Predator 2

Predator 2
Directed by	Stephen Hopkins
Written by	Jim Thomas John Thomas
Produced by	Joel Silver Lawrence Gordon John Davis
Starring	Danny Glover Gary Busey María Conchita Alonso Ruben Blades Bill Paxton Calvin Lockhart Kevin Peter Hall
Cinematography	Peter Levy
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	November 21, 1990
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$35,000,000
Box office	$57,169,413 (worldwide)

Predator 2 is a 1990 science fiction action film starring Danny Glover, Gary Busey, María Conchita Alonso, Ruben Blades and Bill Paxton. 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 to negative 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 suffers from both a heat-wave and a street war between police and Colombian and Jamaican gangs. Engaged in a 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, Lieutenant Michael Harrigan (Danny Glover). After a firefight, the criminals withdraw into a building. Explosions rock the structure, followed by gunfire. Harrigan proceeds inside against orders, to find the Colombians slaughtered. He follows the only survivor to the roof of the structure and shoots him. After the Colombian falls from the roof, Harrigan sees 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).

Jamaican gang members attack the Colombian drug lord at his home while he is having wild sex with his girlfriend, ritualistically murdering him. A Predator kills the Jamaicans one by one, leaving the Colombian's unarmed girlfriend alive. 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. Keyes threatens Harrigan, saying he will "disappear" if he interferes again. Harrigan and Archuleta discuss plans to return to the crime scene for further investigation. Archuleta arrives before Harrigan and attempts to retrieve the weapon. The Predator has also returned to the scene and kills Archuleta.

Harrigan vows 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 found. She notes the weapon's material does not correspond with any element on the periodic table. Harrigan sets 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 is not of this world. Harrigan leaves and the Predator beheads King Willie.

Cantrell suspects that the killer is toying with Harrigan, as Archuleta was murdered shortly before Harrigan arrived, while King Willie was killed moments after he left. Cantrell and Lambert are traveling by subway when a group of thugs threaten passengers. They pull guns on each other, causing Lambert and Cantrell to pull their own weapons. As a standoff ensues, the Predator breaks through the cabin's roof. During the confusion Cantrell herds the passengers to safety while Lambert challenges the Predator. After getting the passengers to the surface, Cantrell doubles back to find Lambert dead. She searches the empty cars and encounters the Predator, who overpowers her and scans her body. Viewing a fetus within her abdomen, the Predator refrains from attacking.

Harrigan arrives at the crime scene and discovers Cantrell. He 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 as a trophy. Harrigan pursues the creature, only to be captured by Keyes' team.

Keyes reveals to Harrigan what he is dealing with, and that he and his team have been following encounter sites with the "other world life form" ever since Alan "Dutch" Schaeffer and his special forces team were attacked in the jungle ten years earlier. Keyes and his men are determined to capture the creature for study. Armed with cryogenic weaponry intended to immobilize the creature, they set a trap for it in a vacant slaughterhouse which the Predator has been raiding for food. The team wears thermally insulated suits to prevent the Predator from detecting them via infrared. However, the Predator switches its mask's scanner through a number of electromagnetic wavelengths before settling on the ultraviolet spectrum, where it can see their black lights. The Predator attacks the team, killing everyone except Keyes. Harrigan escapes custody and confronts the Predator.

A short battle follows in which Keyes is apparently killed. Harrigan shoots down the Predator and removes its mask, but the Predator revives and attacks Harrigan. Keyes, still alive, battles the creature using a liquid nitrogen cannon. The Predator pulls out a "smart-disc" weapon and kills Keyes. 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 its self-destruct device. Harrigan steals the Predator's smart-disc and cuts the Predator's forearm off, destroying the self-destruct device. After falling through the window of a building and tending its wounds the Predator retreats, followed by Harrigan, into a basement that turns out to be an underground spaceship. The two have a final duel that ends with Harrigan killing the Predator with its own smart-disc. Several more Predators 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 as it blasts into space. The remainder of Keyes' team arrives, furious that they failed to capture a Predator. Harrigan says that they will "get another chance".

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 his.
• 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.

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.

Due to excessive violence, Predator 2 was originally given an 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.

Reception

The film received mainly negative reviews, with Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert suggesting it represents an "angry and ugly" dream. 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. As of June 2010, it currently holds a 24% "Rotten" Rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

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 in firmed 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.

External links

• Predator 2 at IMDb
• Predator 2 at AllMovie
• Predator 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Predator 2 at Box Office Mojo