Franchise Friday: Predator 2 (1990)
The future is 25 years ago.
Last week, I explored whether John McTiernan’s Predator was a good movie or a bad movie, and landed pretty firmly on the former.
This week, I watched Predator 2, and I find myself facing a similar question:
Is Stephen Hopkins’ L.A.-set sequel a bad movie, or a so-bad-it’s-good movie?
I still don’t quite know the answer.
It’s never great when a sequel doesn’t carry over so much of what made the original so beloved. Released just three years after Predator, but taking place a decade later, there’s no Arnold Schwarzenegger, no sweltering rainforest, and no McTiernan to helm the action sequences.
Instead, director Stephen Hopkins (Nightmare on Elm Street 5) relocates the action from Central America to the urban jungle of Los Angeles, in the then-futuristic year of 1997, anticipating a city ravaged by out-of-control gang wars and even worse fashion choices. The film opens on a scene of over-the-top chaos, as rival gangs engage in a horrific shootout that has the cops and innocent civilians in its crossfire. LA’s most badass police officer, Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover), arrives to clean up the streets, but soon finds that a mysterious killer is taking out the thugs one on one, skinning them and hanging them upside down before escaping without a chase.
It’s not as classic a setup as the “Rambo meets Alien” vibe of Predator, and opens with chaos instead of the slow burn of its predecessor. But the setup is intriguing, and the film has a rancid, sweaty vibe (there’s a raging heat wave) that’s kind of fun. Rather than watch Arnold and his band of merry mercenaries take out an extraterrestrial threat, we watch Glover and his gang — which includes ‘80s action mainstays Bill Paxton and Maria Conchita Alonzo — try to figure out who’s hunting and killing on the streets of L.A. while Gary Busey shows up as a government agent who seems to know more about the threat than he lets on.
Let’s get this out of the way: Predator is an ‘80s action masterpiece, largely due to McTiernan’s command of action and tone. The film builds smartly and steadily, beginning as just another macho shoot-em-up before revealing itself to be something smarter and scarier. Its skewing of machismo allowed its testosterone-drenched ensemble to both chew the scenery and poke fun at themselves, and the showdown between Arnold and the Predator in the end is still a high-mark of ‘80s action cinema.
Stephen Hopkins is no John McTiernan (although, to be fair, he was involved in the one of 24’s better seasons). Where McTiernan deftly melded macho satire with genuine thrills, Hopkins attempts an over-the-top satire of urban decay that feels like it’s aiming for Robocop but ends up closer to something out of Troma. The city sets look cheap and ramshackle, the violent mobs are portrayed by actors devouring the scenery and there’s a running commentary on media spectacle featuring Morton Downey Jr. hamming it up to unacceptable levels.
The film feels like it’s aiming for something closer to Veerhoven, but in order for the Predator subplot to match, it would need to feel similarly over-the-top and brutal. But aside from a few fleeting moments, the scenes featuring the titular baddie are unexceptional. Apparently the movie originally received an NC-17 due to violence, but was cut down to receive an R rating. But it leaves the Predator sequences feeling truncated and confusing, cutting away before we often know who died or how. And the Predator’s attacks are shown in quick cuts, never giving a great look at the creature. Most the time, the Predator is shown with his cloaking device on; but it can’t be a great cloaking device, because there are countless shots of people mesmerized by watching a being who is supposed to be invisible.
The idea of a cop tracking what he thinks is a human killer only to find it to be an alien monster is intriguing. But the plot for this is a whiff. The film starts at 80 mph and the Predator never really feels like more of a menace than the crazy punks shooting up the streets. At least he’s methodical and slow; I’m assuming Harrigan is thankful for the breathing room. There might have been an intriguing story that melded this with a more slow-paced serial killer film (maybe David Fincher started with the wrong sci-fi franchise) that would have allowed more of the clever pacing of the first film; or maybe the better answer would be a Predator who’s more Terminator, a more ruthless and unstoppable than even the most-driven gang members. In this film, the Predator hunts by a code, which is fine, but it makes him a bit more honorable than half the people on the screen.
