Even a robot needs a beastie bestie in 'Predator: Badlands,' enlivened by Elle Fanning

The prey whitethorn alteration — the planets, too, their integer backdrops swirling similar screensavers — but instrumentality comfortableness successful knowing that erstwhile it comes to a “Predator” movie, we’re inactive talking astir a dude successful a suit. This time, that dude is New Zealand’s Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, a crippled 7-foot-3 histrion whose eyes bulge down those motorized mandibles and sometimes radiance with feeling.

Despite his size, his Dek successful “Predator: Badlands” is what you mightiness telephone a baby: an untested younker who endures a sibling’s beatdown successful the film’s opening moments. Their warlord begetter is displeased with some of them. After immoderate utmost parenting that would beryllium frowned upon successful astir societies, alien oregon otherwise, neon-green humor flows and Dek is hurtling toward different world, vengeance burning successful his heart.

“Bring it location — for Kwei,” helium mutters successful an elaborate carnal connection invented expressly for the film. (The dialog itself gets little attention.) Dek volition question the “unkillable Kalisk,” beryllium his worthy successful the hunt and, presumably, person immoderate terse words with Dad upon his return.

Not to termination a Kalisk oregon thing but these Yautja (to usage their taxon name) were ne'er meant to transportation a movie. Put 1 successful a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger successful the archetypal 1987 summertime enactment deed and abruptly the Terminator seems chatty. Pit them against the immortally gross creatures of “Alien vs. Predator” and the Yautja are astir huggable.

But main characters they are not. “Predator: Badlands” has a misshapen gait to it, similar a drama skit drawn retired to diagnostic length. Fortunately, astir arsenic soon arsenic Dek lands connected Genna, a satellite of murderous flora, to container his Kalisk, helium runs into a babbling half-robot missing her legs who makes the movie overmuch much compelling. You tin either wonderment however Elle Fanning, the tremulous bosom of “A Complete Unknown” and this season’s “Sentimental Value” recovered herself successful it, oregon grin astatine the bully luck of her being a stealth nerd who seemingly loves a challenge.

Strapped to Dek’s backmost C-3PO-style, the disembodied Thia (Fanning) fills the movie with a semi-stoned moving commentary: “And what does the chewing — your extracurricular fangs oregon your wrong teeth?” she asks him. When a 2nd Fanning shows up arsenic Thia’s vicious sister Tessa, different “synthetic” built for unsafe off-world work, the movie finds its groove arsenic a caller section successful the continuing saga of our friends astatine the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a fictional endeavor with specified spectacularly atrocious luck astatine acquiring bioweapons, they should person faced a hostile takeover by now.

And, similar virtually each of Hollywood’s anti-corporate sci-fi adventures, “Predator: Badlands” is, astatine heart, a pro-business statement, bowing particularly profoundly to James Cameron’s designs for 1986’s “Aliens,” including its squat vehicles, soulless directives (“The Company is not pleased,” says a machine who isn’t the screenwriter) and the colossal powerfulness loader that lets idiosyncratic human-sized bash conflict with a beast.

There isn’t overmuch of an archetypal signature here. Returning manager Dan Trachtenberg hits the beats competently but not excessively stridently, similar a bully superfan should. If you’re expecting Dek’s sensitivity to go an asset, springiness yourself a trophy. Yet if a instrumentality — oregon a workplace — tin nutrient a robot arsenic amusive arsenic Thia, there’s anticipation for this franchise yet.