User reviews

10 years after the events of the last film, Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) is a hard edged and stubborn cop who leads a team of detectives in keeping the battles between the Jamaican Voodoo Posse and the Latin American gang the Scorpions at least somewhat under control. When a group of Scorpions is slaughtered in an elaborate and over the top fashion including being stripped and skinned, Harrigan's investigation is stonewalled by Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey) who claims he's with a DEA task force but Harrigan is skeptical. As Harrigan and his team investigate the murders of not only the Scorpions but the Voodoo Posse, he soon finds out the killer is an alien trophy hunter.

After the success of the first Predator, 20th Century Fox approached Jim and John Thomas, the original films screenwriters, about the possibility of a sequel. The duo pitched a number of takes for possible sequels with the concept of the Predator in a city garnering the most interest. The Thomas' goal for the sequel was to expand upon the character of the Predator as well as showing off an expansion of its weapons (including its spaceship) and building on lore for its species. Stephen Hopkins was selected as director by Joel Silver based on his work on Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, and Hopkins had originally sought either Patrick Swayze or Steven Seagal for the role of Harrigan with the intention of teaming them up with Arnold Schwarzenegger's character Dutch, but Schwarzenegger declined to return and Hopkins opted for Danny Glover in the lead to make him more of an everyman while Dutch was rewritten as Peter Keyes. Released in November 1990, the film was overshadowed by films such as Dances with Wolves, Three Men and a Little Lady, Rocky V, and Home Alone and was edged out of the box office with $57 million in box office against its estimated $20-30 million budget. The movie has gone on to find appreciation by franchise fans and even Hopkins and Glover have spoken favorably about the movie in retrospect. While Predator 2 doesn't match its predecessor, it's a valiant effort with a lot of solid craft and passion.

Much like how the first movie started out as a typical Rambo/Commando style action movie, Predator 2 ties in with another staple of 80s action cinema: the cop film. With the multitude of cop films released throughout the decade featuring the likes of Clint Eastwood, Chuck Norris, Charles Bronson, and etc., it makes sense as a logical step for the Predator series in taking the audience through what seems like one genre only to throw that genre on its head and throw an alien trophy hunter into the mix. While Danny Glover has played cops before, notably as Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon series, Glover plays a decidedly more hard edged cop who's of the mindset it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. It's a really solid role for Glover and makes him a formidable foe for the Predator (know as City Predator in some circles of the fandom) and he's definitely firing on all cylinders in the movie. The movie also gives him a solid supporting cast with Ruben Blades, Bill Paxton, and Maria Conchita Alonso playing the fellow detectives who help him track down the murderer in high profile gang slayings, but unlike the first Predator that was more of an ensemble film with most of the characters getting equal screentime to develop character, the movie does feel like it's more centered around a single lead (Glover) this time around. The Los Angeles setting is put to good use with the gang culture, dark alleyways, and subway systems of the city used for memorable setpieces and it definitely helps give the film a unique feel that separates itself from its predecessor. While Hopkins does go a tad over the top in some scenes (such as the scene with the Predator holding his spear aloft to a lightning strike) it's the fun kind of over the top that's still enjoyable. Gary Busey's Peter Keyes character is one of the weaker points in the film, while I'm aware the character was a rough stand-in for Schwarzenegger's Dutch, even if Schwarzenegger had returned I'm not convinced this plot point would've worked. For me Keyes and his team felt like a rehash of the Weyland-Yutani stuff from the Alien films with their goal being to capture and study it and I think it doesn't work as well with The Predator because of its nature as a more intelligent antagonist than the comparatively more animalistic Xenomorphs.

Predator 2 doesn't match the level of the first film, but with a unique enough take on the Predator and with a solid ensemble filling out the cast we do get some memorable sequences. While Hopkins maybe goes a little too over the top in some sequences and the Peter Keyes subplot feels really unnecessary, Predator has enough good points to warrant a viewing and is better than most are willing to give it credit for.

Underrated, interesting sequel to the Arnold Schwarzenegger hit has Danny Glover trading in his user friendly Roger persona to play a rougher, tougher, more kick ass cop who fears heights and goes one on one with a new Predator, who has some new tricks to share with the world when he lands in LA during a wave of both crime and heat.

Danny Glover may not be Schwarzenegger but he is quite good in his role as the cop.

