Review of Predator 2 (1990) by Jacob R — 24 May 2015

I can admit I had lower expectations for this one, after seeing the reviews and trailer. It did better than I thought, but still not great, and is my least favourite film of the franchise. The whole gang thing didn't go well with me, although it is a major factor to the plot.

The drug lords, the fights between them and the cops and all, for whatever reason didn't go well for me, even though it's a topic I usually like. The acting isn't anything special, with Bill Paxton probably being the best character, but like usual he doesn't last the film.

Danny Glover simply doesn't fill in Arnold Shwarzeneggers shoes, instead of being a ripped killer, he's a older veteran cop, which is yet again what the story needs, but not what it should be.

Then the setting as the city could have been different all together, but again it's what we're stuck with. The predator is the same as before really, with a new look under the mask, but the same.

Where it really shines is in it's CGI with although still not great is a vast improvement over the crap we see in the original. It's also far more gory, not in terms of the violence itself but in the aftermath we get to see.

It also cuts right to the action and the predator, leaving little time for any real character or plot development. It's probably scarier too, not as tense as him being able to strike at any time in the jungle, but in him chasing down his victims.

The ending is good, a last stand that ends predictably, until we are taken to the hidden underground ship, and them letting Danny go with him barely escaping in time before the ship took off. We see a brief reference to the Alien movies, with an alien skull in a trophy case on a wall of the ship along with a human skull, and dinosaur skull.

Overall not an improvement at all, and it's mostly the location that screws everything else up. It's still a fun watch, but nothing special or all that impressive. Kinda ends up like the third instalment of the Alien movies.