Review of Predator 2 (1990) by Acidworm — 12 Aug 2022

The urban landscape of LA was a poor setting. It could have worked, but the execution was terrible. There were too many things going on here with a secret government organization, gang war, a Predator from outer Space, and a gung-ho cop all in a 10 year future setting with out of control crime, and a heatwave from global warming. It was like Aliens meets Robocop. Danny Glover did a good enough job, but essentially played a mash up of his character and Mel Gibson's from Lethal Weapon with the Maverick attitude, his defiance of his superiors and the feds and somehow was the hero coming out on top as everyone else was incompetent and dying. The camera work was shoddy during the action sequences so you struggled to see what was going on at times, and the effects were lacking for its era. The plot didn't make much sense, and the dialogue was frequently cringey. Bill Paxton whom played Glover's new partner was especially annoying with unconvincing acting that frequently was over the top, and would have even been irritating in b-rated horror movies.

The Predator was cool, with some new gadgets, and the non-stop action was still fun at times with a pretty cheesy tone. The first movie was much better with the pacing, and Arnold was much more convincing than Glover as a match for the Predator.