The action is well mounted and the big difference of having the Predator in a city VS the jungle makes for some very interesting atmospheric moments and what not. There's also some SEX! Something that was sadly missing from the first film. The first film is better but this is still a worthy action film in its own right.

"Seems he has a taste for beef."

"I didn't think he was a vegetarian."

Los Angles 1997. Gang warfare rages between rival drug gangs with the police caught in the middle. During one shoot out the police led by Mike Harrington (Glover) trap 6 men in a building. Before they can act the 6 are violently killed and stung up by an unseen attacker. As more armed gangs are attacked and killed in similarly unexplained ways the police realise that a new element is attempting to muscle in on the existing gangs. Glover and his team begin to hunt the new gang until they are joined by a FBI unit who seem to know more about the gang than they let on.

This follows on from the first movie well - not a forced sequel picking up from the last, but a different film that ties it's action in with previous events. None of the original stars return but the cast is full of name stars - Gary Busey, Danny Glover, Bill Paxton, Ruben Blades, Robert Davi. The plot is basically the same as the first - an unseen attacker attacks armed forces in the jungle - except here it's in the urban jungle, and it's actually pretty good.

The plot has the core of the predator doing battle, but now has another string of the FBI/Gary Busey conspiracy which makes the film much more interesting. However all this is window dressing to the action scenes. Unfortunately this doesn't have as much slow tension as the first film, but rather has long raging gun battle throughout - this does tend to bring it down to the level of a standard action movie but it does have some standout scenes that lift the film. The strobing fight on the subway is the most effective but the battles between police, gangs and predator are also very well handled. Overall the action is great but could have benefited from more slow, tension building. That said this sequel doesn't make the mistake that other "creature-feature" sequels have made - this keep the Predator hidden even though we already know what it looks like. For the most part the Predator moves cloaked and we only really seek the consequences of it's actions rather than the whole beast revealed. This keeps a certain mystery and helps build a certain amount of tension.

The final battle between hero and Predator is not quite as good as Schwarzenegger's confrontation with the alien, but is still a good finish to the film. It's easy to believe that Arnie could use the jungle and stealth to defeat the alien - but Danny Glover (Mr "3 days from retirement"?) taking on the Predator in what is essentially an extended fist fight? Sorry - it's fun to watch but a little hard to believe.

The performances are good, Glover gets to be a Riggs type rather than a Murtagh/retirement case. Paxton plays the energetic side kick and continues his killer-alien experience that he started in Aliens. Even Busey, now almost completely bereft of his star status and wallowing in video thrillers, is good here as a shadowy FBI agent. Sad to think that he got so good at this role that he got regularly typecast and is now doing things like Lethal Tender, Universal Soldier 2 and many others I've tried hard to forget. The rest of the cast do well as fodder for the predator but it's really all about the action.

The film contains some nice touches that develop the Predator in the same way that Aliens took a step along from Alien. The feeling that the Predator has hunted across all worlds (including the aforementioned alien) is cool as well as some other things that you get from the ending that I wouldn't spoil. But the attempt to give the Predator a sense of mercy is a bit forced. In the first it wouldn't kill an unarmed person, i.e. it always wanted sport. Here this extends to it sparing the life of an armed police woman because she is pregnant, that just seemed a little out of character to me, but I understand why they did it.

Overall this is a solid action movie with plenty of good scenes. When compared to the first movie it almost holds it's own but it lacks the sense of fear and being hunted that the first brought - this has tension but the first film have tension by the bucket.

Sequels are tough, but I think Predator 2 actually does a pretty solid job. We take the alien super hunter out of the jungle and throw him into the city, replace the commando Arnold and sub in seasoned veteran cop Glover. It's not perfect but I think it mostly works, people are solid here and the predator is always a fun character to watch. Can't say anyone needs to go out of their way for this, but there are worse things to toss on if you need some background noise.

