Predator 2 (1990)

 

It is pretty impossible to top one of the finest action/horror films out there, but to dismiss this sequel to 'Predator' would be a mistake. It might not be the adrenalin-filled rush the first one was, but this one tries a few new things and mostly succeeds.

Heck, most of the lore concerning the Predators actually stems from this story. 

Instead of a remote jungle, the action takes place in a sweltering Los Angeles, where a massive streetwar is going on between the police and two rival drug gangs, comprised of either Colombians or Jamaicans. The police are losing the battle, but the a mysterious person shows up and makes short work of several gangmembers on both sides. Everyone is perplexed, as they have no idea how this 'vigilante' could show up undetected, slaughter a bunch of heavily armed guys and then just vanish. 

Not everyone skins their victims either.

But when a police officer also gets killed, our hero Harrigan (Danny Glover) definitely wants payback. He discovers that shady Federal people are actually actively hunting an alien, one of the kind that wiped out a Special Forces unit in a Central American jungle a few years back. But it seems as though Harrigan is a little too determined to let this alien get away with murder and likewise: the alien seems to have found interesting quarry to hunt... 

The decision to place the story in a different setting was actually a good one. No one really wanted to see a mere rehash of the first film, right? And because most of the crew/writers/producers that worked on the first 'Predator' are present here, the feeling is - for a large part - the same. Sure, director Stephen Hopkins isn't John McTiernan, so the action is not as exciting as one would hope, but it is still pretty darn good. 

The ensemble cast also works. Danny Glover might be a strange choice as the heroic lead, especially because it's hard to top Arnold Schwarzenegger, but he does his best with what he's given. And you get cool supporting actors like Bill Paxton, Maria Conchita Alonso and Ruben Blades as a bonus. Is it the same feeling as the previous team? No. But the band of friends does work and we even get some heroic sacrifices left and right. 

Oh, and you can't go wrong with some Gary Busey at the top of his game as the government operative Keyes. He is loving this and you can tell. 

They do try to force some lines on the viewer, to little effect. Paxton's: "Hey, (fill in blank) is my specialty!" gets tiresome really fast and hearing a Predator gurgle "Shit happens." is a bit weird. They did manage to get Kevin Peter Hall again to play the creature and he does move a little different, but the Predator isn't shot as a menace, whereas before he felt more like a threat. Now, he's just here and more of a foil than a danger. 

But nitpicks aside, this is a solid sequel that doesn't get as much love as it deserves. So go ahead and give it some.