My Review of Predator 2 · 10:33pm Jun 11th, 2023
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, folks! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today! This afternoon, I will be reviewing Predator 2 from 1990! In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated sequels of all time due to the action, storyline, 90s style, and entertainment value. While it isn’t as great as the first movie, it still manages to be a film on its own while it references the latter.
Also, just because Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t come back for this movie doesn’t mean it’s an automatic failure. It has a lot of great actors who manage to carry the film with their passion and energy. And let me tell you, I didn’t expect this movie to be that entertaining and satisfying. For a sequel, it met all my expectations even if it has some noticeable flaws.
Set ten years after the first movie, we are now in the city of Los Angeles where there are multiple gang wars and violence running rampant across downtown LA. There we meet a hot-headed police officer who has a habit of disobeying orders doing his own thing to take down criminals. That is when we encounter another Predator who kills anyone he deems as a challenge or a threat with a weapon. Will Mike be able to take on the Predator?
Let me start off what I loved about this movie: it has some impressive action scenes that perfectly demonstrate how the 90s were like. The way they shoot with their guns and ammunition were both cool and badass, if I say so myself. Another thing is that it is so over-the-top it’s quite hilarious to watch but in a good way.
The acting is incredible too. Danny Glover may not be like Dutch, but his character was still intriguing to watch . He takes no bullshit from anyone, stands his ground, perseveres through war and bloodshed, and is never afraid to back down from a fight.
The other characters were pretty cool too. Bill Paxton, Rebén Blades, and María Conchita Alonso all did wonderfully in their respective roles. Oh, and I find it amusingly interesting that Paxton is the only actor who has been killed off by a Predator, a Terminator, and a Xenomorph. Lance Henriksen comes close except he wasn’t killed by a Predator.
Anyway, I loved what they did with City Hunter Predator. They made him just as awesome as the Jungle Hunter from the last film and utilized his deadly capabilities against his prey. Great choreography from the late Kevin Peter Hall! Plus, the directors and writers took the opportunity to briefly explore the lore of the Yautja and reveal how they hunt their prey, how they adapt, how they keep their trophies, and how they uphold their code of honor.
Speaking of trophies, that Xenomorph skull in the trophy room was a nice Easter egg. I wouldn’t be surprised if that set up the crossover series between both extraterrestrial species.
But if there were some things I didn’t like about the movie, it would be the lack of suspense and the amount of kills that can result to empty shock value. Don’t get me wrong, they look pretty cool. However, the Predator has a little too much screen time which kills the suspenseful horror it’s supposed to spread…just like what we see in the first movie. I get that we’re supposed to already be familiar with what the Predator is capable of doing, but that doesn’t mean they get to overstay his welcome by prolonging his screen time.
Lastly—and this is a minor complaint—the last bit where we see other Predators appear and surround Mike after he killed one of their own…that scene looks so poorly made. It looks like they had a terrible green screen which made it appear so laughably fake. It caught me off-guard seeing that part. It was hard for me to take that scene seriously due to the horrendous visual effects.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with this movie. I give it a 9/10! Like I said, it is far from perfect, but it still manages to be a wonderful addition to the franchise and made people excited to see what comes next.
RIP Morton Downey Jr., Calvin Lockhart, and Lilyan Chauvin.
(Salute the dead)