The Black Sheep That Deserves More Love – Predator 2 (1990) MOVIE REVIEW

It’s been over two years since I reviewed the first Predator from 1987, which remains one of my favorite movies ever made. So, with Prey coming out in just a few days, it seems like the best time to revisit the entire franchise and give me thoughts on each entry, starting with the immediate sequel: Predator 2.

Have you ever had a movie that you saw when you were much younger and initially, you didn’t like it very much? However, when you rewatch it years later, you think to yourself: “what exactly was my problem?” That’s Predator 2 for me.

When I was a kid (I had parents who let me watch all kinds of R-rated material), I used to firmly believe that Predator was great but Predator 2 was awful. Now that I’m all grown up with an adult-ish brain, I’ve come to like Predator 2 more and more with each time I watch it.

WELCOME TO THE CONCRETE JUNGLE

One of the biggest compliments I can give Predator 2 is that it does not come off as a rehash of the first film. Having it set in a gang war-torn Los Angeles immediately gives Predator 2 a different look and feel than the previous film.

The city environment gives the new Yautja Hunter (yes, that’s what they are called) the chance to show off the new ways it moves and hunts. There are new pros and cons to hunting in the city, it has a much larger selection of prey, and there is just something appealing with seeing the alien hunter performing a victory screech on top of a skyscraper.

On top of all that, the human characters are vastly different. There are aforementioned gangs that are tearing the city apart for control which makes some of the kills feel somewhat earned. There’s no mistaking that the Predator needs to be stopped since he’s killing cops as well, but picking off murderers and gang lords are hardly the worst thing that the City Hunter could have done for Los Angeles.

There is even a line about this early on: “Maybe we should hire him, put him on the payroll.” Almost like a bit of commentary on how flawed the justice system is in the city when an alien vigilante is cleaning the streets better than they have been.

So, Predator 2 utilizes its concept surprisingly well with plenty of new ideas and elements that allow it to still feel like a Predator movie without simply rehashing the first film beat-for-beat which it could have easily done.

MIKE V PREDATOR: A BETTER CAT & MOUSE GAME

Though Arnold Schwarzenegger battling the Jungle Hunter will forever remain iconic, I have to say that I think that Danny Glover’s Mike Harrigan is the superior protagonist. Mike Harrigan is not some elite and hardened badass with muscles the size of bowling balls; he’s a regular cop who has been working for years trying to clean up Los Angeles.

He’s afraid of heights, he’s a bit hotheaded, and he’s a little bit older but he’s dedicated and wants to see proper justice. In my opinion, Mike Harrigan being the everyman who has to rise to the challenge to defeat a Predator is much more appealing and relatable. This isn’t me saying that Arnold’s Dutch was a bad character, far from it, I just find Mike Harrigan to be the better character, especially when it comes to his rivalry with the City Hunter.

In the first film, Dutch and his team were fighting the Yautja Hunter out of pure survival. Mike’s journey with the City Hunter in Predator 2 is much more personal and shows that the new hunter is much more twisted in his methods. There are so many times where the City Hunter could have easily taken out Mike Harrigan, but he never does and instead goes after those connected to him.

He kills Mike’s best friend and partner, he kills the gangsters that Mike pursues, and he kills Mike’s new recruit. On top of all that, the City Hunter chooses to toy with Mike by dangling the necklace of his partner from a tree near the partner’s grave. All of this riles Mike Harrigan up to the point where he goes from an old and rugged cop to the new badass hero who storms in with a massive arsenal to take on the Predator face-to-face.

The City Hunter sees Mike as a potential elite trophy for him to mount on his ship, but Mike just didn’t reach his peak yet. So, the Predator toys and manipulates events to basically turn Mike from the hunted into a new rival hunter. This makes the rivalry between Mike and the Predator so much more fascinating, resembling the kind of relationship between Batman and the Joker where both parties fuel each other as they battle.

So, when Mike actually fights this extraterrestrial being, not only do you root for him but you believe that this regular cop is able to fight him. The last act of Predator 2, in my opinion, is just as strong as the first movie’s climax due to its even more grounded take on the action between Mike and the City Hunter.

THE CITY HUNTER

Despite being played by Kevin Peter Hall again, the Predator in this sequel is a very different beast. Where the Jungle Hunter was a more stealthy hunter who waited for the right moment to pick off his prey, the City Hunter is far more brutal and hands-on.

This Predator wipes out an entire room of gangsters using much more up-close and personal methods of killing. He uses a plethora of new hunting weapons and gadgets, many of which would forever become staples of this franchise.

The City Hunter is also shown to kill so many more people in Predator 2 that it’s almost hinted that it’s no longer about sport for him. He seems to enjoy his killing spree which turns him more into a serial killer than a hunter on safari.

However, Predator 2 does showcase more of the honor code that was only hinted at in the first film. He still only kills those that are armed and dangerous, but one scene shows that he refuses to kill a pregnant woman. Anytime this franchise reveals small nuggets of how the Yautja race thinks and operates are some of the best moments, in my opinion, and I think it helps in showing that the Yautja are not just mindless killing machines like the Xenomorphs.

GARY BUSEY IS A NATIONAL TREASURE

Everyone else in the delivers a solid performance: you have to love Bill Paxton, María Conchita Alonso is a badass, and Rubén Blades is really charming as Danny. However, none of them are even close to being on the same level as Gary Busey who portrays Agent Peter Keyes.

