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I'm surprised there isn't a thread already. I'm watching it in mere minutes and I'm pretty excited.
Remarkably, this is the first Predator film that I'll see in theaters. I didn't get into the first two films until years later and I had no interest or any of the following sequels. I did finally watch Predators and largely enjoyed it.
I would've watched Prey if it had been released in theaters, alas. Ironically, because it was a streaming release, it took me far too long to watch it despite having Hulu and knowing I would love it.
I liked it alot. I read a review on Rotten Tomatoes that called it basically a Conan story (I agree), and now I can't get that movie's intro speech out of my head. I could easily see something like this attached to Badland's intro:
"Between the emergence of the Humans and the founding the Galactic Imperium, there was an age undreamed."
"And onto this, Dek, destined to unite the clans of the warring Yaudja earned his honor."
"It is I, Thia his Chronicler, who alone can tell thee of this saga."
"Let me tell you of the days of high adventure..."
I loved it. Maybe not quite as much as Prey but it's an excellent survival story that delved more deeply into the Yautja culture.
I was immediately hooked by Dek's story the moment his brother Kwei stood in his defense and in defiance of their father, who didn't hesitant to overpower and slaughter his chosen son. I appreciated how the film didn't dwell on Dek's obvious desire for revenge and instead focused on his grief over his brother's death and his indoctrinated need for honor...on while trying to survive on the deadliest planet in the galaxy where had to hunt his impossible trophy, the fabled Kalisk.
While it was an absolute blast seeing all kinds of intelligent, bizarre fauna and flora trying to kill and eat Dek, the best part of the whole film was his relationship with Thia. Her introduction in the film has to be one of the all time greats, going from cheerfully introducing herself from her pinned position to gently mocking Dek's ability to survive while offering him pointers, all coalescing with her springing into action and slaughtering the flying reptile and then gleefully reintroducing herself (and man, I wish that final moment hadn't been spoiled by the trailers!).
I loved how their journey effected both of them (and Bud!) and their outlooks on life. Dek and challenging his upbringing to hunt, Thia and facing the reality of unwavering love for her "sister" Tessa. Those their experiences (after some light betrayal!) lead them to discover Bud's parentage and decide to save the Kalisk, thus going against both of their missions.
Speaking of Tessa, she continues the long and storied tradition of evil synthetics. Even without that foreknowledge, I already suspected while Thia adulated about Tessa that Tessa would not hold the same feelings about their relationship and goals. Still, my heart broke a little for Thia when she realized they weren't even remotely on the same wavelength.
The one criticism I would have with the film is that sometimes the sound (both effects and music) were way too loud at times, occasionally drowning out dialogue. I misheard Thia's name when she first introduced herself (I thought she said Phee) and I absolutely could not make out one of her final lines in the film, which happened after Dek killed his father and he turned back to her and Bud (but before the title card).
What do you think this era of the universe is like? Thia had a Universal Translator, so humans must have encountered more intelligent species/civilizations than the Yautja and Engineers.
Yeah, I think it would have to be a slasher/action movie for it to be a true Predator movie in the vein of the originals. I'm pretty sure there's an edit where that could happen, but I'm glad they edited it like a decent action/monster movie instead because it's pretty good as is.
To be honest i really dislike attitudes like this because it creates a creative standstill. Every story that turns into a franchise because the initial movie story turned out to be very popular can quickly find itself with a heavy weight around its neck if it doesn't break out of that rut.
Terminator has this problem, how many times do we need to see Skynet sending a Terminator back in time to prevent the rise of the Resistance by killing someone? How many times do we need to see a Predator go on the hunt only to be defeated by the movie hero?
How much can a franchise be kept afloat if it repeats the same story over and over and only varies the details?
Yes, this was not a Predator movie in the same mold much like Prey was. Prey to me was the template Predator movie but it also was kind of a jumpstart to something else. It was followed by Killer of Killers that tried something new ( and introduced a very controversial subject at the same time) and Badlands continues this trend by going completely off the beaten path and i really like this boldness.
The movie was quite good, not original Predator level awesome but what is? I loved that they are now expanding the universe and for the fist time in a canon project they call them Yautja and give them a culture beyond just being hunters for the most dangerous prey. The production value was appropriately high ( how the hell did they pull off Dek's face, was that all CGI or practical effects? It looked amazing), the story good enough ( dragged a bit in the second act) and it opened a door to possible follow up projects.
I hope Trachtenberg gets to continue with his Predatorverse projects, Badlands has been very positively reviewed across the board and the audience liked it including me.
Saw it today, enjoyed it thoroughly, rated it a solid B.
As others have said, this movie was action flick, not a horror flick. That's okay. Aliens was an action flick, and it was arguably as good or better than Alien, which was a horror flick. Although no Predator movie will probably rise to the level of the original.
Liked seeing another new planet with a dangerous ecology. I liked the Weyland-Yutani Aliens-verse link without there being flesh and blood humans or xenomorphs. I think this movie was only able to dodge an R rating because of that.
Couple of story aspects I had some problems with, but overall it was solid, popcorn-munching fun.
Era wise, I have to believe this is the far future from the Aliens era, yet humans apparently can't travel FTL yet while Predators can? Thought it was a neat touch.
Where are the Pred cities and factories where they build their starships and toys? Dek's family lived in what looked like an Orc lair from Skyrim. Just sayin'.
One very cool flipping of the script when Dek fought Tessa. I was waiting for someone to deliver a play on Ripley's famous line, but it never happened.
"Friend's of yours?" "No. That's my mother." Maybe one of the all time classic closing lines of a movie.
If you have a couple of hours and are wondering if you should bite on this or not, just do it.
