Predator: Badlands (in theaters)

“Predator: Badlands” was clearly designed to answer one specific question – can audiences emotionally bond to a Predator?

The answer, it turns out, is a resounding yes. “Badlands” is a highly entertaining addition to the “Predator” universe, a sci-fi action adventure that will make you care about a guy whose people have hunted a ton of humans. It’s far from the horror of the other movies – there are moments it’s almost a buddy comedy – but it dramatically expands Predator lore in a way that feels true to previous films. Add in all the cool weapons and dramatic fight scenes you’d expect from a “Predator” movie, along with a fantastic performance by Elle Fanning, and you have the kind of “Predator” movie you’ll want to go back to again and again.

We start on the Predators’ home planet, where a young Predator named Dek is trying to earn his place in the clan. His father just wants him dead, however, considering him a runt, and Dek barely escapes with his life and a desperate desire to achieve an impossible hunt. The quest takes him to a planet where everything is out to kill him, except for a Weyland-Yutani synth who has secrets of her own.

Elle Fanning plays the synthetic, as well as another character, and there’s never a second of doubt about which person she is at a given moment. Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi brings a surprising amount of emotion to Dek, even under all the makeup and motion capture. They’re a duo you can’t help but root for, no matter what they’re up against.

Grade: Three and a half stars

Frankenstein (Netflix)

It’s not Halloween anymore, but it’s still the perfect time for Guillermo del Toro’s sumptuous, heartbreaking “Frankenstein.”

Hewing closely to both Mary Shelley’s novel and James Whale’s classic 1930s movie adaptations, this new version is far more tragedy than it is horror. It wrestles with questions of obsession, existence, and the terrible cycle of passing on our own trauma to our children. The director doesn’t shy away from the sometimes grotesque Gothic horror, wrapping it in a visual style as rich and luscious as you’d expect, but del Toro’s real goal isn’t really spectacle. It’s emotion, along with a healthy dose of philosophy, and there’s a world of both in the movie’s 140+ minute runtime. With excellent performances by both Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac leading the way, it’s an expansive, unforgettable experience.

The movie uses the same framing device as the book, starting with the ship’s crew finding Victor on the ice. It then follows in two sections, the first told from Victor’s perspective and the second told from the monster’s. Mia Goth, a woman fascinated by both men but out of reach of either, ties them together.

The monster has often been the more sympathetic of the two main characters, and it’s once again the case here. Elordi imbues the character with both innocent wonder and aching loneliness, struck so deeply by grief that we cannot help but feel it as well. His shape may be horrifying, but his heart feels like ours.

Grade: Three and a half stars

Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Denver Film Critics Society and the Utah Film Critics Association. Drop her a line at [email protected].

Credit for photo ©20th Century Studios