Predator Badlands movie review: Elle Fanning shines in taut film

Dek is a Yautja who has been banished from home by his father for being a “weakling”. This is how he finds himself on planet Earth. He hopes to capture a creature called Kalisk, which has never been vanquished, to redeem himself.

Soon after he has fought off one peril — these spring at him from everywhere, from tree branches to plant stalks to grass blades — he runs into Thia. She is a “synthetic” created by a corporation, and sent to catch Kalisk too.

Thia, played by Elle Fanning, is separated from her crew, her legs, and a fellow sentient twin robot called Tessa (also played by Fanning). So she can do with all the help she can get, and so can he — as Thia explains to Dek patiently.

He carries her on his back as they look together for the Kalisk, a.k.a Vikram-Vetaal, and like the ghost of that story, she won’t step talking. The chattering Thia grates on Dek, whose idea of a Yautja as a brave, consciously alone fighter, is in for a rethink.

Along the way, Dek and Thia pick up a third “friend”, Bud, a monkey-like critter, who is simply grateful for the company.

Fanning is the beauty of this taut film, and Koloamatangi its beast. She is looking for a sister, he is mourning for his brother. The idea isn’t original, nor is Trachtenberg in its execution, with the film’s pace requiring it to squeeze its fights in one after another in quick succession.

Fanning, in her two varied roles as Thia and Tessa, shoulders well the responsibility to nudge Badlands towards better times — even as her sawed legs carry the film jauntily over the finishing line.

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“You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar,” Thia tells Dek, in one of her attempts to soften Dek.

Anyway, Trachtenberg (10, Cloverfield Lane) is not taking a chance. Honey, vinegar, flies, Badlands has it all.

Predator Badlands movie cast: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Predator Badlands movie director: Dan Trachtenberg
Predator Badlands movie rating: 2.5 stars