Another Predator has touched down but this time he’s in the city!..And this time he’s not as enjoyable!
Predator 2 (1990)
Directed By: Stephen Hopkins (A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, The Reaping)
The Prologue
As the fine folks at Wiki say due to excessive violence, Predator 2 was the first film to be given the newly instituted NC-17 rating in the U.S (probably due to naked people hanging up by their feet). The film was eventually rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America after being re-cut (a total of 20 times) to its final theatrical length. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred as “Dutch” in the 1987 film, was asked to reprise his role in the sequel. Schwarzenegger was outspoken against the sequel’s concept, feeling that taking it into the city was a bad idea. Schwarzenegger declined and decided instead to sign on for another sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (good move on his part).
Also it should be noted the company didn’t even get behind a sequel to Predator until the release earlier of the comic book, so after that went well they finally decided to give it another go and while it’s not by any means bad it’s no Predator 1 by any means..any means what so ever.
The Movie
So we take Predator out of the jungle and into the big city as The Predator is in Los Angeles for what must be hunting season, and the only man who can stop him this time is Lieutenant Mike Harrigan of the LAPD (Danny Glover)..Excited yet??
Well just like the original we got a cast of all stars here with Danny Glover, Gary Busey (who might have still been sane then), Bill Paxton, Robert Davi (Maniac Cop 2 and 3) and Lilyan Chauvin (Mother Superior in the effin’ house)
So we got the Predator, we got a good cast, but sadly we don’t have the effect the first movie had. Where the first one was soo 80′s in a good way, this one was soo 90′s in a bad way. The cheesy this time doesn’t come across as nothing more than cheesy with the brightest spot of it all coming from the acting of Danny Glover giving his best performance in my opinion outside “Leather Weapon”. Busy is pretty solid in his role with a few laughable moments (not sure if it was intentional) but Bill Paxon who I really liked in stuff like “Near Dark” really sucks it up here…A golf ball dude? REALLY??
You get violence, you get gore, but it doesn’t seem to have the same effect as the first film. Maybe this was due to it being edited up to 20 times I don’t know but it doesn’t seem to have a lasting impact at all.
Not saying the movie is all bad because it’s worth a watch, I just think at times they were trying a bit too hard. However it does get major cool points for the collection of skulls the Predator has on it’s ship..I’m sure a lot of you know what I mean *wink wink*
The Conclusion
Well it doesn’t live up to the first but then again not much really does now does it? It’s got blood, it’s got Danny Glover, but it just lacks in substance. Worth a watch for any Predator fan but if you have your choice of any of the series it won’t be your first choice and it shouldn’t be.
I also should note this was the last time Kevin Peter Hall (who was also Harry from Harry and the Hendersons) got to put on the Predator costume after being the alien for the first two films. He would soon die after from AIDS but, great work as Predator none the less and thanks to these movies his memory lives on in the power of DVD and such.
The Rating (6/10)
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