NEW YORK (OSV News) — With a grunting, barbaric alien for its protagonist, the sci-fi action film “Predator: Badlands” (20th Century) gets off to an unpromising start. Yet by the end of the movie, the brute in question — Dek by name and played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi — has experienced a conversion to better values.
Dek is hardly to blame for his low moral starting point. Raised in the milieu of a primitive, ravening culture that has branded him a weakling, he is condemned to be “culled” from his race, the Yautja, by his own father, outstanding warrior Njohrr (Reuben de Jong). Only the compassionate intervention of Dek’s brother, Kwei (Michael Homick), saves him from death.
Determined to prove himself, Dek sets out on a quest to a notoriously dangerous planet, Genna. His goal is to claim Genna’s apparently invincible alpha beast, the Kalisk, as a trophy.
Soon after landing, Dek is close to being overwhelmed by the perils of his new environment when he encounters — and frees from captivity — an android called Thia (Elle Fanning). Though he’s reluctant to cooperate with her at first because the Yautja code calls for hunting solo, Thia’s knowledge of Genna eventually proves invaluable to Dek.
Thia also helps to inspire Dek’s ascent from the ethical depths, in part by explaining to him the dynamics of a wolf pack. Among the lupine, she points out, leadership is not wielded by the animal who kills the most prey but by the one who best protects the group.
The path to Dek’s enlightenment is littered with many a dustup in director Dan Trachtenberg’s addition to a franchise that dates all the way back to 1987. But the combat is nongraphic and all those involved are either extraterrestrials or robots.
Additionally, Patrick Aison’s script, which promotes teamwork and the shielding of innocents, features dialogue that rarely dabbles in vulgarity. As a result, Dek and Thia’s adventures are suitable for a wide audience.
The film contains much stylized violence with minimal gore, a vengeance theme, a scene of torture, a few gruesome sights and at least one instance each of mild swearing and crude language. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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