Predator 2 is a 1990 science fiction/action film starring Danny Glover and Gary Busey. Written by Jim and John Thomas and directed by Stephen Hopkins, the film is a sequel to the successful 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The cast is almost entirely new, apart from the Predator, again played by actor Kevin Peter Hall. The film received mixed reviews and gained a moderate return at the box office. After its initial release, like its predecessor, it gained a strong cult following.
Plot
In 1997, Los Angeles is suffering from both a sweltering heat-wave and a vicious street war between police and Colombian and Jamaican drug gangs. Engaged in a protracted shootout with the Colombians are police detectives Leona Cantrell (María Conchita Alonso) and Danny Archuleta (Ruben Blades) as they await the aid of their boss, veteran Lieutenant Michael Harrigan (Danny Glover). After an intense firefight, Harrigan's aggressive tactics force 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 follows their local leader, also the only survivor, to the roof of the structure and shoots him. After the Colombian falls from the roof, Harrigan catches sight of what appears to be the hazy silhouette of a large man, but dismisses it as an effect of the heat.
At the police station, Harrigan is introduced to Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), leader of a federal task force purportedly investigating the cartels. Harrigan is also introduced to a new officer for his team, Jerry "The Lone Ranger" Lambert (Bill Paxton).
Later, Jamaican gang members attack the Colombian drug lord at his home, ritualistically murdering him. The Predator takes advantage of the situation and kills the Jamaicans one by one, leaving only the Colombian's unarmed girlfriend alive. Arriving at the scene first, Harrigan and his team enter against orders, observing one of the Predator's weapons stuck in an air-conditioner before Keyes and his team arrive. Harrigan suspects that a new "player" has joined the street war. This "player" is actually a Predator on the hunt. Enraged at his defiance, Keyes threatens Harrigan, saying he will 'disappear' 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 weapon, which has gone unnoticed by Keyes' team. Unfortunately, the Predator has also returned to the scene and, revealing itself to Archuleta, attacks and kills him.
Harrigan is devastated, vowing to his superiors and Keyes to destroy the perpetrator responsible for his friend's death. After Cantrell and Lambert trail Keyes to a slaughterhouse, they visit a pathologist to investigate the weapon Archuleta had found. She discusses its origins, noting the weapon's material does not correspond with any element on the periodic table. Harrigan decides to set up a meeting with the Jamaican drug lord King Willie, hoping he will know who is attacking them. Willie believes that whoever, or whatever, is involved in the killings of his men is not of this world. More confused than ever, Harrigan leaves - and the Predator immediately attacks and beheads King Willie.
Leona suspects that the killer is toying with Harrigan, as Danny was murdered shortly before Harrigan arrived, while King Willie was killed moments after he left. Cantrell and Lambert, planning to meet Harrigan, are traveling by subway when a group of thugs threaten innocent passengers. They pull guns on each other, causing Lambert and Cantrell to pull their own weapons. As a tense standoff ensues, the Predator suddenly breaks in through the cabin's roof and attacks in the dark. During the confusion, Cantrell herds the passengers to safety across the next subway cars while Lambert challenges the Predator, keeping it busy. After stopping the train and getting the passengers to the surface, she doubles back to find Lambert has been killed. She searches the empty cars until she encounters the Predator, who overpowers her and scans her body with thermal scan technology. Viewing a foetus within her abdomen, 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 - removing his skull and spinal column in their entirety as a trophy. Harrigan pursues the creature, only to be captured by Keyes' special team.
