THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Predator quickly became a classic film in 1987, for having balls to the walls action sequences and introducing an intimidating antagonist. With high expectations, you would think that it’s first sequel would do fine. I sadly cannot say that at all with Predator 2.
PLOT
The film takes in a fictional 1997, showing a turf war in Los Angeles between Colombian and Jamaican drug cartels. The only one that hopes to make a difference is Lieutenant Michael Harrigan, along with his known allies: Danny Archuleta (Rubén Blades), Leona Cantrell and Detective Jerry Lambert. During a gunfight between both gangs, he is able to help fellow officers in order to drive back the Colombians. The terror doesn’t seem to conclude when an advanced extraterrestrial is now lurking the city in a cloaking device. An exhausted Harrigan dismisses it when noticing it, but his day gets worse when he is reprimanded for his disobedience and is introduced to Special Agent Peter Keyes, whose leading a task force against the cartels. By night, the advanced hunter continues its sport by killing a group of Jamaicans that were invading the home of a Colombian drug lord. Harrigan notices how the crime scene resembles to the same damage made in the prior shootout. When Archuleta chooses to resume investigating on his own, he gets killed by the hunter. When Harrigan finds out what happened to one of his partners, he vows to avenge him. Upon finding his body, a tip of the creature’s spear was left behind. He lends it to forensics in hopes to trace the killer, only to discover that it’s composed of unknown elements. Jamaican drug lord King Willie (Calvin Lockhart) reaches out to him, to warn him that what’s attacking the city is supernatural and must prepare for the worst. Harrigan believes in him when the creature kills the drug lord, giving him the chance to retreat. The next night, the hunter causes a massacre in a local subway, killing Lambert but spares Leona when discovering that she is with child. When Harrigan finds out that the rest of his team is out for the count, he becomes more determined to take matters in his own hands. He does try to pursue the city’s new tormentor, but is stopped by Keyes. The agent explains that what they’re after is extraterrestrial that hunts with infrared vision and last caused conflict in Central America a decade prior. Keyes intends to trap it for the sake of scientific research, but his attempt to pin it down gets him and his team killed. Harrigan continues his pursuit on the alien and is able to wound it by severing its arm with its own throwing disc. He then follows it to its hideout where he is able to kill it with the same disc. Shortly after victory, a whole group of aliens retrieve the body of their fallen comrade and award him a pistol from 1715, proving that they’ve been hunting on Earth for generations. The film ends with the aliens leaving via spacecraft, having Harrigan become certain that they’ll return.
THOUGHTS
I had big hype straight off of enjoying the first one so much, so you can imagine how crushed I was when this one didn’t reach my expectations. I had a hard time trying to have general enjoyment because Director Stephen Hopkins abandons the overall spirit that made the first one work and try to make it resemble other films. It felt like a slasher sequel where you root for the villain and don’t have enough motivation to root for the protagonists. So while Kevin Peter Hall makes a badass out of the Predator once again, I don’t think I have enough motivation to root for Harrigan. Danny Glover does a good portraying him as a compulsive figure who is only concerned about looking after the city he’s trying to protect, yet I still can’t click with him like I did with Dutch. Bill Paxton’s Lambert and Maria Conchita Alonso’s Leona are still interesting characters for having the right motivations, but I don’t think being good is enough for me to root for you. It was pretty easy to hate Gary Busey because he straight up played Keyes as a stingy guy who had stupid motivation to keep alive the planet’s greatest threat, like Burke from Aliens. So when he bit the dust, I did not give a shit. Speaking of which, the coolest thing I can admit about this movie aside from the Predator amping it up with its advanced weaponry, I dug the Easter egg that showed the xenomorph skull as part of the trophy collection. Seeing the connection between both franchises felt casual and I wish modern franchises could learn from this. While I like to appreciate some elements at display, it doesn’t save the general movie from a handful of bland moments that pissed me off. There is no doubt that Predators are indeed cool creatures, but I am pretty confused on how they’re able to speak English at a minimum. Prey confirmed that they’ve visited Earth on multiple occasions, so it’s very odd that they’re not so fluent with it. They may be more focused on hunting than talking, but it really wouldn’t be bad to further expand intelligence by fully learning a new language. I then wonder why does the Predator only take one body for a trophy and leaves the other bodies it skins? If it doesn’t want to get caught, you’re doing a bad job when leaving a trail like that. It gets bad enough when no one notices the first hanged body to be taken later on as the crime scene gets investigated. And the biggest mistake it makes is taunting Harrigan before he kills him. That’s like asking to be killed. They definitely started the movie with a bang when Harrigan intervenes in the shootout, but I get quickly confused on how the Colombian gang member El Scorpio (Henry Kingi) has no injuries in his hideout when guns were being fired and bombs went off. I know this is supposed to build up the Predator’s first kill, but making this guy invincible off of drugs is a weird way to get it done. It even gets wilder when his body doesn’t destroy a table when he falls. I know we need Harrigan to pursue the Predator to defeat it, but why does it take so long for Keyes to investigate the second crime scene? Harrigan is only able to do things his way when Keyes isn’t around and it’s crazy that the latter ain’t on top of this like he claims to be. He is definitely not smart when originally intending to keep the Predator alive, but he gets dumber when not deciding to convince Harrigan to take on the alien together. It would’ve been a cool fight to see happen. Lambert ain’t a bad guy, but I don’t think he’s the brightest for not knowing who King Willie before being briefed. If you’re a detective working in a crime fueled community, you gotta know the gangsters running the place. It’s weirder than seeing him freak out of the hanged bodies twice in a row when he was already surprised once. Harrigan has the right to be suspicious about Keyes, but since he has no justification for being insubordinate at that point, this is one of those risks that don’t seem worth it. It does suck for Danny to die since this motivates Harrigan to make matters into his own hands, but I’m tripped the fuck out that Keyes doesn’t have security guarding the apartment. One simple decision and they could’ve kept it under wraps from Harrigan that there’s an alien. Again, I want to root for Harrigan, but he doesn’t justify himself when cornering Keyes in the hallway of the station and telling the chief of police he’s gonna avenge Danny. I would’ve bought it if he was chief of police himself and told a mayor or a governor. He does get a good lead when getting the spearhead, but I don’t what is worse when trying to figure out how did Danny still have a good grip before he died or him choosing to keep it rather than allowing further investigation on it. And I do not like that he left Danny’s badge at his grave. I know people have ways to pay respect to the fallen, but you’re asking for that to be stolen. I’m impressed that he holds his own against the Predator during the climax, but how in the hell did he survive the bomb that hit his midsection? I know this movie’s in a fictional future, but I’m having a hard time to believe that the bulletproof vest was that strong enough to save him. I was definitely surprised with Leona being pregnant before she gets taken out of the equation, but now I’m obsessing over a question that’ll never get answered: Who the hell is the baby daddy?Maybe that answer doesn’t matter, but if she knew she was with child, then she is out of her goddamn mind for risking her baby like that. It may have been cool in Fargo, but the character Marge Gunderson had minimum action compared to the cop here. If anything could’ve made King Willie’s death memorable, it likely would’ve been the Predator stacking up its body count by killing more members of the Jamaican gang. Then again, the train massacre is good enough. Alf of this proves that this movie should’ve been thought over much longer if it wanted to be as good as Aliens. To wrap up, Predator 2 is the weakest link of the action franchise for not knowing what it wants to be. As a fan, I wish new viewers good luck getting through this one. For older fans, let’s be grateful Prey happened.
Comments