Predator 2
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Movie Reviews of Predator 2
Movie Review: ...COOL SEQUEL
Summary: 4 Stars
...SCENES INCLUDING A MAN HANGING UPSIDE DOWN AND MEN WRITING ON HIM AND REALLY EXPLICE GORE AND REALLY GREAT ACTING.RATED R FOR STRONG ACTION VIOLINCE GORE EXPLICT NUDITY BRIEF STRONG SEXUALITY AND STRONG LANGUAGEMovie Review: Action / Thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
I received the movie Predator 2 within a week in good condition. The service was awesome.Movie Review: The Predator in the Asphalt Jungle
Summary: 3 Stars
A sequel should do at least two things: 1) respect the established world of the previous installment(s) and 2) contribute to the mythology. Aliens is the obvious example of a film that accomplished both these requirements. The film manages to expand the scope of the original by introducing the space marines and giving us a glimpse of the alien hierarchy while simultaneously exploring themes from the first film, including an interrogation of feminism, rape and the military industrial complex. Predator 2 is no Aliens. However, I am happy to say that for a film that has a bad reputation, this sequel to the Schwarzenegger classic holds up surprisingly well. At the very least, the movie does respect the rules honed in the first film, even if it never manages to truly justify its own existence.
Predator 2's simple twist on the formula of the first film is that the predator is now in the city. In a clever opening shot, the camera pans along tropical looking flora until we see the skyline of Los Angeles. Supposedly, it was this new setting that turned Schwarzenegger off the project. Normally, when a principal actor turns down a role for the sequel (think Batman Forever and Batman and Robin) this indicates a deeply flawed shift in the series, but in this case Schwarzenegger isn't missed. The strength of the first movie was the ensemble nature of the cast, not just the central protagonist, and the writers would have been forced to come up with something pretty outlandish in order to keep all the characters from the Predator in the sequel. (Although, Voodoo does play a key part of Predator 2, which likely means we were extremely close to a Predator versus Zombies movie. Hollywood, if you're listening, I would love to see Predator tangle with a Zombie Blain).
This time, instead of the Governator, Danny Glover steps up as the man who must hunt the hunter. And while he may not have the `roided up muscles of Schwarzenegger, he brings an everyman quality to his character that grounds the more ostentatious sci-fi moments of the film. Glover plays Mike Harrigan, a police officer caught in the middle of the sweltering urban heat and an escalating gang war between Columbians and Voodoo practicing Jamaicans (Voodoo is mostly practiced among Haitians, but okay, I'll bite). We are first introduced to Harrigan when he storms into a firefight between the police and a Columbian gang in order to save two downed officers. Draping two bullet proof vests over a car window, he places himself between the gang members and the wounded police and then manages to outflank several of the whooping and hollering Columbians. The rest of the gang take refuge in a high rise, but when Harrigan and his team attempt to flush them out, instead of entering into another firefight, he finds almost the entire gang slaughtered with their blood and body parts strewn across walls and floors.
Not only must Harrigan deal with a mysterious newcomer on the streets of LA, but he also must struggle with an unknown federal agency that wants to hobble Harrigan's freewheeling attitude. Shortly after his heroics with the Columbian gang, Harrigan finds himself dressed down by Agent Keyes (Gary Busey) who tells him to play start playing by the rules. In a subplot borrowed from the Alien films, it turns out Keyes belongs to a government agency (that is eerily similar to the same organization shown in the film Repo Man) entrusted with capturing the predator and, more importantly, his technology. Oh, and Harrigan's team been assigned a new, unproven member, Jerry, played to an obnoxious hilt by Bill Paxton. The film devotes most of its time to Harrigan and his team's investigation into the predator and how their attempts to piece together who it is that has the gall to murder the most vicious of L.A.'s gangs, as well as more than a few cops.
Predator 2 keenly follows the formula and rules established in the first film. Fans of the original film will likely remember the female prisoner's monologue about the predator's predilection for extreme tropical climates, specifically stating that the creature would appear only during the hottest of summers (this is a part of the film that the makers of Alien Vs. Predator apparently forgot). In the sequel, the director has several characters make note of the asphalt melting heat and their uniforms are blotted with sweat stains, a nice allusion to the first film that respects the audience enough to let them make the connection. While the look of the predator stays true to the delineation of the first film, Stan Winston has tweaked the predator design for this film, providing this creature with crowded dreadlocks, an elongated skull and the reptilian designs of a copperhead snake. Towards the end of the film, we are treated with half a dozen or so different predators that both conform to the outlines of the alien from the first film and present a unique take on what a predator can look like.
