The hunt is on, and critics are mostly giving Predator: Badlands positive reviews. Following the lift of the review embargo, initial reactions for director Dan Trachtenberg’s latest entry have been overwhelmingly positive. Many outlets are highlighting Elle Fanning’s performance and the film’s surprising level of violence, despite its PG-13 rating.
The current critical consensus points to a successful, if tonally risky, new direction for the franchise. Some reviewers noted that the dialogue and humour can occasionally feel out of place but others praised Trachtenberg (who also directed 2022’s Prey) for fearlessly expanding the Predator mythology and delivering a refreshing take.
Positive Reactions
IGN (8/10) praised the pairing between Dek and Thia and says there is plenty of violence despite the PG-13 rating:
Predator: Badlands is getting an 8. Dan Trachtenberg is heading in an interesting direction with this franchise and he gets bonus points for that. The Predator as a mysterious murder monster is getting some of his backstory filled in, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Badlands, in shifting the perspective to a Yautja main character, actually highlights what’s been great about this franchise in its better moments. Dek and Thia are an unexpectedly fun pairing that bring a new energy to the franchise and an altogether different kind of hunt.
Empire Magazine (4/5) called the film “big popcorn fun,” focusing on its high-energy action:
Throughout its runtime, Badlands is big popcorn fun, a geeky commingling of lurid sci-fi, comedy and rowdy action that gets high off its own supply. Put it this way: if you’ve ever wanted to see a tooling-up sequence featuring a Predator, Christmas has come early.
Variety also highlighted the film’s surprisingly violent nature, despite the rating, noting:
Being comfortable with arms lopped off, skulls crushed and brains probed by ear-piercing tendrils makes it easier to enjoy a handful of gags involving the bisected Thia, whose legs can do kung fu on their own. That’s an example of something sorely lacking from the other Predator movies: a welcome sense of gallows humor that makes it reasonably easy to accept the film’s vaguely Jar Jar Binks-like Bud, a cute CG creature that becomes a sort of sidekick. Dek’s dad may disapprove, but then, the point of this mission is to expand the Yautja mythology and set up potential sequels.
Our own Corporal Hicks posted his Predator: Badlands AvPGalaxy Review and scored the film 8/10 and noting:
While I think I enjoyed Prey just slightly more than I did Badlands, I had so much fun with the film. I thought Predator: Badlands was a successful, refreshing take on the Predator, and relished in its own unique identity among the pantheon of Predator films. I’m really excited to see the film again.
Mixed Reactions
Not all critics were on board with the film’s tonal shift. Deadline offered a mixed review, praising the lead but criticising the Predator’s reduced menace:
But the action scenes never seem to galvanize, and somewhere along the line the predator, once a ruthless, unstoppable killing machine, has simply lost its menacing mojo. It all seems a bit, well, silly — like a long episode of Succession starring John Travolta’s character in Battlefield Earth, or the adventures of Eric Trump in space — and that surely can’t bode well for the inevitable next instalment.
Predator: Badlands has a score of 90% after 77 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. For reference, here are the Rotten Tomato scores of all the previous Predator films. 2022’s Prey and this year’s Killer of Killers top the list.
| # | Film Title | Release Year | Tomatometer Score (Critics’) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Predator: Killer of Killers | 2025 | 97% | Fresh 🍅 |
| 2 | Prey | 2022 | 94% | Fresh 🍅 |
| 3 | Predator | 1987 | 80% | Fresh 🍅 |
| 4 | Predators | 2010 | 65% | Fresh 🍅 |
| 5 | The Predator | 2018 | 34% | Rotten 🤮 |
| 6 | Predator 2 | 1990 | 29% | Rotten 🤮 |
| 7 | Alien vs. Predator | 2004 | 21% | Rotten 🤮 |
| 8 | Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem | 2007 | 12% | Rotten 🤮 |
| – | Predator: Badlands | 2025 | TBD | TBD |
Predator: Badlands will be out on Friday.
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Grace Randloph's review will make more damage than any hater could do.
I'm part of the people who refuse to watch the Terminator if it has not the original mono sound track.
I like Aliens but I can understand why someone would hate the new alien design, the queen, and watching the aliens being killed by dozens.
To be fair, I don't think he has the ability to be self aware.