Yes, you may not agree with me but I think that Predator 2 was as good as Predator and it even had something the first movie lacked: more screen time for the Predator. The Predator movies are a fan boy's dream come true as the Predator is arguably the best alien on film. The Alien movies and The Thing nonwithstanding. It's not Citizen Kane or anything but the film has plenty of action, decent performances and plenty of the Predator, including the showing off of a few new gadgets of his. I always liked the fact that Predator 2 is set in an urban environment, the jungle is too remote. Not enough prey you see. Although Los Angeles 1997 doesn't look like that then or now,(most parts anyway), the movie does a good job of putting the Predator in what I like to call a target rich environment. Danny Glover isn't Arnold but he does a good job as the lead anyway. Arnold didn't make the first movie good, the Predator did. I think a lot of you miss that. The late Kevin Peter Hall does as well as you can ask from a character with no lines or facial expressions to speak of. Bottom Line: A decent follow-up to Predator. If you haven't seen it yet check it out.

To be honest, I maybe like this movie even more than the first Predator and there are plenty reasons why. The most important reason is that we get to see more screentime with the Predator in his original form, his weapons are upgraded, his kills are getting even better, we see a transition from the jungle to the city which is an amazing job from the director, we see a better character development, a pretty cool fight in the end between the main characters, a beautiful looking alien ship and a cool Alien reference. So even tho there were bunch of issues with the movie, it still is a worthy sequel to the first original movie.

Now here is a textbook case of doing everything wrong in a sequel. 1990's Predator 2 refuses or fails to preserve what made the first Predator any good, makes some terrible creative decisions, and falls into a toxic vat of clichés. It has story problems, casting problems, and originality problems. The novelty of the Predator has worn out in this film, and the whole thing was a bore from start to finish. It's no wonder that this movie isn't brought up much when discussing the Predator franchise; it's overwhelmingly forgettable.

So this time around, the locale has changed from a dense Mexican jungle to the city of Los Angeles. While this film could be admired for risking such a style change, the effect is unoriginal and very out-of- place. It takes away from the Predator's primal mystique. Also, for whatever reason, the script introduces an entirely new cast of characters, without a single returning actor and scarcely a mention of Arnold's original team. Again, this is not a bad change in and of itself, but here it only leads to a rehash of familiar plot devices. The audience already knows that the mystery killer is an alien hunter, but they still have to spend over an hour watching the main characters figure it out. Where's the fun, or the suspense, in that?

The same can be asked of the Predator itself. At this point we've seen what the Predator can do, and this movie doesn't offer any new tricks. It looks the same, acts the same, and shamelessly rips itself off by copying the heat-vision POV (which is utilized randomly and pointlessly here), as well as the mask removal scene. They even reuse the 'ugly motherf@#$er' line. The movie would have been better served if the antagonist was a new variant of the Predator with some new tricks up its sleeve, à la the 2010 sequel Predators.

Like the first film, Predator 2 has some character issues. Replacing the always enjoyable Arnold Schwarzenegger is Danny Glover, who makes a horrendous protagonist. He is constantly angry, overly violent, and completely unlikeable, and is just not believable as an action hero. The rest of the underdeveloped cast is just as bad, relying either on forced exposition to describe characters or painfully obvious archetype clichés to develop them. We hear about how much of a hero Glover's character is even though this is never demonstrated, and about his longtime friendship with his police partner, though this is never proved in their interactions. At one point, a female cop grabs a flirting Bill Paxton by the family jewels and threatens him to leave her alone. Okay, we get it; she's a strong and independent woman who doesn't take crap from anyone. There were many better ways to show it. Ultimately, you won't remember any of these characters ten minutes after you finish the movie.

Put all these factors together and you get a severe lack of entertainment. While the first film was riveting and intense, this one is just an unremarkable bore. The story was lame and unwanted, the Predator itself is now derivative, and the characters are pathetic. The best thing about it was the musical score, and of course it was ripped straight from the original. The most interesting thing this movie had to offer was the possibility of a crossover with another classic sci-fi monster (and we all know how that eventually turned out). Don't waste your time with the lackluster Predator 2. I give it 2 out of 10 stars.

WTF is wrong with people? Predator-1 had more Arnie than Predator. This movie simply has more Predator. It also greatly expanded the Predator universe and franchise. It introduced a whole new bunch of Pred weapons, tactics and behavior which never ever seemed out of place and were perfect fits. It explored their race further. All these were added to full effect in the AvP and AvP-2 PC games which were smash hits so imagine how horrible it would be if this movie never happened? The urban (steel jungle?) setting contrasts against the previous jungle setting and is a major plus for this movie. This movie was also extremely realistic and gory. All in all, this movie is fantastic and a few ignorant critics just want to bring it down by comparing it with the uniqueness of the original.

