There was a period in the late 90s and 00s where, for some reason, film makers were failing to capture the magic that the preceding couple of decades or so gave us. Impressively they managed to both overreach and underperform leaving some pretty forgettable stuff.
Predator makes for a great case study given how long the franchise has been around. Like its peers it suffered through its midlife, but I'm glad to say that Trachtenberg has managed to succeed where his predecessors fell short.
His Predator films (this being the third after the excellent Prey and Killer of Killers) seem to be very much to the point, while adding enough sophistication (both in terms of the action and plot) that a modern rendering demands. I guess its in how easy he makes it look that belies the genius here.
Anyway, Badlands was great and I recommend it (and the previous two if they were missed).