This guy steals the entire movie simply because Gary Busey is one of those actors who elevate a character with his style of acting. Jeff Goldblum is charmingly strange, Christopher Walken is a downright oddball, and Gary Busey turns every character into a charismatic psycho.

Peter Keyes has some of the best lines in Predator 2 and easily delivers some of the best laughs. I honestly wish that this character would go on to become a series regular, but I’ll take him being one of the best things about this sequel.

ALAN SILVESTRI IS BACK

If you’ve read my review of the first film, you’d know that I have a deep love for Alan Silvestri’s music. So, Predator 2 knew to not fix what isn’t broken and brought back Silvestri to compose the soundtrack and it’s just as strong, reusing familiar tracks throughout in effective ways whilst still adding new scores to fit this setting and new style.

Funny enough, you can actually hear similarities between the music in Predator 2 to music heard in the darker alternate timeline in Back To The Future Part II. Now there’s a fun idea for a crossover.

PREDATOR 2 EMBRACES ITS FUN FACTOR

One of the biggest complaints that I often see people have with Predator 2 is that they say it is campy. To a degree, I would say that they are right, but that would imply that the first film was never campy. Don’t get me wrong, I love Predator but I feel like people tend to forget that the first half of the movie is pretty over the top as well.

From the characters being walking quipping machines to one-liners like “Stick around” to even the ridiculous about of explosions in the first act. Predator becomes more and more grounded as it goes on as characters are picked off. I honestly view Predator 2 as basically more of that just throughout because of the less isolated setting.

Yes, it is can be a little goofy with some of the shots and editing choices it makes but I think that adds to the fun. I would also like to point out that I think people tend to exaggerate how campy Predator 2 is when it has plenty of gritty action and suspense throughout. Like I said, I think the last act with Mike Harrigan actually chasing and fighting the City Hunter is some of the strongest scenes in the entire franchise. Also, once I was able to understand the depth of the rivalry between Mike and the Predator, I think it overpowers all of the campy elements.

NEW ICONIC WEAPONS, NEW GORY KILLS

Predator 2 definitely ups the kill count with even more carnage candy to enjoy. As I said prior, the City Hunter is equipped with a ton of new weapons this time around. The wrist blades and the shoulder-mounted Plasmacaster are back but you are also introduced to the net gun, the smart disc, the combistick, a wrist cannon, and a speargun.

All of these weapons have gone on to become iconic pieces of the Yautja arsenal. They appear in sequels and have been in nearly every video game featuring a playable Predator. The combistick is clearly a favorite of the filmmakers’ because the City Hunter uses it a lot throughout. The smart disc is probably my favorite but not because of the City Hunter (although the death of Keyes is a memorable one), I actually think Mike Harrigan has some of the best moments in Predator 2 with it.

THIS HUNT IS STILL FLAWED

I’m not going to act like Predator 2 is some flawless masterpiece. Even though I find myself enjoying it more and more, I still have some old issues as well as some new ones.

First off, some of the effects are dated even for 1990 standards. There are some elements where the green screen was so obvious that it looked like effects from the early 80s.

However, I will say that this movie does improve on some things such as the cloaking for the Predator. Now the cloaked silhouette actually looks like the Predator where it almost never did in the original.

There are some cliche cop movie scenes in this. I literally laughed when I heard Harrigan’s chief say, “You’re too close to this!” Thankfully, it’s followed up with a great line from Harrigan but you have a few scenes like that throughout where if you’ve seen any action-cop film from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, you will roll your eyes just a little bit.

“Want some candy?” Why? Why does the Predator decide to imitate that of all things? That always bugs me.

I personally think that Predator 2 has some pacing issues. Where the first film has a nearly perfect pace, Predator 2 gets a little awkward with all the different aspects it tries to tackle. For example, the whole King Willie scene, though makes for one of the better Predator sequences, could have been cut out completely and the movie would be no different. The second act is definitely the weakest part of the film (though I still enjoy it) since it sometimes is a little padded out and jumbled.

Also, this is a common flaw with older films, but the whole idea that it was supposed to be the future of 1997 serves almost no purpose. Other than a few “futuristic” gun designs, you could honestly say it was 1990 and there’d be no difference. You actually have to be reminded that it takes place in 1997.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Though not at perfect as its predecessor, Predator 2 still has a lot of great things going for it and as I stated prior, it actually manages to improve upon certain aspects. I think that Predator 2 still delivers on an action-packed thrill ride with plenty of gritty action, gore, and memorable characters to be a worthy sequel in this franchise.

It will probably never be as good as the first Predator, but I definitely do not view it as the disappointment that I used to. It’s a fun sequel that I think more people need to give a second chance and be less blinded by their love for the first film. I’m going to give it an 8/10.

With Prey coming out in a few days, I’ll be continuing my marathon of Predator movies with my Alien Vs. Predator review next. Make sure to follow me to stay up to date!

You’re all SO SWEET for making it this far and I hope you all enjoyed this article! I write about anything geek-related, especially comic book-related stuff so if you want to stay up to date with all the reviews, news breakdowns, and lists I do, make sure to follow this blog or follow me on Twitter @MelodyMacReady where I am much more active! Love you all!