Yup, you heard me, a real disappointment, especially after how great the first "Predator" movie was. But of course, everyone could've seen this coming, because that's how sequels tend to be like; very, very pale in comparison to the original.

This time we have the Predator not in the jungles of Central America, but now in the streets of Los Angeles that has become over-run with a gang war between the Jamaicans and the Columbians. Putting the Predator in the big city wasn't a terrible idea, because where else could you put him besides the jungle? But the thing is, it worked a whole lot better when he was in the jungle, because you could feel the deadly silence and the claustrophobic feel. But in a metropolis like LA, you're just gonna find yourself being distracted, and you can't focus enough on the Predator to be intimidated by it. And also, the film spends over 20 minutes trying to hide the Predator behind its camouflage, question is, why? We've already seen the Predator before and we already know what it looks like, so the movie is basically wasting time trying to keep us guessing.

But what really killed this movie for me was Danny Glover. And "Predator 2" did nothing for him except prove one fact; Glover can't play the bad@$$/maverick cop. Why? Because that's just not him, he's better off being the good cop who plays by the rules in the "Lethal Weapon" series. He somewhat acts very awkward when he tries to be the tough guy, but that's just ruined by his stilted mannerisms and his good boy face. An the bottom line is, he's just not very convincing. And what makes it even worse, is that his character "Mike Harrigan" is totally shallow and not a lot is explained about him. For instance, who is Mike Harrigan? What are his motives for him being a maverick? Did he used to have a family? What were his past experiences like? Movie doesn't say. In the original "Predator", we knew who Dutch Schaeffer was, we knew he was an ex-combatant who got involved in too many battles and he's seen a lot of death happen. And that's when he decided to tone himself down and become a rescuer and not an assassin.

And also the supporting cast is way outta the league of the one in the first movie. The special forces team members were their own individual characters and we basically wanted to see a spin-off prequel for each of those characters. But in Predator 2, all we get is Bill Paxton being bought in to do what he does best; comic relief. But the jokes that tells are so out-of-place and awkward, and in a few small parts, you can tell that Paxton is just embarrassed to be there in front of the camera and spewing out those crappy lines.

Gary Busey's performance is nothing special, and he basically just keeps the same expression throughout the whole way. And the idea of an NSA agent trying to capture an alien isn't even realistic.

But one thing I liked about this one is that it revealed new facts about the Predator itself. It reveals that it follows a code and a law and the killings that it commits is just an act of sport. And it only kills those who are armed and it doesn't strike at a pregnant woman so it won't take away any innocent lives.

But the action just doesn't interest you and the suspense is pretty much abysmal. Just watch this if you want to learn more about the alien and if you are a real die-hard fan of the first movie....even though you might be disappointed.

I just watched this movie again tonight for the first time in a long time, and I have to say that this movie is GREAT!!! I know I'm going to get hurt for saying this, but I actually think I like Predator 2 just as much, if not more than the original Predator. I'm not sure, but I kind of think that I saw Predator 2 first, which may be the reason, but I think the true reasons are the following:

I loved that the Predator has more weapons, and the action sequences were more interesting.

In this film they do a much better job developing and explaining the Predator. This isn't just a crazy beast that kills things left and right. This is an intelligent being that is looking for a good hunt. I love that the Predator doesn't attack anyone that he doesn't consider a threat or isn't a challenge. I LOVE that he has compassion and respect for an expectant mother.

I have to say there are only 2 or 3 little things that I didn't like about the movie, but they aren't anything I can't deal with. I wasn't too fond of the Predator being struck by lightning...sure, it looks cool, but don't you think that would hurt him pretty bad?

All in all, I genuinely LOVED this movie! I don't know what is is about this movie that just doesn't sit well with a lot of the reviewers on this site, but I loved it. I REALLY hope that they go ahead with a 3rd installment, but it won't be the same without Kevin Peter Hall (R.I.P.). Thanks for reading.

-Cortex

Well, it is. Kevin Peter Hall again did a great job as the Predator, who this time is hunting in Los Angeles. Good to see it's not more gore or less gore than the first movie, because i feel if it were or weren't it wouldn't be the same. Well, actually i don't think you would call it gore!

