Redux: Predator 2.

Redux #548: Predator 2.

Cast:  

Danny Glover (Lieutenant Mike Harrigan), Kevin Peter Hall (City Hunter / The Predator; Hal Rayle as voice of the Predator), Gary Busey (Special Agent Peter Keyes), Rubén Blades (Detective Danny Archuleta), María Conchita Alonso (Detective Leona Cantrell), Bill Paxton (Detective Jerry Lambert), Lilyan Chauvin (Dr. Irene Edwards), Robert Davi (Deputy Chief Phil Heinemann), Adam Baldwin (Agent Adam Garber), Kent McCord (Captain Brent Pilgrim), Steve Kahan (Sergeant Neil Reeger), Henry Kingi ("El Scorpio"), Morton Downey Jr. (Tony Pope), Calvin Lockhart (Willie "King Willie"), and Sylvia Kauders (Ruth Albright) Directed by Stephen Hopkins.

Review: 

"I always think that about everything I do. I’m my worst most vicious critic of all of these things but I think I just would have made [Predator 2] probably a little less over the top. So it’s a little uneven in tone and sometimes it feels really real. Then you have these crazy Jamaican guys in gold disco pants. I just always want a sense of authenticity about stuff and there’s some of it that just doesn’t feel authentic at all. Some of it really does get to you and I think there’s a strange veer in tones but there’s nothing I’m ashamed of or anything. I think it is just a child from the MTV running around blowing shit up at will and enjoying it with a huge amount of backup working with people who are much smarter than me and could really help me do something that I never had a chance to do before."

It's possible that action movies are just above horror movies when it comes to looking back and thinking, yes, this was pretty good the next time around. I saw the first Predator (1987) movie on DVD when I was in high school and thought it was good and then go figure, I see it a few years later and thought it was really pretty good. Predator 2, which I saw back in 2014 and I guess I just didn't like the idea of a standalone sequel at the time. What I forgot to know at the time was that Jim and John Thomas, who wrote the first movie (involving a professional hunter hunting big game, at least how they proposed it), did in fact return to write the sequel and pitched a handful of ideas to 20th Century Fox; these ideas apparently included: starting straight after the explosion from the first film, or dropping a Predator into time periods such as the Battle of the Bulge. Instead, they went for a hunter that decided upon the then future of 1997 and the "urban jungle" in Los Angeles. The studio could not get Arnold Schwarzenegger to return because of a salary dispute. At the helm to direct was Jamaican-born British director Stephen Hopkins, who had attracted a bit of attention with his first two movies Dangerous Game (1987) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), and he worked out revisions and storyboarded moments with them. Shot on a quick window that had principal photography start in February for a release nine months later, Hopkins (28 at the time) stated he enjoyed the experience. Released on a budget of over $20-30 million in November 1990 (yes, roughly around the same time as Dances with Wolves and Home Alone), the movie made over $50 million worldwide (in comparison, the original made nearly $100 million). Not counting the Alien vs. Predator crossovers, there were no further Predator movies until Predators in 2010.

If Hopkins went a "bit crazy" in making a movie that still ended up being still pretty grounded that he felt was more in the western/thriller genre than sci-fi horror, well, he sure made a good one. With crazy discs and spears to go along with basically a retread of what you saw before in hunting the hunter, I could understand my initial disappointment to this movie and then also realize, yes, but it still deserves plenty of credit for its entertainment value. Over the top, sure, but I suppose I appreciate intensity and craftsmanship more and more when it comes to action/horror movies as the years move on. A lack of Schwarzenegger is regrettable, although it would've been a team-up movie that had inklings of casting Patrick Swayze or possibly Steven Seagal (Hopkins theorizes that he was persuaded by James Cameron to not do it before doing Terminator 2); instead, the role eventually played by Gary Busey* was expanded upon and Glover got cast (basically making this a semi-Lethal Weapon reunion between them, Steve Kahan and Joel Silver, the latter of whom produced both movies). Glover (in pretty good shape because of the physical training) pretty much elevates the movie to what could've easily just been a middling rehash because of how entertaining he proves to be as our hero. Sure, the stubborn loose cannon ordinary Joe isn't the most original type of movies of its ilk, but he has a certain type of timing and enthusiasm that makes it all seem worth it in seeing inevitable ass-kicking in the heat; besides, whether it was1990, 1997 or 2026, it does seem pretty relevant to have a smart mouth to seeing combative folks in really warm weather. This was the penultimate film appearance for Hall, who died the following year after having contracted HIV from a blood transfusion during surgery from injuries in a car accident, and he really did make the best of this role from that suit in making for a pretty imposing figure (which through the presentation of the hunter makes for basically an oddball looking for the alpha, such as when he does a roar and attracts a lightning bolt). I love this group of oddballs that surround the action with Alonso, Blades, and Paxton (no guesses for which plays the charming relief taken before the 108-minute action is over) or the oddball support with Busey in what can only be called "mellow delusion" and musician-turned-abrasive talk show host* Downey hamming it up as much as possible (or, for whatever reason, former Adam-12 star McCord and Davi having bit roles in the usual "cop, you're being too rough" spiel). You get plenty of grimy and intense things within sequences in the city, a massacre in the subway, stuff in a slaughterhouse that probably cribs a bit from Aliens and finally some time spent with an alien ship for a showdown of who really deserves a trophy for their mettle. You know what you're getting early on and if you like where it looks to be headed, well, you'll like it just as much by the end. As a whole, it's a fun average movie that I appreciate more and more because of its sheer energy and willingness to just go where it wants in hunting on a concrete jungle more than thinking too much about its effectiveness when compared to its predecessor. Good ol' sweaty gooey fun, check 'em out.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Yes, I finally decided to give a redux to a movie I saw over 10 years ago. A few more things to cover come up to end August...

