prey.

And now with Predator Badlands,

this film stars Elle Fanning and

Demetrius Strutter,

I believe his name is,

who plays our lead Predator in this film.

Predator Badlands tells the story of a young predator outcast from his

clan finding a unlikely ally on his journey in search of the ultimate adversary this is the first film in this storied franchise to tell

the story from the perspective of the predator we this is uh this is a trope in 2025 we getting films that we would normally see from you know

our perspective or the hero's perspective and we're flipping them you know earlier this year we got a ghost story that was told from the perspective of a ghost and about a month ago we got a haunted

house story told from the perspective of a dog and both of those films were good they were good films you know because they were unique different original and this is the same thing

Unique,

different,

and original.

We're used to seeing a predator as a predator,

man.

Just an ultimate killing machine.

An unstoppable killing machine on a hunt that can't be negotiated with,

can't be reasoned with,

but is out to kill,

is out to hunt the biggest prey there is.

And in most films,

it's here on Earth.

And who is the most deadliest villain?

humans humans we are the most deadliest villains so uh or or pray i should say not villains not all of us are villains even though it's hard to it's hard to uh look at it from that perspective if you look at the news and on social media but there's neither here nor there but

this one this film we don't have not one single human being in this film you know character wise there are no humans to be hunted.

it is predators and scents and other creatures that's it you know i know a lot of uh uh uh how could i put it a lot of determent came from the fact that this film is pg-13 when

when people found out it was pg-13 immediately they turned their brains off a predator film pg-13 i don't want to see it.

Let me assure you.

that don't mean nothing the only reason is pg-13 is because there's no human beings the violence is there you get decapitations within the first 10 minutes of this movie there's no there's no skipping on

the violence in a predator this is probably the most violent predator or one of the most violent predator movies you're gonna find very violent it's just no red blood

there's a lot of other blood but no red blood this is uh definitely a violent film i had such a good time with this movie i was super excited for this film being a fan of

predator i've loved predator from the beginning i remember watching it with my dad the original predator with arnold schwarzenegger and call weathers and jesse ventura and just in

ah of this movie because never seen a movie like this before you know that a movie with these mercenaries or soldiers of fortune

And just big,

burly,

just full of testosterone in that movie.

I mean,

everybody looked like they were on steroids.

I'm not trying to start any rumors here.

But just nothing but big muscles,

big guns,

and big explosions.

And,

you know,

it was the 80s.

It was the

80s. And a typical

80s action movie.

And then he got flipped on his head and turned into this sci-fi kind of a horror.

film um when the predator showed up and it was like wow and he's taken out all of these guys who on their worst day can destroy all of us you know and it was it was just amazing and we get predator 2 and you know all the other predator films in the franchise and it was the law of diminishing returns pretty much after all of that.

But...

Recently,

with Dan Trachtenberg being the helm of this franchise,

you know,

starting with Prey,

he really,

I'm not going to say rejuvenized this franchise,

but he just dumped a whole gallon of steroids into it and turned it up to 11.

Prey started off,

it gave you that same feel and vibe of the original.

You know,

it felt...

contained um in that story and it was one of my favorite movies of the year that year it came out and so when killers of uh killer of killers came out earlier this year animated once again a little worried

because it was animated but no it was great i was super excited for bad lads and i already knew when they announced this that

dan trackenberg had already said that he was going to tell it from this perspective of the of the predator okay that's interesting you know because we we look at these things as mindless creatures even though they're super

intelligent highly intelligent uh have technology out of this world and um go on these hunts but they don't speak they have don't show any emotion

or nothing like that so it's like okay how are we going to tell that story it was told in such a good way i i honestly now i'm gonna tell you straight off the bat it's not a perfect movie it's not perfect but it is probably the most fun i've

had in this franchise in a very long time uh speaking of prey going back to that

Disney 20th Century Studios,

they messed up.

They messed up when they dumped that film on Hulu because

I guess they didn't have too much faith in the franchise,

didn't think it was going to be a money make and be well received like it was.

So they kind of lost money,

even though it was highly rated on Hulu,

still is,

I believe,

and rightfully so.

But they lost millions because seeing that in the theater would have been a joy.

and so they put this in theaters and it was a joy i'm so glad this was made for the theaters there's no other way to watch this movie and it's this movie is so beautifully shot oh my god this is a gorgeous film let's

start with l fanning let's talk about l fanning here man i've been a fan of l fanning since super 8 you remember that movie uh jj abrams films from a couple of years ago.

I've been a fan of hers since she was little.

Of course,

she's the sister of Dakota.

And so,

you know,

she has a little talent in her.

But I never really paid attention to her acting skills.

You know what I'm saying?

I always enjoyed her and what she was in.

But I never really looked at her as being somebody who can carry a movie.

She's not the quote-unquote star,

per se.

Because that's the predator.

Man,

she almost stole it.

I'm sorry.

She stole this movie.

Elle Fanning was incredible.

And I'm not going to get into it too much because I don't think the trailers really spoiled it.

I'm not going to spoil it either.

But her character is much more...

How can I say this without spoiling it?