Danny Glover must hunt down and kill the Predator before it causes more destruction and i thought he was Ok in his role. I don't think this is as good as the original, but it's still a fun movie and the Predator, as usual, looks fantastic! The special effects are amazing for 1990 and i'll always enjoy watching this movie.

It's very worthy!

81%

Exciting and thrilling motion picture in which a varied group of polices must fight an evil alien in the big city . Amidst a territorial gang-war, a sophisticated alien hunter (Kevin Peter Hall , he had studied African tribal dances in order to get into the feel and flexibility and to give him a personality) stalks the citizens of Los Angeles and the only man between him and his prey is veteran LAPD officer, Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover ,at one point Arnold Schwarzenegger was going to co-star in the film, but chose to do Terminator 2) , being only helped by his underlings (Maria Conchita Alonso , Ruben Blades , Bill Paxton).

This nail-biting picture contains action-packed from start to finish , gory scenes aplenty , thrills , emotion and entertainment . Action movie told in terms of urban warfare in which a misfit bunch formed by Policia and FBI agents battle a malicious extraterrestrial . This is a brutal , violent and exciting sci-fi thriller that scales new heights of savagery even by the standards of previous Predator film . The result is a throughly violent but undeniably thrilling action movie with a strong cast giving sweatily good value to their abrasive characters . The ending part is particularly exciting stuff though it makes no great sense . With more time than the original film , Stan Winston, Stephen Hopkins and Lawrence G. Paull came up with ideas and designs with more exotic weapons such as the retractable spear, the detachable pincers, the Frisbee blade, the net, etc. for the Predator to use to differentiate this film from the previous one . Interesting script by Jim Thomas and John Thomas , the original storyline of the film was to have taken place in New York City, but writers quickly changed it to Los Angeles because of budget concerns , as the scene where the Predator raises the skull during the lighting storm was to have taken place atop the Chrysler Building . Spectacular as well as bloody slaughterhouse sequence took about four days to shoot and was extremely difficult, according to director Stephen Hopkins, due to the amount of water used and the lighting of the sequence . Very good cast such as Danny Glover , Bill Paxton , Ruben Blades , Maria Conchita Alonso , Adam Baldwin , Kent McCord , Robert Davi and Gary Busey . Excellent makeup by professional expert , Kevin Westmore , and magnificent FX , especially the semi-invisibility which was well realized . Thrilling and suspenseful musical score by Alan Silvestri ; Alan was quoted as saying that his score will be influenced by prior original score for the 1987 film . In fact , the final credit is heard the classical soundtrack by Alan Silvestri from Predator I . Colorful cinematography but sometimes dark by Peter Levy , and all the main locations were filmed in Los Angeles . The motion picture was professionally directed by Stephen Hopkins , though clearly inferior to prior part . However , the film was re-cut over 20 times, according to director Stephen Hopkins, because of more graphic shots of mutilated bodies and decapitations by the Predator.

Other films about Predator series are the following : The original and the best ¨Predator¨ (1987) in which Arnold leads a team of CIA-hired mercenaries into the Central American jungles , being filmed by John McTiernan with Arnold Schwarzanegger , Jesse Ventura , Bill Duke , R.G. Armstrong , Carl Weathers , Elpidia Carrillo who appears briefly in ¨Predators II¨. Furthermore, ¨Alien vs. Predator¨ (2004) by Paul Anderson with Sanaa Lathan , Raoul Bova , Lance Henriksen , Colin Salmon , Tommy Flannagan and ¨Aliens vs. Predator 2¨ (2007) by Strause Brothers with Steven Pasquale , Reiko Aylesworth , John Ortiz , Johnny Lewis and Robert Joy . And ¨Predators¨ (2010) by Nimrod Antal with Adrien Brody , Alice Braga , Mahershalalhashbaz Ali , Thoper Grace and Danny Trejo .

I've always loved this movie ever since I saw it way back in 1990 at the theater. Predator is great, but part 2 is equally great. It may not be quite as primal and fast paced, but it more than makes up for it with well developed characters, a more detailed back story and compelling setting, and a deeply developed story. If the predator wasn't in this movie, the story set up would make for a great movie on its own.

You may not realize it when you're watching it, but the climax of this movie is nearly 45 minutes long! Starting from the subway shoot out, the tunnel chase, the street-roof chase, the slaughter house fight, the roof top fight that spills into the apartment building across the street, the elevator shaft, and finally to the Predator ship itself. It is a breathless series of action sequences strung together so well that it's almost astonishing to look back on it and imagine such effort was crafted to make this movie.