I don't know how he managed to make that reply to your post without any self awareness at all, but by god, he found a way.
Predator: Badlands' Review: Elle Fanning Is a Lovable Robot BFF to the Sweetest Predator Yet in a Deft, Disarmingly Kindhearted Franchise Entry
Headlines like that don't help.
Yeah, it's not bait. Bad taste is an actual thing.
It's funny, I always had this theory that there's a real separation between the people who prefer T2/Aliens, and the people who prefer T1/Alien The latter being the ones most likely to be reactionary and conservative about the franchise.
T2 is the normies favorite, inferior than The Terminator, but T2 was still R.
So the comparison is not fair. And T2 is still a classic almost 40 years later, Badlands will be forgotten in six months.
This. Big time. The negativity I get if I'm too positive or didn't like something enough takes so much fun out of the process of making a video and sharing it online. I do this stuff for my own enjoyment and fun, while providing my insight and information as a secondary focus. It sucks because no matter what, there's no winning unless you stop engaging or decide to pull back entirely. It's tough. The algorithms want us to interact with our audiences, but if the audience is mostly negative, it kills any desire to do this stuff.
I also don't understand the issue with reviewers having things done ahead of an embargo. People need to realize that professional critics have another movie, show, book, or piece of media to cover next, so they need to stay on top of it. It's literally their job. I'm sure many do it because they enjoy it, but it's still work. For me, having a few days to sit with a movie and then post my review when the embargo lifts gives me time to think clearly instead of rushing something out.
There seems to be a lack of understanding, or maybe willful ignorance, from people who want to make reviewers out to be the bad guys. I don't get why reviews coming out right before a movie releases is a bad thing. Would it really be better if reviews came out after opening weekend, when no one has heard any word of mouth about whether something is good or not? That sounds like a recipe for box office disasters. What's the solution? Genuinely, explain it to me. Does this logic apply to books, music, and live experiences too? It doesn't make any sense to me, and I'd honestly love to hear when people think reviews should come out. My marketing brain needs to know so we can apparently fix the world and make sure no one is ever a shill again. (That last part is sarcastic, in case anyone needs that pointed out, but the rest is a genuine question.)
Timing alone doesn't make a review dishonest. Embargoes are normal and exist so everyone can post at the same time. It's about fairness, not manipulation. Unless there's proof that critics are being pressured to be positive, calling those reviews "tainted" is just speculation. What I usually read in these types of comments boils down to "studios control when reviews drop, so those reviews must be part of the hype machine." But that logic doesn't hold up. The timing doesn't prove bias, it just shows coordination for publicity.
Having reviews, reactions and opinions trickle out over time instead of all at once is a good way for the general public to miss them and it slips through the cracks. Having everythign come out all in one day is how to grab the attention of the public these days. If they see it all blasted at once, it clicks in their brains. If it's trickled out, they think it's not coming out soon or they'll catch it later because they think it's out, to then forget about it completely if there is no steady marketing. Think of indie films, how many do you hear about on the daily unless they win some big award at a festival? You would never hear about them otherwise, because they use that window to put all the hype around it. Not sure if that makes any sense.
Imagine if the internet was around like it is today when Terminator 2 came out. People would've lost their minds reading positive reviews about a movie that turned the villain into the hero, had him hanging out with a kid, learning emotions, and making grown men cry as he gave that final thumbs-up. That movie completely shifted tone from its predecessor, and yet it's a masterpiece. This isn't T2, but some story elements line up in a similar way.
It just gets exhausting. I know I can choose to stop doing this, and honestly it's getting easier to make that decision with how things feel these days whenever you see anything early, no matter the franchise.
I honestly thought more reviewers wouldn't get it and just complain it's too different but Dan clearly has crafted something pretty much everyone can enjoy (if they are willing to give it a chance)
Sounds like Badlands is a dream come true for fans of the comics and the games but that doesn't mean the movie only crowd are any less Predator fans if it doesn't suit their tastes (and vice versa)
I've been a fan of the movies since the 80's but never got into the comics. As for videogames, the last generation of games I played was Super Streetfighter 2 on my mates SNES.
I kinda think the fans that have loved the franchise for decades and supported the franchise by engaging with the expanded universe stuff deserve to see the kind of the Predator stories they've enjoyed, finally appear on screen. If that makes sense.
