Predator 2

Starring: Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, Bill Paxton, Robert Davi, Adam Baldwin
Directed by: Stephen Hopkins
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Horror, Science Fiction
1990

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A Los Angeles detective (Danny Glover) investigates the grisly murders of a number of gang members. At first, he believes another gang is responsible. However, the deeper he goes, the more he realizes that the deaths cannot be attributed to anything of this world.

Review:

Tim: Predator 2 marks a step down in quality from the very good original. In this film, the exotic jungle location is traded in for the concrete jungle of Los Angeles. This change actually hurts the movie some, because the film's events seem much sillier in the middle of a major metropolitan area. This is one of a number of flaws that cause this movie to lose quite a bit of quality. While there are some things to like about this sequel, it would be difficult not to be disappointed in the end result.

Stephen Hopkins gives us a film that never rises above the mediocre. I have to say that all of the scenes involving the predator are quite good. The problem comes with the scenes of the humans. We have some of most cliche-ridden, awful dialogue I have ever heard. We have Danny Glover giving a lackluster performance, Bill Paxton acting way too over-the-top, and overall, a collection of human characters that it is very difficult to care about. The first film was very good because we wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, and Jesse Ventura to succeed. Here, it is hard to muster up any kind of enthusiasm for Glover, Gary Busey, and the others. This is a major flaw.

While the story is fairly weak, I did enjoy the revelations about the predators. The predators are one of the coolest alien races depicted on the big screen, and I love learning anything about them. The scene on the alien ship is one of the best of the film- and particularly seeing the alien skull from the Alien movies. That was a wonderful touch. Sadly, the great moments are too few and far between. This movie is weak because while it moves around quickly, there isn't enough substance underneath the surface. Too much of this move has been recycled from other films. We have the obsessed cop who doesn't follow orders, mysterious government agents unwilling to share information, cliched portrayals of gang members, and action scenes that feel somewhat redundant. To be fair, any action scene involving a predator is cool to watch, but this does not make a great movie.

It felt like after the success of the original film, those involved with this sequel believed if they gave audiences more human v. predator fights, that would guarantee a successful movie. Things like character, story, and dialogue were almost afterthoughts here. A movie about an alien race of hunters does not need to be weak, but that is what we get with Predator 2. I am not surprised that it was over a decade before anything else involving the predators got off the ground. This is the type of movie that can kill a franchise's momentum.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Predator, AVP- Alien v. Predator, AVP- Aliens v. Predator: Requiem