This movie would never be made today. A sequel without the main character from the fist movie? A whole new setting? This would be seen as too great a risk, but in 1990 movie studios were still run by creative people, not accountants. This movie is a true, unsung classic of sci-fi, coming from an age when great care was put into genre movies that had strong stories, good characters, and dialogue that didn't sound silly and forced. Lines weren't meant to become one-liners, they were just so memorable that they ended up that way.

"You can't see the eyes of the demon, until him come calling." "Okay P-ssy face, it's your move." "Danny Boy."

And of course...

"Want some candy?"

Granted, those aren't as good as the classics from the first Predator, like:

"You son of a bitch!" "I ain't got time to bleed." "Knock Knock." "Stick around." "If it bleeds, we can kill it." "You are one ugly mother f---er."

and of course...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Last but not least, the music score from Predator 2 is one of the best ever. Alan Silvestri hasn't topped his work from this movie which has to have one of the most complex, layered, and just flat out astounding main themes ever composed for an action movie, or any movie.

And of course, it had the cameo that sparked the whole Alien vs Predator phenomenon. If it weren't for Predator 2, god knows where we'd be.

Don't get me wrong, I still feel like the first film was the most important to the series, but as someone else said, this one tends to focus more on the Predator rather than those being attacked by him. I will admit it tends to go a bit far with the vulgar humor and language, so much so its like one of those syfy original films where if its disgusting, it gets said by someone at some point. Really isn't needed. Also it has a really neat ending that leaves you feeling like there may be hope for both sides in the future. Overall its a good one, I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

This movie plain sucks. I am a really big fan the original predator, but this movie is junk compared to it. This movie totally undermines the whole principal of the predator. The predator is a hunter, not a mass murderer. He doesn't go around killing everyone he can, he picks choice kills and hunts them. Why did he kill all those people in the subway? Who knows? He didn't even take trophies of them. The scene with Keys when he tries to capture the predator is totally predictable, woo, i wonder whats gonna happen. Maybe his whole team will get killed by the predator. Hmm, its a real toughy. Then we get the predator running into some apartment, crushing some wall tiles, and making some kind of healing substance. Is there something i dont know about wall tiles? or have they always had medicinal properties? Maybe its a pred thing. Then comes the ending scene, which totally baffled me. Danny Glover survives a fall down a elevator shaft, and ends up in a predator ship that somehow got into a underground tunnel. Well, how in the hell did the predators manage to get a ship into a tunnel in the middle of a city with no one noticing? Anyways, danny starts beating up a predator which has killed about 50 people through the movie with ease, but some how now has trouble killing danny, whose gotten his butt kicked throughout the entire movie. Well *surprisingly* danny glover kills the predator, when all of a sudden.. a bunch of other predators appear. They seem to have no problem with the fact that one of their buddies just died, because they dont do squat to him, besides giving him some old gun, which makes no sense at all. What does this old gun symbolize? I have no idea. Well danny decides its time to leave, so he jumps out, and we have almost the exact same ending as predator, only in a city setting. Everything in this movie is pretty bad. The predator couldnt hold a stick up to the one in the original, he just doesnt have the same amount of skill. The jamacian drug lords are laughable stereotypes, pot smoking, rastafarian, pimps with uzis. Danny Glover is the typical cop who cant stay out of trouble, with his rag tag posse of cops who all manage to get killed. I want to know why in every sci fi movie, they always have to have some scientist who wants to try and capture or make peace with some monster who has killed countless numbers of people. I have to agree with the person who was talking about danny glovers pants. They are freakin hilarious. At least 2 sizes too big and drooping all over. Everything in this movie stinks. Dont see it. Its got every hollywood cliche all rolled into one movie. Stay far away from this movie.

Series Note: Although this is a sequel, it's not strictly necessary to watch this film after the first. I almost always to prefer to watch film series in order, but as the Predator films are not constructed as chapters in a novel, there may be some advantage to watching Predator 2 first--namely that the Predator itself is explained much better in this film, so it might help viewers fill out unstated backstory for the first film.

