Predator 2 1990 Film Starring Danny Glover
The Alien Returns This Time Stalking the Streets of Los Angeles
Sep 28, 2009
Ten years after Dutch and his team were hunted in the jungles of South America; a second Predator has arrived on Earth. But this time the alien is not out in the middle of nowhere hunting in the jungle, it has come to the heat-drenched streets of Los Angeles.
Predator 2's Plot and Characters
Set in 1997 during a heat-wave the police are locked into a fierce battle with Colombian, and Jamaican drug gangs. During a shootout with members of the Colombian gang, police detectives Leona Cantrell (María Conchita Alonso) and Danny Archuleta (Ruben Blades) await the aid of their boss, veteran Lieutenant Michael Harrigan (Danny Glover). The police manage to force the gang members into a building, and against orders the police follow them moments later. They discover that every one of the Colombians have been slaughtered. The police realise that they have got a new ‘player’ in town, little do they realise that the player is a Predator.
The Predator does not discriminate between the Colombians and Jamaicans hunting down and slaughtering members of both gangs. The police struggle to discover what is happening. Harrigan even goes as far as to seek out the leader of the Jamaicans King Willie (Calvin Lockhart) to see what he knows.
Harrigan’s efforts to discover what is killing the gangs and police are hampered by the presence of Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), leader of a federal task force supposedly investigating the cartels.
Sequel with New Cast
With the exceptions of Kevin Peter Hall who reprises his role as the Predator and Elpidia Carrillo who played Anna (who has a cameo role) no one else from the original Predator returns. Apparently Arnold Schwarzenegger was approached to reprise his role as Dutch from the first film but he did not like the concept of taking the Predator to a city, and so declined.
Predator 2 suffers from no one from the original being in the film; however, unlike a lot of sequels the events of the first film are key to this one. As the film progresses it becomes obvious that Keyes is not investigating the gangs and is interested in capturing the Predator for its advanced technology. Although not seen on screen, in the wake of the events of Predator Dutch and Anna gave their statements regarding what happened and the government have obviously become interested in the technological advancements that a captured Predator might give them.
Danny Glover had recently played the straight family police officer Roger Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon and seems to enjoy getting to play the reckless cop. Bill Paxton had also appeared in the 1986 film Aliens and is the only actor that starred in one of the best Alien films and a Predator film when they are still good.
Changing the backdrop from a jungle to a city means that the body count is far higher, but Predator 2 lacks the tension of the previous film. Dutch’s team were isolated as they were hunted leading them to slowly begin to crack up under the pressure. Here the characters can go back to their apartments at the end of the day and take a bath. In addition, the audience are already aware of what the Predator is and so there is no slow discovery of its origin as there was in Predator.
Glover lacks the forbidding presence of Schwarzenegger. He tries hard but the Predator looked more frightening opposite the physically imposing former Mr Universe. The additional cast are just targets for the Predator but none of them are as fleshed out as any of the soldiers from Predator.
4/5
Not as good as the original but much better that either of the Alien Vs Predator films
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