Predator 2
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| Predator 2 | |
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| Directed by | Stephen Hopkins |
| Produced by | Joel Silver Lawrence Gordon John Davis |
| Written by | Jim Thomas John Thomas |
| Starring | Danny Glover Gary Busey Maria Conchita Alonso Ruben Blades Bill Paxton Calvin Lockhart Kevin Peter Hall |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | November 21, 1990 |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $35,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $57,169,413 (worldwide) [1] |
| Preceded by | Predator |
| Followed by | Alien vs. Predator |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Predator 2 is a 1990 science fiction horror film starring Danny Glover and Gary Busey. Written by Jim & John Thomas and directed by Stephen Hopkins, the film is a sequel to the successful 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Apart from actor Kevin Peter Hall in the role of the Predator and a very brief cameo appearance by Elpidia Carrillo, the film has an entirely new cast. The movie received mixed reviews and gained a moderate return at the box office.
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[edit] Plot
In 1997, Los Angeles is suffering from both a sweltering heat-wave and a vicious street war between rival Jamaican and Colombian drug cartels. Engaged in a protracted shootout with some Colombians, police officers Leona Cantrell (Maria Conchita Alonso) and Danny Archuleta (Ruben Blades) await the aid of their boss, veteran Lieutenant Michael Harrigan (Danny Glover). After an intense firefight with the officers, Harrigan's aggressive tactics cause the criminals to withdraw into a nearby building. A series of explosions rock the structure, followed by mysterious gunfire. Harrigan proceeds inside, against orders, only to find the Colombians have been mysteriously slaughtered. He catches sight of what appears to be the hazy silhouette of a large man, but waves it off as an effect of the heat wave. Harrigan suspects that a new "player" has entered the streets for control.
At the police station, Harrigan is introduced to Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), leader of a federal task force investigating the cartels. Harrigan is also introduced to a new officer for his team, Jerry "The Lone Ranger" Lambert (Bill Paxton).
Later, Jamaican cartel members attack the Colombian drug lord Ramone at his home. After ritualistically murdering him, the Predator takes advantage of the situation and kills the Jamaicans, leaving only the Colombian's girlfriend alive. Arriving first, Harrigan and his team enter against orders, observing one of the Predator's daggers stuck in an air-conditioner, before Keyes and his team arrive. Enraged at his defiance, Keyes threatens Harrigan, saying he will be 'disappeared' if he interferes again. Harrigan and Archuleta discuss plans to return to the crime scene later for further investigation into the murders. Archuleta arrives before Harrigan and attempts to retrieve the dagger, which has gone unnoticed by Keyes. Unfortunately, the Predator has also returned to the scene. Archuleta attacks on reflex and is killed by the Predator.
Harrigan is devastated, vowing to his superiors and Keyes to destroy the perpetrator responsible for his friend's death. After Cantrell and Lambert tail Keyes to a slaughterhouse, they visit a pathologist to investigate the dagger, which Harrigan had secretly removed from Archuleta's corpse. She discusses its origins, noting the weapon's molecular structure does not correspond with the periodic table. Harrigan decides to set up a meeting with the Jamaican drug lord King Willy, hoping he will know who is attacking them. Willy believes the creature involved in the killings of his men is not of this world. More confused than ever, Harrigan leaves - the Predator immediately attacks and kills King Willy.
Leona suspects that this killer is toying with Harrigan, as Danny was murdered shortly before Harrigan arrived, while King Willy was murdered moments after he left. Cantrell and Lambert, planning to meet Harrigan, are traveling by subway when a group of thugs threaten a man. They pull guns on each other, causing Lambert and Cantrell to pull their own weapons. As the tense standoff ensues, the Predator suddenly attacks. During the confusion, Cantrell assists the passengers to safety within another subway car while Lambert keeps the Predator busy. After stopping the train and getting the passengers to the surface, she doubles back to find Lambert has been killed. She encounters the Predator, who scans her body with thermal scan technology. Viewing a fetus within her, the Predator refrains from attacking.
Harrigan arrives at the new crime scene and discovers Cantrell is still alive. He also surmises that only armed civilians and officers were attacked. Following a blood trail down the subway tunnel, he witnesses the Predator mutilating Lambert's body. Harrigan pursues the creature, only to be captured by Keyes' special team.
Keyes finally reveals his agenda. He and his team have been following encounter sites with the Predator, hoping to catch one ever since Alan "Dutch" Schaeffer (the protagonist of the first film, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his special forces team were attacked in the jungle ten years earlier. Keyes and his men hope to capture the creature for study. Armed with weaponry intended to immobilize the creature, they have set a trap in a vacant slaughterhouse the Predator had been raiding for food. Their aim is to make it impossible for the Predator to see in the infra-red spectrum, without which it will be blind; however the Predator simply switches its helmet's scanner to an ultraviolet wavelength. The Predator attacks the government team, killing everyone except Keyes. Harrigan, who foresaw trouble, is able to escape custody and heads to confront the Predator.
