1990’s Predator 2,
directed by Stephen Hopkins.
Starring Danny Glover, Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, Gary
Busey, Bill Paxton, Robert Davi, Adam Baldwin, and Morton Downey, Jr.
What is it about?
Predator 2 takes
place in 1997 Los Angeles. Police Liuetenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) leads
his unit (Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, and Bill Paxton), in a war
against drug dealers in the city that they appear to be losing. Harrigan is
often in trouble for misconduct from his superiors (Robert Davi), but his hot
headedness seems to come in handy for getting to the bottom of why bizarrely
gruesome murders have been taking place around the city. With a mysterious
federal agent (Gary Busey) and his team further complicating things, will
Glover be able to catch up with the Predator, and be able to survive the
sporting alien?
Why is it worth seeing?
Predator 2 is the
sequel to the 1987 original, and its
strengths include letting the audience get to know further the mysterious futuristic
alien race that comes to earth to hunt armed humans for sport, and introducing
a new playground for it to search for its trophies. However, it suffers from a
number of issues such as a strange contextual setting, atrocious acting, confusing
motivations for our antagonist, a clear downgrade with the elderly protagonist,
and general sitcom vibes.
The space alien predators, with their lobster inspired faces
and futuristic Rastafarian war lord style, featured relatively minimally in the
original. As a life long member of the Dork club, it is awesome to see more of
the futuristic creature’s weapons, style, and mannerisms. Watching it take out
Jamaican war lords and hubristic government agents with a flourish, is an
unmitigated pleasure.
Moving the setting from the thick and isolated jungle to the
teeming cityscape (so overtly referenced in the film’s opening shot), seems
intriguing at first. There’s a lot of game to be had in such a dense area. But
where to hide? For a creature so accustomed to operating in stealth mode, it
doesn’t seem to mind shouting out from the rooftops about the abundance of spine
in the city of angels (and what’s with the theme of 90’s movies, such as here,
and in Demolition Man, asserting that
Los Angeles would transform into some sort of a failed state war zone in under
a decade?).
Indeed, Predator 2
also introduces another character quirk for our exotic antagonist- that of it
being a little less selective in its targets. While the master hunter sticks to
the maxim of not taking on anything not armed, we do have to deal with the
implication of grannies with guns being taken out during the film’s confusing
subway scene. Chaotic and difficult enough to follow, it’s not a good look for
our inter stellar warrior. But that’s the problem with a film that features
spinal columns being ripped from bodies and then at another point resembles a
Bart Simpson sit com- as soon as it steps out of the formidable footprint
established in the original, it starts to stumble.
And what of Arnold’s replacement as a trophy buck? Danny
Glover is an odd choice, after already watching him complain repeatedly
throughout the first 2 Lethal Weapon
films of wanting his civil pension to kick in. However, he does bring a fire,
and definitely punches above his weight class for what it’s worth. But it’s an
odd pairing, matching that of the movie’s choice to use his cop squad to track
the alien hunter. And it must be said that partner Maria Conchita Alonso is
straddling Sofia Coppola in The Godfather
III territory in terms of distracting fish out of water acting. Even Bill
Paxton’s fun appearance as a flashy motor mouthed investigator, and Gary Busey’s
delicious ham fest can’t save this land locked sturgeon.
Changing the battleground and the game, Predator 2 is a closer look at the iconic slick but lethal creature
that varies wildly in tone at times (from gory shoot em up to sitcom), and can
suffer from a general malaise that can’t wait for the chopper.
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