Predator 2 (1990)
★★★½ — Predator 2 (1990)
Stephen Hopkins directed this 1990 sequel having come off the low-budget Australian horror Dangerous Game (1987) and the slasher Nightmare on Elm Street 5 (1989), making Predator 2 a significant step up in scale for a still-developing filmmaker. John McTiernan, who directed the original 1987 Predator, did not return, and Arnold Schwarzenegger also passed on the project, which led to the substantial rethink of swapping jungle warfare for a near-future Los Angeles depicted as a city in near-total gang war. The script is an original story by Jim and John Thomas, who wrote the first film. Shot largely on location around Los Angeles, the production arrived at a particular cultural moment when American anxieties about urban crime were running high, which the film leans into fairly heavily.
Deserves more love than it gets. Look, it’s no Predator, but this sequel deserves way more love than it gets. Swapping the jungle for a sweaty, chaotic Los Angeles is an inspired. The urban setting gives it a whole different energy, grimy, intense, and almost dystopian. Danny Glover steps up surprisingly well as the lead. He’s no Arnie, but he brings a street-smart, worn-down cop energy that totally works for this version of the story. Watching him go toe-to-toe with a Predator in a city full of crime and corruption is genuinely fun. The kills are brutal, the Predator gets more screen time (and gadgets), and the whole vibe feels nastier and more unpredictable. The Xenomorph skull in the Predator ship was the ultimate tease, the crossover promise that blew every nerdy mind in the '90s. Flawed, a bit messy, but wildly entertaining and criminally underrated.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 1990 | Watched: 2025-04-09
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
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Physical: Amazon UK
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