One other thing I liked about this movie was that it expanded on the lore of the Predators. People who complain that the Preds in subsequent movies aren't exactly like the one in the original are falling prey to the WYSIATI (What You See Is All There Is) concept, that Trek notoriously falls prey to WRT alien species, plot points, and worlds. If there was nothing more to the Preds than what you saw in the first couple movies, there wouldn't be any movies because mindless, violent hunters don't build starships and travel to other worlds. Just food for thought.
B+
Lethal Weapon 5 was a lot of fun! Dan Trachtenberg obviously gets the Predator universe and his films have gotten better with each incarnation. Prey was good, but completely lacked the humor you'd come to expect from a Predator film. This one more than makes up for it, but it's not overboard. Getting actual character development was a change of pace . I was hoping for a tie-in to Killer of Killers but oh well.
B+
Lethal Weapon 5 was a lot of fun! Dan Trachtenberg obviously gets the Predator universe and his films have gotten better with each incarnation. Prey was good, but completely lacked the humor you'd come to expect from a Predator film. This one more than makes up for it, but it's not overboard. Getting actual character development was a change of pace . I was hoping for a tie-in to Killer of Killers but oh well.
Agree about Prey. I saw Prey again yesterday, and half the enjoyment of watching Prey was just watching the portrayal of the indigenous Comache tribe in the wilderness. There are so many gorgeous shots of the untouched landscape (first shot is just deer against a treeline), it makes it such a different movie to the previous Predator entries - uh, until the slasher monster shows up halfway through it, obviously.
That would be a plus to me, we've already gotten 6 movies that follow the same basic formula, so maybe I'd say it's a good thing that they're changing things up a bit this time. Prey did play around with the formula a little setting it so far back in the past, and Killer of Killers, which I haven't seen yet, was an anthology, but the shorts still seemed to stick to the basic formula from what I've read.
I was hoping to see this back on Friday, but things are weird at work right now, so I'm cutting back on extra expenses till I figure out what's going on.
I saw this today and enjoyed it a lot. I'm no Predator expert, so I can't judge if this is a "proper" Predator movie or not. I don't know if it violates the "lore" (why did people start saying that instead of "canon"?) or whatever. I just wanted it to be as good as Prey and I think it was!
Making the the Yautja the main character means it can't just be killing, you need character development, and Dek definitely goes through a full and satisfying arc. I liked how everything he encountered in the jungle was brought back in the great "suiting-up" scene before he goes to rescue Thia. I liked that it was all about him becoming a better type of Yautja who fights for other people and finds value in the weak. But he's still a killer and I liked that it didn't end with him letting his dad go free because he's nice now or something.
Elle Fanning was great as Thia and Tessa (and as Thia's legs) and her and Dek made for a very fun double act. I did think maybe they could have explained a bit more how Thia and Tessa ended up so different from each other? I think Thia said they both had their emotional sensitivity turned up, but Tessa still seemed unemotional while Thia was lovely.
Action was good and there was still a lot of violence...just against synths instead of people. So many beheadings.
Sound design was great.
I was worried Buddy would be too cute, but there is a good story reason for her to be there. Most of the humour worked.
So I liked it - a good fun sci-fi action adventure buddy movie!
Tess and Thia being so different is kinda explained, but it did not really seem like a satisfying explanation. The Synths as synthetic beings should be in radio or wifi transmission of each other on some network, and should not be unaware of each other's encounters or status (this becomes particularly ridiculous at the climax).
I have a pet theory that an explanation got cut about the planet generating interference that makes such wireless communication difficult to impossible, thus we get Thia and Tess when separated developing independently. It's just a theory.
I was bored watching this. It started off well but when it got to the next planet it started to feel generic. It's not the kind of Predator movie I'm interested in. But I see the appeal and think younger audiences will dig it. I didn't hate it like The Predator but I don't have any strong feeling for it.
One other thing I liked about this movie was that it expanded on the lore of the Predators. People who complain that the Preds in subsequent movies aren't exactly like the one in the original are falling prey to the WYSIATI (What You See Is All There Is) concept, that Trek notoriously falls prey to WRT alien species, plot points, and worlds. If there was nothing more to the Preds than what you saw in the first couple movies, there wouldn't be any movies because mindless, violent hunters don't build starships and travel to other worlds. Just food for thought.
Agreed, you need a society advanced enough to build them. All I've seen is a desolate world with little of that except for the casual use of spaceships to travel to worlds to hunt, with personal nukes and invisibility cloaks that fit on your arm for the hunters. Perhaps they live on a world like Salusa Secundus and the space tech is created elsewhere.*
*It's been a long while since I watched a Predator movie, the last was Prey. I haven't seen all of them.
Hopefully we should see some Yautja world building in the next installment.
The one thing from the lore of the first and second Predator movies that seems to have been abandoned is that the Predators prefer (or can only tolerate) hot weather. In the original, the female captive tells them: "Only in the hottest years this happens..." and in Pred2 with Danny Glover, it was a record summer heat in L.A., in the 'concrete jungle.' They moved right the opposite way with AvP happening in Antarctica. I guess a species advanced enough for starships could build heating elements into their armor, but it was still a neat thing that got dropped.
This movie had quite a bit of world building when compared to the other Predator movies which are mainly only about a Predator going hunting and being stopped by the main cast/main hero.
It's not a complete indepth look into their culture but it's a start and it only took a couple of decades before someone decided to follow up exploring the Predator race a little bit more and from the looks of it if Trachtenberg gets to continue his Predatorverse ( which is likely given the success his projects have had to date) we may get more.
Next up - a Yautja mother coming home to see her family being an utter mess
I get the impression the Yautja we see are the remnants of more advanced society that fell. They're like the Mad Max of whatever society built space ships and computers.
