Blu-ray Review: Predator 2

Oh, come now — how can you not like Predator 2? It’s a fun slice of delicious 1990s cheese that pulls viewers into a thrilling world of sci/fi action. It also managed to successfully break away from the standard sequel mold of repeating the same damn thing over and over until the cash stops pouring in. OK, so yes, the plots between Predator and Predator 2 are really rather kinda similar (the first took place in a Southern American jungle whereas the second is set in the urban jungle of Southern California), but that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. Sort of.

I think the late voiceover king Don LaFontaine would put it best with the setting of Predator 2: “In a world overrun by crime, one man stands for all.” The hero of the story, Lt. Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover), is about as a big of a late 80s/early 90s police drama stereotype as you can get. The late voiceover king Don LaFontaine would describe him as “a cop that doesn’t play by the rules.” Indeed, he doesn’t. And, in a city like Los Angeles where rival gangs have turned the streets into a no-man’s land, it’s most justifiable. But Harrigan’s passion for bucking authority is all taken for a loop one day when a ghostlike killer (or was it a Ghostface Killah? I can never remember) starts picking off members of both gangs, as well as Harrigan’s colleagues.

Harrigan’s day goes from bad to worse when he comes to the horrid realization that the unseen enemy he’s up against is in fact an alien being from a far-off galaxy. Its purpose in town is simple: he’s here to kill. To stalk. To sport. And a super-cop like Harrigan makes for the perfect hunt. Add to that a covert government operation under command by a very hammy Gary Busey, a weirdly-decorated and dated dystopian Los Angeles (set seven years in the future), another embarrassing performance by Bill Paxton (who keeps hiring this guy, anyway? Anybody?), the magical make-up of Stan Winston and Co., a slew of bloody murders left and right, and just a pinch of nudity courtesy of Teri Weigel, and you’ve got yourself another genre flick that the Academy snubbed completely.

Article Author: Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the disgruntled alter-ego of Adam Becvar, a thirtysomething lad from Northern California who has watched so many weird movies since the tender age of 3 that a conventional life is out of the question. …

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