And it’s probably worth noting that there’s an icky racial subtext flowing through this, from the Hispanic gang members to the “Voodoo Posse” that haunts the streets, all sides playing into horrible and ugly stereotypes. It doesn’t help that the air tubes on the Predator’s mask look like dreadlocks, same as many of the gang members in this film, drawing uncomfortable comparisons between an alien, inhuman threat and most of the film’s Black characters. But then again, even most of the heroic characters here are over-the-top, loud and obnoxious. This is a hot, sweaty and unpleasant movie.
And yet, I can’t say I loathe this movie.
First off, the cast is too good to be unwatchable. Danny Glover isn’t the superhero that Arnold Schwarzenegger is, but I like his world-weariness and dogged determination. He’s a tough guy, just not in the same way as Arnold. Glover never quite sells the loose cannon mentality the script has saddled Harrigan with, but he brings a sense of persistence and stubbornness; Harrigan doesn’t seem to be the guy who can go mano-a-mano with a Predator, but he does just that because he doesn’t stop. And I love that when he defeated the Predator at the end and nine more come out of hiding, his first question is “who’s next?”
Bill Paxton was always an actor who made everything he was in just a little bit better, and he famously holds the distinction of being the only actor to be killed onscreen by a Terminator, an Alien and a Predator. I liked his obnoxious hot-shot cop, who always has an unfunny joke at the ready and oozes charisma, but who also reveals himself to be a team player when the chips are down. Alonzo doesn’t get much to do, but she brings grit and toughness to the role. This isn’t the classic ensemble of the first movie, but it does elevate the material.
And ‘80s Gary Busey is a treasure. Teaming with Glover just a few years after Lethal Weapon, his Keyes has a manic, sinister energy, but he’s also not a bad guy.. He’s a military agent who’s been tracking down the Predator ever since the events of the first film because he believes the Army can harness its technology. But he’s never a smug douchebag like Paul Reiser in Aliens, willing to sell out everyone else to get what he wants; in the end, he actually gets a hero’s death. And Busey, as always, is never boring in the role.
While most of the action sequences are forgettable, there’s a melee on the subway that is pretty striking and stylish, using the passing lights to create a strobing effect as the Predator attacks a car full of civilians, who are all packing heat. And while the final rooftop brawl between Harrigan and the Predator doesn’t have an ounce of the tension of the Arnold/Predator brawl from the first film, it has a few stylish grace notes. There are also a few moments that elicit a groan, but I appreciate the audacity of the Predator growling “shit happens” or repeating Arnold’s classic line from the first film (even though this Predator wouldn’t have been there for that).And I like the ending on the spaceship, even if the Xenomorph and T-Rex skulls reveal that hunting humans is kind of lame game and the film doesn’t do much with the idea of nine other Predators showing up.
In fact, the reveal of the other Predators just brings up so many questions about this species. Is this like a guys’ hunting weekend for them? Were the other nine incredibly embarrassed that this Predator led a guy back to their ship? Do they let Harrigan slip out because, really, this Predator was a bit of an a-hole? There’s apparently nowhere to sit on this ship and it’s smoky all the time; isn’t that annoying?
Whatever.
Listen, end of day, Predator 2 isn’t good. The idea of a trophy hunter from another planet coming down here to hunt game is a good one; I just don’t think this is the best execution. But I still can’t believe it took another 20 years for someone to take another go at this (not counting the abysmal AvP movies, which we’re not counting for this). But it does have its cheesy charms. And I’m still curious to see what these other movies are like. So next week, we’ll see what happened with the Robert Rodriguez-produced/Nimrod Antal-directed Predators.
Previous entry in this Franchise Friday miniseries:
Hey Detroit-area readers!
This Thursday night, July 21, at 7:30 p.m., I’ll be co-hosting Secret Cinema at the Maple Theater with my We’re Watching Here co-host Perry Seibert! You won’t know what you’re seeing until the lights go down, but we have a good one picked! I hope you’ll join us! Buy your tickets at the Maple’s website.