Furthermore, the predator's modus operandi isn't much different, which turns out to be both a strength and a weakness. Once again, he searches for warriors, kills them and smuggles some trophies. This time, however, the predator eschews subtly for wholesale slaughter. Instead of picking enemies off one by one, he prefers to jump into the middle of a group and takes them out en mass. The brash tactics are never explained. Perhaps he's a much younger predator, used to eating everything in the cookie jar rather than savoring them one by one. Age has a way of making you appreciate a kill. Unfortunately, this tactic makes the predator far less interesting. The first film formed a battle of wits between the predator and the mercenaries, but here the gangs and cops are completely outclassed. If he came to Earth to hunt game, then it hardly seems like a sport--kind of like Dick Cheney driving around in an SUV in order to shoot quails and his friend's face. If there's no effort then it's no fun.
The director does manage to add his own stylized take on the urban predator. There is one particular scene that provides a glimpse of what the film could have been. The predator follows Harrigan to his meeting with King Willie, the leader of the Jamaican Voodoo gang. After Harrigan leaves, the predator plunges from the rooftops and into the alleyway. In a close shot we follow the invisible footsteps of the predator as he approaches King Willie who then brandishes two knives. We cut to an image of his face screaming, which, as the visage moves farther away, is revealed to be a decapitated head in the grasp of the predator. The filmmaker makes use of the indeterminate temporal nature of the cut--that we are never certain how much time has passed when a cut occurs--and what we expect to be an image from the middle of an intense brawl reveals itself as an easy kill for the predator.
It's the filmmaker's attempts to broaden the mythology where the film ultimately fails. This time around the predator has some new toys, including a boomerang death discus, a piano wire net and a double sided harpoon, and while the weaponry is fun, it adds little to the overall predator mythos. The filmmakers make another attempt at expanding the universe at the end of the film when Harrigan stumbles into the predator ship and notices a trophy display, containing, most famously, the head of an alien from that other franchise. When he finally kills the predator, one of the creature's brethren hands Harrigan an 18th century pistol, suggesting that humans have served as game for the predators for centuries. But the fact that the predators have returned to Earth again and again was already established in the first film. We do discover more about the predator's ethos when he refuses to kill Harrigan's female companion because she's with child, revealing that the predators are pro-life. This, of course, begs the question as to whether or not the predator has a Jesus fish on the back of his spaceship.
Perhaps the most mystifying change to the formula of the first film was the decision to make it take place in the future (or the past depending on whether you start from when I'm writing or when the film was made). Predator 2 takes place in 1997, a whole seven years from when it was made. Of course, it is a 1997 that looks strangely like 1990, but with weirder looking guns and police cars that look like hybrid mini-vans. The futuristic setting only serves to make the movie look older than it really is.
If the film only relied on momentum from the first film with a few new details, then I think it would have a much stronger reputation, but there are unfortunate performances throughout the movie. Bill Paxton, who has turned in strong roles before, is at his guffawing worst. The gangs are mostly cartoonish and are one step removed from Looney Tunes characters. That is, if Bugs Bunny often left mounds of coke lying around and, instead of replacing Rabbit Season signs with Duck Season signs, decided to ritualistically murder Daffy Duck. Shockingly, Gary Busey, who has transformed into a living breathing cartoon character himself, gives a nuanced performance by the standards of the film.
Predator 2 is a mixed bag of some old standbys and half formed ideas. It may not deserve the awful reputation it has garnered over the years, but it is far from the classic of the first. If you haven't seen the film in a long time, I would recommend a second visit. You might be surprised at how entertaining the film still is.
Movie Review: Its flaws grow even bigger with repeat viewings
Summary: 3 Stars
Even though this movie is VERY weak in some aspects, the premise of it is still kinda fun. The entire first hour, however, is the weakest part of the film. "Predator 2" lacks the stylishness and suspense that made the first film so memorable. In this sequel, the suspense is undermined by stock characters, exceptionally weak and cliched dialogue and situations, the failed stunt casting of Morton Downey Jr., a horrible acting job by Maria Conchita Alonso (whose English seems to get worse with every movie she makes), and sloppy pacing.
