Predator 2 is the franchise's most underrated entry and a considerably more entertaining and dramatically interesting film than its reputation as a pale imitation of the original has always suggested. Stephen Hopkins's 1990 sequel makes the bold decision to transplant the franchise from the jungle to the urban environment of a near-future Los Angeles, a choice that generates a visual identity and a dramatic register entirely distinct from the original and that gives the film a sense of creative ambition the more straightforwardly imitative sequels of its era did not always attempt. It is not the original. But it is a film of energy and invention, and it deserves considerably better than the dismissal it has historically received.
At a Glance
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Runtime: 108 minutes
Starring: Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, Bill Paxton
Release: 1990
Critics Rating: ★★½ (2.5/5 stars, flawed but entertaining)
Audience Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, underrated)
Review Breakdown
Plot
Lieutenant Mike Harrigan, a maverick LAPD detective, finds himself investigating a series of killings in a gang-war-torn Los Angeles that he eventually discovers are the work of a Predator using the city as a hunting ground. Hopkins builds the film's tension with a confidence the critical reception did not always acknowledge, using the urban environment to create a sense of the Predator as something out of place and therefore unpredictable. The film's most significant structural achievement is its expansion of the franchise's mythology, including the revelation of the Predator's trophy room and its collection of alien skulls, a detail that established the foundation for the Alien vs. Predator crossover mythology and gave the franchise a sense of wider universe the original had not attempted. The slaughterhouse sequence is the film's most viscerally effective horror passage, using the industrial setting with a conviction that recalls the original's most atmospheric moments.
Characters
Mike Harrigan is the franchise's most dramatically interesting human protagonist after Dutch, a detective of capability and moral conviction whose refusal to defer to federal authority gives the film its central dramatic engine. Glover plays the character's exasperation and his eventual confrontation with the Predator with a physical authority and emotional intelligence that makes Harrigan feel entirely real, and his performance is considerably more accomplished than the film's reputation has always suggested. Gary Busey's Peter Keyes is the film's most compelling supporting character, a government agent of menace and institutional authority whose agenda gives the film its most dramatically interesting secondary conflict. Bill Paxton's Jerry Lambert delivers the film's most purely enjoyable arc, his bravado giving way to something more affecting in the film's most effective character moment.
Tone
Hopkins pitches the film at a register of urban action spectacle and sustained atmospheric unease, using the near-future Los Angeles setting with enough visual invention to make the environment feel distinctive. The decision to set the film in a city consumed by gang warfare gives the Predator's hunting instinct a social context the jungle setting of the original could not provide, and the film uses that context with more intelligence than its reputation has always acknowledged. The most effective sequences are those in which the Predator moves through the urban environment with the same predatory patience it demonstrated in the jungle, its presence communicated through the reactions of those around it rather than through direct confrontation.
Meaning / Themes
The film's central concern is the relationship between human violence and the Predator's hunting instinct, between the gang war that has consumed Los Angeles and the alien hunter who finds the city's violence an irresistible hunting ground. The suggestion that the Predator is drawn to conflict rather than simply to prey gives the franchise's central concern with the nature of the hunt its most socially engaged expression, and the near-future setting gives that concern a satirical edge the more straightforwardly action-focused original did not attempt.
Direction
Hopkins's direction is technically accomplished and dramatically assured, using the urban setting with a visual energy that gives the film a distinctive identity within the franchise. The slaughterhouse sequence is the film's directorial highlight, a demonstration of practical effects work and spatial choreography of considerable skill. Alan Silvestri's score builds on the established franchise themes with a propulsive urban energy that suits the film's different setting and register.
Cultural Reception
Predator 2 received poor reviews on its release and underperformed commercially relative to the original, generating a critical consensus that has taken decades to revise. It is now increasingly regarded as a more entertaining and ambitious film than its initial reception suggested, with Glover's performance and the urban setting receiving particular recognition in more recent assessments. The film's expansion of the franchise mythology, particularly the trophy room sequence, has been retrospectively recognised as one of the more significant creative contributions to the franchise's wider universe.
Who Should Watch
Franchise fans who have written it off on the basis of its reputation will find a film that rewards a second look. Those who approach it as a bold urban action horror film with a compelling central performance will find considerably more to enjoy than the franchise's critical history has always encouraged.
Final Verdict: The franchise's most underrated entry and a considerably more entertaining film than its reputation suggests. Glover's Harrigan is the franchise's most compelling human protagonist after Dutch, the urban setting is the series' most distinctive creative decision, and Hopkins's direction gives the material a visual energy and tonal confidence the franchise's more cautious later entries did not always demonstrate. Worth revisiting.
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