Keyes finally reveals to Harrigan what he's dealing with, and that he and his team have been following encounter sites with the "other world life form" 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 are determined to capture this creature for study, realizing its value as a potential means for immense technological advance. Armed with cryogenic weaponry intended to immobilize the creature, they have set a trap for it in a vacant slaughterhouse which the Predator has been raiding for food. The team wear thermally insulated suits to prevent the Predator from detecting them via infrared. However, the Predator simply switches its mask's scanner through a number of different ranges of electromagnetic wavelengths that are available to it, before settling on the ultraviolet spectrum where it is able to see their black lights. 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 attacks 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, as the Predator pulls out a "smart-disc" weapon and throws it at Keyes. The weapon slices Keyes in half. 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 self-destruct device 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 self-destruct device in the process. After falling through the window of an adjacent building and tending its wounds the Predator retreats, followed closely by Harrigan, down an elevator shaft to a basement that turns out to be an underground-stationed spaceship. The two have a final duel, ending with Harrigan killing the Predator with its own smart-disc. Several more Predators suddenly appear and carry away their dead clan-mate, while an elder Predator gives Harrigan an antique flintlock pistol as a sign of respect. Harrigan escapes the ship just as it blasts off into space. The remainder of Keyes' team arrives, furious that they failed in capturing a Predator. The film ends with Harrigan commenting that they will "get another chance", implying that the Predators will return to Earth someday.
Cast
- Danny Glover as Lieutenant Mike Harrigan: Harrigan is an LAPD officer, who while dealing with rival Jamaican and Colombian drug cartels, discovers that the Predator is killing members of both factions, as well as police officers. He is very stubborn, and often is conflicted by superior officers for he "never obeys orders," but his record for busting criminals keeps him on the force.
- Gary Busey as Special Agent Peter Keyes: Keyes is an NSA agent leading a special task force investigating a supposed drug conspiracy; this is only a cover for his attempts to capture the Predator.
- María Conchita Alonso as Detective Leona Cantrell: Leona is an LAPD cop involved in the Jamaican-Colombian Gang wars.
- Ruben Blades as Detective Danny Archuleta: Danny is a part of Harrigan's team, and a long time friend of him.
- Bill Paxton as Detective Jerry Lambert: Jerry is an LAPD cop, eventually transferred from another precinct into Metro Command. He is a comedic member of the team often telling bad jokes to Leona.
- Calvin Lockhart as King Willie: Willie is the boss of the Jamaican Voodoo Posse. He appears to be psychotic to a certain degree because of his voodoo beliefs, doing things such as ordering his men to remove the heart of a rival drug dealer. He is having the same problems with the Predator as the police.
- Morton Downey, Jr. as Tony Pope: Pope is a journalist, who reports the gruesome and murderous homicides left by the Predator. He is constantly harassed by the police for reporting at inappropriate times or interfering when least useful.
- Elpidia Carrillo as Anna: Anna is a survivor of the Predator attack in the first film. She appears in a photo in a video tape showing the devastating after-effects of the Predator's self-destruct device.
- Kevin Peter Hall as The Predator: The Predator is member of a warrior race which hunts aggressive members of other species for sport, uses active camouflage, a plasma weapon and can see the infrared spectrum. It hunts drug lords and members of the LAPD when they interfere in its hunt. The Predator was designed to look more urban and hip than its predecessor. Design changes included tribal ornamentation on the forehead, which was made steeper and shallower, brighter skin colouration and a greater number of fangs.[2]
Production
| "Broad concept's the same. The difference is, this is a different individual. A different individual of the same species. As is a snake is a snake is a snake, but different snakes are different. Their colorings are different, different parts of their characteristics, their facial structures, subtle differences." |
| — Stan Winston describing the Predator in Predator 2 and explaining the reason for the varying designs and looks of the Predators.[3] |
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 declined and decided instead 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.
In Predator 2, the main Predator was designed to look more urban and hip than its predecessor. Design changes included tribal ornamentation on the forehead, which was made steeper and shallower, brighter skin coloration and a greater number of fangs.[2]
Reception
The film received mixed reviews, with Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert suggesting it represents an "angry and ugly" dream.[4] Since its initial release, the film has, like its predecessor, gained a cult following.[5] The worldwide box office revenue totalled $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.
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 mask removed by Harrigan, and reasoning for not killing Cantrell due to its discovery of her pregnancy.
References
External links
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Alien, Predator, and Alien vs. Predator |
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