Last Updated on July 23, 2021
THE BLACK SHEEP is an ongoing column featuring different takes on films that either the writer HATED, but that the majority of film fans LOVED, or that the writer LOVED, but that most others LOATH. We’re hoping this column will promote constructive and geek fueled discussion. Dig in!
PREDATOR 2 (1990)
Directed by Stephen Hopkins
“A gritty, dirty, mean-spirited film that never lets up.”
Predator. Perhaps the finest pure action film of the 80’s with epic gun battles, steroid infused military men, two governors, one writer, and a crazy ass Native American. It owns some of my favorite film moments. Mac shaving and telling Dillon, “You’re ghosting us, mother f*cker. I don’t care who you are back in the world, you give our position one more time, I’ll bleed ya, real quiet. Leave ya here.” Or Jesse the Body pushing tobacco: “Bunch of slack-jawed faggots around here. This stuff will make you a god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus, just like me.” Arnold telling folks to “Stick around,” and then later lifting a pickup and making it go boom. At the time, it seemed primed to be one of the best franchises in action. But then came Predator 2, halting the franchise dead. But you know, it’s not its fault. Predator 2 is a worthy sequel and at times, equally as entertaining, original and memorable as the John McTiernan classic. So what went wrong?
Well, it’s hard to tell but I’d suggest the fault of Predator 2 lies in its star, Roger Murtaugh. Minus Arnold “Dutch/John Matrix/Douglas Quaid” Schwarzenegger, who at the time was still the biggest star on the planet, Predator 2 immediately feels a little cheaper. As if missing something. A feeling impossible not to have. It’d be like having Alien without Weaver. Or Indiana Jones without Ford. So don’t lay blame on Mr. Danny Glover. Anyone who stepped into that role would have been compared to Arnold, so it only made since to go the opposite route, much as they did in Robert Rodriguez’s new version with Adrien Brody in the lead. Glover is the anti-Arnold, lacking the muscle tone or true charisma to match pound for pound.
However, beyond Lethal Weapon, this is my favorite Glover performance. As Lt. Mike Harrigan, Glover finally gets to the play the maverick cop, bucking the system, doing things his own way, and getting to deliver the good lines (he calls the Predator pussyface. Come on, it’s funny). And while he’d never be mistaken as a psychical equal to a Predator or an Arnold, the dude knows how to bust heads and even uses a shotgun like a pro.And thankfully Predator 2 utilizes perhaps the best aspect out of the first film in making an ensemble flick. Glover, Ruben Blades, Bill Paxton, Morton Downey Jr, Robert Davi, Kevin Peter Hall, oh, and Busey, who was at the peak of his acting power with Point Break, Under Siege, and The Firm all still to come. Here, he reunites with his Lethal Weapon co-star to play a psycho Fed agent. Ok, so maybe it’s not a stretch and we’ve seen him in that role before, but prior to him going completely nuts, the guy was damn good. Don’t deny it. You can’t.
Beyond the obvious, the 1987 original is remembered for its jungle setting, and Predator 2 didn’t forget that a good cast always needs is a good setting. Released in 1990, Predator 2 shows a futuristic 1997 L.A. where a heat wave is killing the city, Latin and Jamaican gangs have overtaken, and sleazy journalism (lead by Downey Jr, “More victims, more mutilations!”) has replaced real news. And the big city was the only place the story could go because who didn’t think about what sort of carnage an alien like that could unleash in the city of angels? Plopping the Predator in L.A. is perfect, and I always love movies that take place in a very soon-to-be future. The film avoids going overboard with the technology (remember, only seven years in the future), but director Stephen Hopkins allows a few advancements in tech here and there to give that futuristic sense. Not much, but enough exists to allow it to feel like a different place and time.
While the original boasts a hell of a lot of great action sequences, the sequel ain’t no slouch. From the Jamaican shootout, to the Predator vs Glover rooftop chase, this movie moves. My favorite two sequences: the subway and the grand finale. The subway in particular is a trip as L.A. has gotten so bad that every single citizen now carries a gun, which means once the Predator hops from train to train, people get dead fast. Perhaps the best moment comes once everyone’s favorite Texan Bill Paxton has a standoff. As he unloads his pistol, throws his marbles, and swings a sword at the transparent bad guy, Paxton shouts, “Let’s dance!” Too bad for Bill that the Predator gets the better line, asking, “Want some candy?” a line that always freaked me out a little. However, it’s the ending, of course, which promised viewers so much. A promise of meeting Aliens (oh how PWSA royally f*cked that up). A promise of a world filled with hunters. A promise that will hopefully be fulfilled in the next week 20 years after Glover showed them humans ain’t no bitches.
Something else that makes Predator 2 more than just a cheap sequel, that makes it better than remembered is the ample amount of violence. Jesus, I miss the days when action movies were f*cked up. When blood spattered and bullets flew like background music. This is a gritty, dirty, mean-spirited film that never lets up. It’s solid action that doesn’t disappoint, that furthers the legacy of Predator without simply repeating what had been done before. It might not be as pure classic like the first, but it works. And work well. Disagree? Hunt the DVD and discover for yourself.
Follow the JOBLO MOVIE NETWORK
Follow us on YOUTUBE
Follow ARROW IN THE HEAD
Follow AITH on YOUTUBE