A short battle follows, in which Keyes is apparently killed. Harrigan is able to shoot down the Predator and remove its mask, but the Predator revives moments later and nearly kills Harrigan. Keyes, still alive (although horribly scarred by a plasma attack), arrives to battle the creature, using a specialized liquid nitrogen cannon. Keyes demands that Harrigan retreat, saying that the fight is between "me and him." The Predator pulls out a "smart-disc" weapon and throws it at Keyes. The weapon cuts through half a dozen cattle carcasses before hitting Keyes, which in a graphic scene, slices him in half and covers Harrigan with his blood. Harrigan and the Predator exchange attacks, as the battle moves to the rooftop. The Predator gets knocked over the side and, hanging from a ledge, attempts to activate the micro-nuke self-destruct bomb contained in its wrist-mounted computer. However, Harrigan steals the Predator's smart-disc weapon and uses it to cut the Predator's forearm off, destroying the bomb in the process. After tending its wounds the Predator retreats to an underground spaceship followed closely by Harrigan. The two have a final duel, ending with Harrigan killing the Predator. The elder Predators pick up their fallen soldier and give Harrigan an old flintlock pistol as a sign of respect.
[edit] Cast
- Lieutenant Mike Harrigan
Danny Glover - Special Agent Peter Keyes
Gary Busey - Agent Leona Cantrell
Maria Conchita Alonso - Agent Danny Archuleta
Ruben Blades - Agent Jerry Lambert
Bill Paxton - King Willie
Calvin Lockhart - Tony Pope
Morton Downey, Jr. - Anna
Elpidia Carrillo - The Predator
Kevin Peter Hall
[edit] Production
Due to excessive violence, Predator 2 was the first film to be given the newly instituted NC-17 rating in the U.S. The film was eventually rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America after being re-cut to its final theatrical length. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred as "Dutch" in the 1987 film, was asked to reprise his role in the sequel. Schwarzenegger was outspoken against the sequel's concept, feeling that taking it into the city was a bad idea. Schwarzenegger had to decline and decided to sign on for another sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The character was rewritten as the role of Peter Keyes (Gary Busey). Returning to the role of Anna in the sequel, Elpidia Carrillo was slated to be in two scenes but was cut back to a brief appearance on a video screen in the government agents' surveillance trailer. Her character is showing damage to the Central American jungle caused by the explosion at the conclusion of the first film.
[edit] Reception
The movie received mixed reviews, with Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert suggesting it represents an "angry and ugly" dream.[2] Since its initial release, the film has, like its predecessor, gained a cult following.[3] The worldwide box office revenue totaled $57,169,413 in ticket sales. Although this surpassed the cost of the film's budget, it was considered an overall disappointment in comparison to its predecessor's performance.
[edit] New facts about Predators
Predator 2 established several new facts about the predator creatures, painting them less harshly than in the original film. The predators are portrayed as hunters who follow a code in which they refuse to kill unarmed, ill or pregnant prey. This was hinted at in the 1987 film when an unarmed Anna (Elpidia Carrillo) was never attacked, and when the Predator removed his armor to face Dutch in a fair fight.
In Predator 2, The Predator takes aim at a child carrying a toy gun, but when he scans it and realizes it is a toy, he backs off. During the Subway chaos in the middle of the film, Officer Leona is caught by the Predator with her service gun, but upon scanning her body, he finds a fetus inside of her and doesn't kill her. At the end of the movie, after Harrigan (Glover) kills the creature, he is suddenly surrounded by additional predators. Presumably because their comrade was defeated in a fair match, they let Harrigan leave and even gave him a trophy (flintlock gun) in honor of his victory.
Near the end of the film, an Alien skull can be seen in the predator's trophy collection. The first time the Alien and Predator franchises were combined was in November of 1989 when Dark Horse Comics released Aliens vs. Predator. This combination would also later be explored in video games, and the films Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).
[edit] Novelization
The novelization provided a small amount of information regarding the fate of "Dutch" from the first film. Keyes recalls memories of speaking with the battered Major while infirmed in a hospital, suffering from radiation sickness. "Dutch" is said to have escaped from the hospital, never to be seen again. Furthermore, the novel also tells a great deal of the story from the Predator's point of view, such as its humiliation of having its face mask removed by Harrigan, and reasoning for not killing Cantrell due to its discovery of her pregnancy.
[edit] References
- ^ Predator 2 (1990) - Box office / business
- ^ Roger Ebert, Film Review for Predator 2. suntimes.com (November 21, 1990). Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes, Film Reviews for Predator 2. rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
[edit] External links
- Predator 2 at the Internet Movie Database
- Predator 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
- Predator 2 at Box Office Mojo
- Predator: The Hunted - fan site; contains all Predator info
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