Predator: Badlands, when you identify with an evil monster

Can you grow fond of a Predator? Or rather, Dek: a Yautja, 2.5 meters tall, the ultimate warrior, weighing one hundred and fifty kilos, with reptilian skin and a skull with jaws that split in four, equipped with curved fangs for both eating and threatening? Yes, if he's the protagonist of a science fiction action film like Dan Trachtenberg's "Predator: Badlands," in theaters with the Walt Disney Company. The seventh film in the Predator series (not counting spin-offs and crossovers), it is the first, however, to be rated PG-13 in the United States, a rating that opens it up to a wider audience than the saga's traditional one. In the film, however, as previously mentioned, the Predator is no longer just the "monster" hated by all, but a sort of loser of his species seeking redemption within his race, which means only one thing: absolute ferocity in killing as many enemies as possible. So, to restore his self-confidence, our Predator faces the most dangerous planet of all, where even the grass is a knife's edge, the flowers are bombs waiting to explode, and the monster he must defeat has a remarkable ability: it regenerates itself. So what does this Predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), with his small, sunken yellow eyes and his fanned mouth like those of terrestrial predators, do? He faces every danger in this cursed world with his only ally, Thia (Elle Fanning), an android created by the Weyland-Yutani corporation (known to fans of the Alien universe). An android actually split exactly in half, having lost his legs in battle, he is nevertheless completely active and perfect in helping the Predator, who in the meantime begins to show unexpected empathy. "We really worked hard to make sure the audience could identify with Dek, the main character of the Predator," says director Dan Trachtenberg. "The idea came to me when I thought, 'What if we made a Predator movie where the Predator is the main character?' I don't just mean the classic structure of a Predator movie, where you watch the bad guy eliminate everyone one after the other, but being able to make the audience root for this horrible creature." Elle Fanning, meanwhile, says: "It's a new perspective: the Predator is the main character and you feel his story and his background, and he becomes a character you root for, which has never happened before. So I'm happy to be a part of it." And again the American actress and producer, born on April 9, 1998 in Conyers, Georgia: "I was struck by Dan's vision for this film, his ability to open new horizons in the Predator universe. And among his new things is the fact that my character is not the one being chased, but teams up with the Predator and you see him in a completely new light."