*Post motorcycle accident Busey. Remember folks - always wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle.

*It wouldn't be a proper Movie Night if I didn't share his attempts to do novelty songs around this time - Morton Downey Jr. - Sings [1989]. 

Redux: Predator.

Redux: #325: Predator.

Cast: 

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Dutch Schaefer), Carl Weathers (George Dillon), Elpidia Carrillo (Anna), Bill Duke (Mac Eliot), Jesse Ventura (Blain Cooper), Sonny Landham (Billy Sole), Richard Chaves (Poncho Ramirez), Shane Black (Rick Hawkins), R. G. Armstrong (Homer Phillips), and Kevin Peter Hall (The Predator) Directed by John McTiernan (#014 - Die Hard, #018 - Die Hard with a Vengeance, #080 - The Hunt for Red October)

Review: 

"Terrifying in a lot of ways, and a learning experience in a lot of other ways." - John McTiernan

35 years ago, on June 12, 1987, Predator was released in theaters and basically became a multi-genre classic. Jim Thomas and John Thomas each served a variety of odd-jobs before trying to be writers. They were inspired by old mythological tales told to them by their parents such as The Brothers Grimm when it came to the script, which would see what would happen when one hunts the hunter (which in turn was written when one was recovering from an injury); the script was finished in 1983 and sold in early 1984; it should be noted however that one other inspiration, quoted in a magazine detailing the production in 1987, was a joke that had circulated around Hollywood involving Rocky IV [1985] where the title character would probably have to fight an alien for the next bout. At any rate, producer 20th Century Fox handed Joel Silver (fresh off hits like 48 Hrs [1982] and Commando [1985]) the script in 1985, which he liked, and he served as a co-producer with John Davis and Lawrence Gordon (un-credited script work was apparently done later by David Peoples and also Shane Black). You have to consider that this was the big hit for its main director in John McTiernan. From a career that went from 1986 to its untimely "end" in 2003, he directed eleven feature films. Born in Albany, New York, he studied at both Juilliard School and the American Film Institute, graduating from the latter in 1975. He did a variety of commercials to start his career before his first film with Nomads (1986). That movie was not a success with critics or audiences, but it did attract one fan: Arnold Schwarzenegger, who liked the tense atmosphere created on a low budget. 

Commitments from its star meant that shooting was not started until 1986, and it proved to be a grueling shoot that saw dedicated work had to be done with effects, which needed work from R/Greenberg Associates to pull off the effect of a creature in thermal vision and a chameleon-like invisibility, which meant someone had to run around in a red suit and a second take with a 30 percent wider lens to make one optical shot). Plans to use a creature designed by Richard Edlund of Boss Film Studios resulted in an ungainly result that needed a new designer: Stan Winston, who took a suggestion made while sketching (James Cameron) that resulted in a creature with mandibles. While it was not exactly a critical darling on release, its reputation has improved in later years, and it was an audience hit in 1987. The success of the film would lead to a sequel in 1990, which had the Thomas brothers return to write the film. Each sequel has seen a different cast and locale: the second film was set in Los Angeles during a heat wave and drug cartel war, Predators (2010) was set on an alien planet with trained killers being hunted, and The Predator (2018) matched soldiers against Predators on Earth while Prey, set to be released in 2022, apparently matches the creature against Commanche warriors in 1719. 

We have a movie that starts out as an action feature with plenty of macho trimmings that warm one up to the surroundings before it eventually segues into a sci-fi horror feature that keeps the interest high. Apparently, the original script involved just one man up against a predator before changes were made, and it is a wise one, since the picking off the crew makes for a capable thriller that McTiernan can arrange with suitable staging that makes the 107 minutes pass by with quick engagement. Yes, it has some of the little quips that come from select Schwarzenegger features, but it also sees him look at the very least vulnerable enough to where one might really think the character could not make it. In other words: he had improved himself quite a bit from his bodybuilder image and stuff like Conan the Barbarian (1982). For a movie inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the result works well in turning what was a would-be rescue operation into a fight of survival. You have a cadre of actors here (a mix of veterans and younger actors) that make an impression on you with little charming moments, such as Ventura (a Navy man and WWF star at the time) practically chewing lines of bravado or with a joking but efficient Black. Chaves lingers his ground with the rest of the bunch. Landham makes a calm and collected presence of fire to accompany the bunch, while Duke and Weathers seal the tandem up with their own brand of distinct charm and habits. Carrillo is the distinct middle ground between all the hunters, which is spent mostly in calm terror that works to the moments required for a movie where the jungle comes alive. 

For the creature, aspiring Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally cast to wear the suit before being replaced after a few weeks by 7'2" actor Kevin Peter Hall, which probably worked out for the best in the menace department. Given that Hall couldn't really see out of the suit, he makes the best of it by making the climax work as well as it does because one finds this to be a suitable presence to counteract Schwarzenegger with all the buildup the movie has done: two warriors, having found out aspects about the other in how to hide and how to entrap, now find themselves combatting in the dark, as opposed to just having a firefight with shots being fired to no particular location. With a distinct musical score by Alan Silvestri (fresh off scores for films such as Back to the Future) and interesting special effects that show well in the jungle landscape shot in Mexico, it all adds up to a quality adventure that uses its strong cast and surroundings for an efficient movie of its time. As a whole, Predator works because of its arrangements from start to finish: director, actors, design, nnd more to make for a quality action adventure.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.