'Predator: Badlands' sticks its 2 stars together to take the franchise to new places

"Predator: Badlands" is the seventh film in the franchise, taking a new approach by focusing on the reluctant partnership between two characters: an artificially intelligent android named Thia, portrayed by Elle Fanning, and a young Predator named Dek, played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. The film's unique premise involves Thia's upper body being physically attached to Dek's back, similar to the concept of C-3PO strapped to Chewbacca, but with the Predator being a non-friendly creature. This unusual setup presented significant challenges during filming, with Fanning and Schuster-Koloamatangi spending much of the New Zealand shoot literally back-to-back, coordinating their movements through various terrains. Director Dan Trachtenberg developed practical methods to facilitate this, including allowing Schuster-Koloamatangi's face to be visible for genuine performance interaction. The director stated the film's central goal was to achieve an emotional connection with the creature, a feat made possible by this unconventional approach and allowing for expressive possibilities not seen in previous entries. "Predator: Badlands" is set in the dista... download the app to read more