Predator: Badlands

14 Dec, 2025

My son and I saw this in the theater last night, and we had a blast! The Yautja (the Predator's species) is the protagonist in this movie, and there's some comic relief throughout, both of which rubbed some OG Predator fans the wrong way. But I thought it was a rockin' good time.¹

I'm biased, I'll admit. I have warm, nostalgic memories of watching slightly-too-mature-for-me Schwarzenegger movies — mainly Predator and Total Recall — with my dad when I was 10ish. Now that my son is nearly 12, I've been eager to create our version of those memories. We did The Matrix a couple months ago, which we both loved, and Predator a week ago in preparation for yesterday's theater trip. But I've seen both of those movies so many times.

Last night was the first time we got to experience one of these movies for the first time, together, and it delivered. We walked out of the theater grinning like idiots. Memory: created. 💖

The Disney-ification of the movie probably made it more palatable and appropriate for my son, so I’m happy to embrace it. If you’re a Predator purist, then let’s be real, you were bound to be disappointed one way or another. But if you like these sorts of movies and are open to a new direction for the franchise, I bet you'll dig it, too.

#movies #parenthood