Hopefully the film will also offer something to us film only fans too.
Or extremely poor taste, that's possible.
Yup just saw that new thread, and updated my post. Thanks for the heads up though.
There's a fan review thread.
Oo ignore this. Just found it, "fan reviews".
Just so its out there again, but we aren't going to accept any of this "true fan" commentary. It's not welcome. No-one is a "truer" fan than anyone else. We don't want to see anything like that in the discourse about Badlands coming up.
Get out of here with that gatekeeping bullshit, liking something different than the usual formula doesn't mean that you aren't a true fan, it just means that you have a different opinion, which is something that you seem to not be able to grasp at all.
Yeah. Also when we're talking franchises, a movie doesn't need to be better than the previous ones to be good. We do not need to compare everything.
If you dislike something because it betrayed what made the franchise popular in the first place, you're not a whiny fanboy but a true fan. As I said, make a movie about a greek warrior figting monsters and don't call it Predator. There is no need to turn a predator into a human who has cute pets and carries a half synthetic like Chewie carries C3PO.
Was there early screenings in Australia?
The first two comments were from Australian folk and they were not pleased lol
Any spoilers in your review?
I personally and throughly enjoyed reading your review of Badlands as it felt reassuringly unbiased and felt as I read it, true from your own personal perspectives as an audience member and as a fan.
In fact, it was encouraging to read even when considering that I am a bit of a hard nose Predator "purist" fan that likes his predators be be a certain way but that I was still able to relate and understand your positives and negative thoughts on the film speaks volumes to your writing.
Point is, you wrote a great piece. Every reviewer, critic and writer is different and all with varying perspectives and opinions and sometimes motivations. Keep being you and keep writing. You definitely have my support.
Not everything has to be an A grade masterpiece, it's possible to just roll with a movie and like it.
If you have kids it makes you realise that the kids/younger folk aren't saying "that's not as cool as Predator 2", they have no comparison, they just like cool stuff.
Thanks for the heads up, these professional reviews seem to be less than professional.
https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/predator-badlands-movie-review-1235158691/
The idea of a Predator being deprogrammed from his hyper masculine culture is honestly something I'm really excited to see. The logical next step from Dutch using his wits over his muscles, is his foil being challenged for the same things.
I didn't say anything about RT, I'm talking overall reviews.
As for my tainted reviews point, embargo as you said it so well yourself "were written days ago, and publications want them out as soon as the embargo lifts because that's when maximum eyes will be on them, getting them the most exposure, clicks, ad revenue, etc".
Your very valid point further proves mine, why these reviews often cannot be trusted as they are often used as a purposefully timed released hype tool with the goal of promoting a film, a tool used to sell tickets. Now that doesn't mean all reviewers are in cahoots or there's some motive behind the scenes - all it means is take some of these reviews with a grain of salt.
Thanks and I plan on having a good time, I'm going to make a fun night out of it. As far as going into Badlands, I'll keep an open mind and will watch it from the POV as Badlands being a live action adaptation of the classic Dark Horse comics, which will allow me hopefully to turn a blind eye to any potential silly aspects that could arise.
Bait needs to be believable. Try harder
4/4
crazy high praise.
Early embargo reviews were written days ago, and publications want them out as soon as the embargo lifts because that's when maximum eyes will be on them, getting them the most exposure, clicks, ad revenue, etc. They aren't "tainted by hype," they're professionally written reviews being held by the publications until they're allowed to be shared.
That isn't how Rotten Tomatoes works. A bigger number there doesn't mean "better," it just means that that percentage of critics gave it a positive review.
You can have a movie with 10 reviews, 7 of them are positive, and the positive ones are all 9/10s. That movie is going to score a 70% on RT. Alternatively, you can have a movie with 10 reviews, they're all positive but only 7/10s. That movie is going to score a 100%.
Either way looking forward to seeing it soon!
If that´s a good thing or a bad thing i dont know.
You're weird, man.
Whatever you end up thinking of the movie, hope you have a good time there tomorrow! So far reviews are mostly positive, so hopefully you can at least have fun, even if the movie ultimately doesn't measure up to your views of Predator.
I'll read your thoughts after I watch the movie myself.
No one did, but that won't stop him from doing what he does.