BEFORE: Well, if I never saw "Predator" before last night, it stands to reason that I haven't seen "Predator 2" either...
THE PLOT: Amidst a territorial gang-war, a sophisticated alien hunter stalks the citizens of Los Angeles and the only man between him and his prey is veteran LAPD officer, Lieutenant Mike Harrigan.
AFTER: This is the movie that was promoted with the tagline: "He's in town, with a few days to kill." Which is never a good sign - bad puns actually don't sell many movie tickets. I secretly want to write a Christmas-themed slasher film titled "Slay Ride" which would be promoted with the tagline "You better watch out..." See, bad idea. I might have gone with "Man. The other red meat." or maybe "Man. It's what's for dinner." But then I guess you set up a lawsuit from the Pork Council of Beef Council that way.
This film was released in 1990, but is set in Los Angeles, 1997. I guess it's a little easier to deal with the idea of an alien invasion if it's set slightly in the future. Last time the Predator was in the jungle, this time he's in the urban jungle. So this is another PB Cup movie - but this time the alien invasion is wrapped in a "Lethal Weapon" style cop film.
Schwarzenegger is nowhere to be found, instead the central action star is Danny Glover, who surprisingly never once says that he's getting too old for this, umm, stuff. But the Predator alien has learned to curse, and manages to speak a few words of English, like mother-bleeper, and saying that, umm, "stuff" happens...must be a bad habit he picked up from listening to Arnold S. and Jesse Ventura.
The Predator keeps himself busy in L.A. by taking out local gangs - so why do the police want to stop him, exactly? Also interested are some federal agents, led by Gary Busey's character - who want his light-bending technology and whatever else he's got hidden in that suit. But it might not be so easy to get it...
A passable action movie, maybe not as exciting as the first one, but in some sequences, perhaps more so. And they did leave the ending sort of ambiguous, implying that Predators have been hunting on Earth for hundreds of years - so in the future they could easily depict Predators vs. pirates, Predators vs. medieval knights, Predators vs. cavemen - the possibilities are endless!
Also starring Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, Bill Paxton (not Pullman), Morton Downey Jr. (playing an obnoxious TV reporter, that's a stretch...) and Kent McCord (wow, the guy from "Adam-12"?)
RATING: 4 out of 10 sides of beef
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