Set in a "future" 1997 (the film was released in 1990), we're shown a Los Angeles suffering from both a mounting heat wave and mounting anarchy. Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) is a rule-breaking, short-tempered downtown cop. He works closely with Danny Archuleta (Ruben Blades), Leona (Maria Conchita Alonso) and recent transfer Jerry Lambert (Bill Paxton), all eccentrics in their own way, and all but Danny equally rule-breaking. The film begins with a Colombian drug gang engaging in a shoot-out with the cops. The police finally manage to defensively drive them into a building, but when they at last converge on the gang, it seems that somebody, or something, else has finished the job for the police. More drug gangs are attacked, and it seems as if there may be some kind of vigilante on the loose. But when a secretive government task squad, headed by Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), enters the picture and takes increasingly odd actions, it seems that something even more bizarre may be responsible (a fact also given away by the film's title, it's relationship to the Predator series, and obvious shots involving the titular character early in the film).

For my tastes, Predator 2 is an example that breaks the supposed trend that "sequels are never as good as their predecessors". I think Predator 2 is a brilliant film, better than the first film by two points. This one is a 10 out of 10 for me.

Let's get the more obvious comments out of the way first. As a horror and sci-fi leaning crime actioner, director Stephen Hopkins and writers Jim and John Thomas have created a fast-paced, exciting, visceral film. This is a story set against burgeoning anarchy and chaos is a gang-filled urban environment, and Hopkins appropriately never decreases the intensity of the film--we barely pause to take a breath. While that may be exhausting to some viewers, and the rapid pacing might lead some to confusion, anyone with a taste for action films should love it, plus the genre-melding is accomplished without a hitch.

The cast is quirky and excellent. Keep in mind that I have a taste for surrealism, camp, absurdism, and so on, so that makes me appreciate the acting in the film even more. I'm a big Bill Paxton fan. His performance in Predator 2 is a good example why. I also like Danny Glover a lot, and he turns in a great performance. Additionally, we have Gary Busey, one of the odder actors in Hollywood (just watch his comments on the DVD extras)--a fact that to me always pleasantly comes through in his characters, and the incomparable Morton Downey, Jr., basically playing his "real life" television talk show personality, is even present as a "guerilla" journalist.

The music, special effects and every other technical aspect are also excellent.

But what makes this film even better is the brilliance beneath the obvious aspects. The Predator, because of his goals, is usually unseen, hidden or camouflaged in his unique way, and most of the time he's watching others. Thus, Hopkins permeates the film with images of voyeurism, hidden views, reflections, veiled appearances, and so on. There are tens of brilliant shots through windows and/or showing our primary visuals through reflections. The heat, which not only amps up the chaotic atmosphere of the film, also enables Hopkins to make everyone sweaty throughout most of the film. The sweat creates reflections. There is the regular presence of the media covering the story, being voyeurs on the film's action. Sometimes we see things through their cameras. There are a lot of televisions and computer screens throughout the film. There is a subtle theme of voyeurism via public display of personal snapshots. We become literal voyeurs, in the sexual sense, by watching the film for one brief scene. The L.A. police become voyeurs of the task force's actions. During the subway scene, much of the action becomes hidden because of a marvelous strobe light effect. I wouldn't doubt that if we watched the film with only this aspect in mind, we would probably find it present in some way in every scene, in nearly every shot.

I know this film is sometimes panned, but it would be undeserved. It may be a case of the film being too hip for the room. In any event, you shouldn't miss Predator 2.

A Predator comes to earth and presumably after hearing about one of it's colleagues' demise at the hands of Dutch Schaffer in the South American jungle, opts for a jungle of a different sort: Los Angeles in 1997, which is a violent place, cops and gangbangers battling it out on the streets. There, he runs into a hard-nosed cop (Danny Glover's Lieutenant Mike Harrigan) who sniffs a cover-up after a suspicious killing of some gangbangers and a sketchy federal agent (Gary Busey's Peter Keys; Busey does sketchy better than most, if you ask me) who is involved in the cover-up. Of the Predator, no less.

I enjoyed Predator 2 and thought Glover did a great job. He must have known that stepping into the Governator's shoes was going to be tough going. He nonetheless puts in a great performance, hunting down the alien game hunter basically all by himself.

Some great action sequences and other memorable scenes - the finale showdown is as spectacular as you would imagine. It's hard to follow in the footsteps of a film as iconic as "Predator" was, but "Predator 2" is, I feel, unfairly maligned.