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Predator 2 (1991)

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Review

Duration: 10:42

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Alien Theory's video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJujULw04jE&ab_channel=AlienTheory

Predator 2 (1990) RETRO REVIEW IN 2022 | Road to PREY

1990’s Predator 2, Directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Danny Glover, is the follow up to the much-revered Predator from 1987.
It was written by Jim and John Thomas, who returned after writing the original.
Set in the year 1997, ten years after the events of the first film; Predator 2 takes place on the streets of a degenerated and heavily polluted Los Angeles during a record heatwave and violent conflict between the Columbian and Jamaican gangs trying to take over, with the city’s Police Force caught in the middle.
The story follows main character Detective-Lieutenant Mike Harrigan, played by Glover, as his investigation of the gang-war leads him to cross paths with a Predator, who’s been drawn to the city by the heat and violence; Also attracting the attention of a covert federal agency attempting to capture the creature.

Having such big shoes to fill, coming after the legendary Predator 1 I think is what kinda magnified the Bad rap Predator 2 carried for quite a while after release. I remember the first time I saw it was around 2005 when I bought the DVD; after first viewing I had a pretty lukewarm reaction to it myself, which was also the general consensus if you’d asked most fans around that time.
But then as the years went on, and after we’d gotten a few more films, I began to slowly notice online how more and more people seemed to be coming out and saying that they in fact really liked Predator 2. Calling it “underrated” and “The best Predator sequel”.
After giving it another chance myself, I actually enjoyed it a bit more than I had before. I think this could be in part down to how your tastes change over time, but I theorise the main reason behind why so many people seem to like it a lot more now than they did back in the day is down to two factors:
Firstly is how back when most people hated Predator 2, it seemed to be back when the only Predator movies we had were Predator and Predator 2; and then later Predator 1, 2, and the AVP films; around that time, between the release of Predator 2 and before we would later get Predators in 2010 and The Predator in 2018.
I think that’s because at the time we only had 2 dedicated Predator Movies, the classic Predator 1, and the not-as-good sequel, Predator 2. So, naturally, since the second wasn’t in the same league as the first, people thought of it as being just “the disappointing sequel”; but then further down the line when we got a couple more films that people liked even less, which I guess you could say essentially re-calibrated where Predator 2 stood in a lot of people’s heads.

Which gets me to the second factor, being how, as a lot of people who were around in the 80’s and 90’s would probably agree with, is how the quality of storytelling in cinema has declined a long way from where it once was.
It would seem a lot of movies that didn’t stand in very high-regard back in the day, when compared with today’s endless supply of remakes, reboots, and capeshit. All of a sudden, those older quote-unquote “bad” films don’t feel so bad anymore.
Basically, what I’m getting at is that I believe it was because there were only 2 actual Predator films to compare to one another, and because films nowadays have become so poor on the whole over the last 15 years or so, that they actually make older “bad” movies look decent now.
But that’s just what I think personally.

A really good video that covers the topic of Predator 2 being an underrated film in more detail is:
“Is Predator 2 Underrated?” by Alien Theory. If you’re interested; I’d definitely recommend it, as he does a really deep dive into it, and it’s a very interesting watch.

Predator 2 trades the Jungles of Guatemala, for the city of Los Angeles, creating a whole new environment giving the movie a very different tone and atmosphere to the first. Whether that’s for the best or the worst ultimately comes down to the viewer; I think they made the right choice going for a different setting as it differentiates it from the first movie and makes it feel distinct, like its own thing.

The main cast consists of Harrigan; a tough, grizzled Police Detective who does his best to fight the cities drug-crime and gang-violence, but is a bit of a maverick and often butts heads with his superiors.
At the beginning of the film, he catches the attention of the City Hunter Predator who sees him as his next prized trophy.
Next there’s Danny and Leona, fellow detectives, and members of Harrigan’s team.
Then rounding out the cops is Lambert, played by Bill Paxton who you’ll probably recognise as Hudson from Aliens.

#predator
#prey

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