The final 40 minutes or so are a little better, though. As soon as it gets down to a mano y mano fight between the Predator and Danny Glover's character the film at least gets a bit more interesting and the tension builds a bit. And the final fight between them on the alien craft, while short, at least has an interesting conclusion.
But just about everything else about the movie seems tedious and unsophisticated.
If you buy this DVD, I hope you at least get a good deal on it. It doesn't stand up over time as well as the first "Predator" does, and in fact can be embarrassingly bad at times...
So skip this DVD unless you are just a "Predator" junkie. This movie would make a decent once-every-other-year rental, but that's about as much merit as it deserves.
Wrote a second review in July 2009 and tried to post it -- then Amazon reminded me I'd already reviewed it in 2003. But here's the 2009 version:
"He's in town with a few days to kill." That is probably my second-favorite movie poster tagline ever.
"Predator 2" had the advantage of built-in audience of fans from the first film combined with an excellent story premise. There were some problems in the execution, however. Some of the character are a little too 2-dimensional and stock (Bill Paxton's character) and some of the acting is painful to watch (Maria Conchita Alonso). Morton Downey Jr's appearance in the film depreciates the film. It was stunt casting and makes the film dated.
Maria Conchita Alonso's English still sounds forced, as if she were struggling to get the lines out. She tries too hard to speak English and act at the same time, and the effort shows.
I liked this movie when I first saw it in the theaters, especially the fight at the end. There is a brief reveal in the alien spaceship of some of the Predator species' previously acquired trophies. The fact that the main Predator was game enough to take Danny Glover's character on in hand-to-hand combat (when the Predator could have won handily with the means at his disposal) made the showdown that much more thrilling.
As I said, the film's entire premise was very cool. In the hands of a better director and better cast it could have been a superb action thriller. I wish the opening scene (the shootout in the streets) had been a little less stage-y. It came off looking like a rehearsed stunt show at Universal Studios theme park.
Movie Review: the Predator stalks the concrete jungle...
Summary: 3 Stars
Predator 2 (1990) transplants the formidable alien from the jungle, to the crime riddled streets of Los Angeles. The setting isn't the only change, as the tone of the sequel is less serious and edgy, and has more of a comedic element. The film features Danny Glover as LAPD detective Lt. Mike Harrigan, who is part of a team trying to keep a lid on a turf war between rival drug gangs, where gun battles in the street are common. The conflict has drawn the interest of a Predator, who takes out some gang members during an encounter with the cops.
The Predator strikes again, slaughtering more criminals then displaying his naked trophy kills in dramatic fashion. When Harrigan tries to investigate, he is banned from the crime scene by federal agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), who is heading a government operation, secretly on the trail of the Predator. When Harrigan's group continues to investigate, team members Danny Archuleta (Ruben Blades), Jerry Lambert (Bill Paxton), and Leona Cantrell (Maria Conchita Alonso) all become casualties. After an attack in a subway, Harrigan chases the creature as he travels across the rooftops. He encounters Keyes' operation as they are about to spring a trap on the Predator, and discovers that he has been tangling with an alien.
Harrigan enters the meat packing plant, where Keyes and his team are preparing to ambush the creature, and soon finds himself battling the alien alone. He injures the creature, who crashes into a nearby apartment building. After a short break in the hostilities, Harrigan and the Predator have a battle to the death in a subterranean cavern below the building.
In step with many action films at the time, Predator 2 is big, loud, and violent, with an unsophisticated plot, and cartoonish characters. Being a sequel, much of the suspense is gone, so the plan is to turn the alien loose, limit his prey mostly to cops and criminals, and then feature as much violence and destruction as possible. The approach works, and Predator 2 certainly has some exciting moments, particularly in the third act, where after being behind the curve for most movie, Harrigan finally gets on the frontline of battle. He acquits himself well, but the finish in a subterranean alien ship, is weak and ridiculous, with very subpar CG special effects for the Predators.
Although the film has a different tone, and lacks much of the feeling of suspense of the original, Predator 2 does deliver plenty of mayhem. It's not a classic in the genre like its predecessor, but it entertains, and Stephen Hopkins (The Ghost And The Darkness) proves himself directing an action film. Danny Glover doesn't have the smoothest moves, is bothered by birds, and isn't very convincing delivering corny one-liners, but he makes a competent, if slightly gangly action hero. Glover is no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but then who is? While Schwarzenegger declined to reprise his role as Dutch for Predator 2, Alan Silvestri returns to do the music, which does provide a much needed edge to the film.