Well,

I'll just leave it at that.

I'll leave it up before I get in trouble.

Great.

She was awesome.

She was awesome every time she's on screen.

I'll put it like that.

Every time she's on screen,

she is fantastic.

Fantastic.

The actor who plays...

the predator here our our hero oddly to say he also did a good job under that under all those prosthetics and i guess with the help of some cgi as well with his makeup that's another thing that a lot of people uh

were kind of upset with going off of some posts and comments that i read in in regards to this was his makeup he doesn't look like a predator that we know from past films and And he doesn't.

and the movie explains why you know because i wasn't at first i don't know about this but it is a reason for this and is a reason uh why his character is the way that he is and it

worked it absolutely worked it's it's so simple and it worked the planet that he's on the planet that he goes on this hunt.

ultimate hunt is it's described as the worst the most dangerous planet on earth on earth that makes no sense the in the universe and it is everything literally everything on

that planet can kill you every little bit the trees can kill you the flowers can kill you the little bitty bugs can kill you everything thing.

on this planet can kill you and it was a fun adventure for this character you know it was like playing a video game it was different levels different stages that he went through to get to this ultimate kill that he was after that is pretty much impossible that

is the one thing you cannot kill and and that was the mission he set himself out on and man that creature

My God,

I'm sitting there.

I was worried for

I was worried for a predator,

which talks or speaks to Dan Trachtenberg to make you feel sympathy for a predator.

And they did it the way that the predator in Elle Fanning's character developed this buddy relationship in the film is also.

well earned and it worked for the most part uh and i say most part which leads me into my little negatives about the film there is a lot of humor in this movie and i'm i'm cool with the humor i'm cool with the humor it

was just a lot and a couple a couple of moments were it just didn't connect with me and now there were a couple of people in the theater i was in who

kind of chuckled but i was yeah it was it was a nice joke but i'm here to see predator i didn't want to laugh it was just it was just kind of misplaced jokes to me you know i i didn't i

don't know maybe i'm just being a purist uh and that that's that's another negative if if you are a purist a predator purist that just want to see a predator go out on a hunt

and kill and is a big fan of the previous films and don't want a new direction to this character this probably not going to be the movie for you you i can see somebody saying they hate it you know who

is a giant fan of the first film i i can see that happening and i wouldn't i wouldn't fight you on it but if you

go into this with an open mind knowing that you're getting a new story a different story and it isn't like it's that same predator this isn't the predator uh a flashback or a prequel to the predator that went and hunt down uh danny glover in part two or

the one that hunted down on a swartzenegger in the jungle no this this is a completely different predator and you would expect

all of them to be different we're all different why can't the the Ausha be different and that's the name of their species Ausha and so i i you know just go in with open mind if you're that type of person and trust me i'm the i am the biggest predator i've seen every single one of these movies love

them all for their own particular even the predator which which which sucks but

There are some redeeming moments in that movie that makes it watchable.

But

I don't stand on,

oh,

this isn't my predator.

You know,

that's not the case.

This was...

Super fun.

Those are my only real negatives about the movie.

Everything else was great.

The action was fantastic.

There was,

it was one more.

There's a moment,

well not a moment,

but like the first act,

it opens great.

The first

15-20 minutes were fantastic.

It then it kind of hits the brakes a little bit,

slows down until we get to the second act.

And then it ramps back up again.

And once it ramps back up at that moment,

it never stops.

But that moment between the opening of the film and the start of the second act of the film,

it's a little dry.

It got a little boring.

But once it ramps back up,

you forget all about that.

So it doesn't affect my greeting or my excitement for the movie that little period.

And it only lasted for about 15 minutes.

you know and it was some interesting stuff in there more story driven at that point but it just uh i wanted a little more action in that area and i didn't get it but just be patient because because there

is plenty in store is a lot of action here a lot of brutality in this film a lot of uh and dare i say a lot of heart there is some heart

in this movie uh i had a really good time is it one of the best predator films of all time no i still i would probably put it i will put it third yeah

third uh just behind the original prey and then this that will be it and then right behind that will be predator 2 and uh

predators yeah i'll probably do it that way now that's that's me not sitting down and really ranking i don't think i ever ranked the predator films i probably did but it it changes from week to week but

it's up there it's it's it's up there it's definitely three or four but right at right now it's the third best predator film in the franchise and that's not bad out of nine tries but damn tracking bird good job

man he he just give him the pro give him this franchise and let him cook he is three for three with me predator badlands gets a letter grade of a b plus yeah

man a really good film it's odd that this came out in november it felt like a summer movie i'm sitting in there and it felt like a summer release but we're in november

it was a hard time to release this movie i guess they didn't want to get lost in the sauce with all of those big releases and all this here but hey it's all good i don't care when it came out i'm just happy that i was here to see it i would like to know did

you check out predator badlands did you enjoy it do you plan to go check it out and what is your favorite predator movie of all time let me know

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to the concession stand here on the kb radio network everybody thank you for joining me for this review of predator badlands want you all to know that i love you continue to love everyone and until we speak again you

all be blessed

Predator Badlands (2025) Movie Review

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