Review of Predator 2 (1990) by Mark D — 19 Jun 2009

A trashy and uninspired sequel to a much better film. While Predator 2 does introduce some refreshing elements to the Predator mythos, including a wider selection of deadly weapons for the alien hunter, a new urban setting, and brief glimpse into the private world of the Predator's spaceship, this film suffers most from being completely dominated by action movie cliches.

Danny Glover steps up as Arnold's replacement, playing an incredibly stereotypical "loose-cannon" cop, complete with an unnecessary number of scopes and laser sight attachments on his pistol.

The rest of the cast, which is full of a surprising number of familiar faces, all come to embody a set of similarly 2-dimensional characters, from Bill Paxton's funny "wisecracking" detective to Gary Busey's "mysterious government agent with a secret agenda" character.

Everything feels like they took an outdated manual on how to make action movies, and literally copy-and-pasted things together. While the film should at least be respected for taking the franchise in a new direction and not simply rehashing the plot of the original, the end result remains unimpressive and overly forgettable.