Back in the late-90's, Early '00s, Horror was in a weird place with a lot of the mainstream stuff existing in a sort of horror-comedy mold of the genre changing Scream, with films that could be scary but also didn't take themselves too seriously. They were fun, but it started to get a little old. Then along came a unique little entry in the genre like a breath of fresh air, Final Destination. With a unique premise the film actually takes seriously (the same can't be said from the inevitable sequels) and a strong cast made this a memorable scary flick.
Alex Browning (played by Devon Sawa) is traveling to Paris with some of his classmates on a high school trip. He starts to have an uneasy feeling about the trip and once he's on the plane has a full-blown vision of the plane exploding during take-off. Freaking out, he demands everyone get off the plane. The flight attendants try to calm him down but in his ensuing hysterics, they decide to remove him from the plane, with several students caught in the process, Carter (played by Kerr Smith), Terry (played by Amanda Detmer) and Billy Hitchcock (played by Sean William Scott). Worried about Alex, his best friend Tod (played by Chad Donnella) also exits the plane along with classmate Clear Rivers (played by Ali Larter), who was convinced by Alex's warning. Also getting off the plane is one of the teachers, Valerie Lewton (played by Kristen Cloke). As Valerie tries to sort out what to do and the kids fight over being kicked off the plane, the plane actually does explode during take off, killing everyone on board. The survivors, spared by Alex's warning, try to find a way to piece their lives back together while working through some serious survivors guilt. But, when the surviving passengers begin to die one by one in freak accidents it becomes clear that they weren't meant to survive and Death is coming back around to clean up that oversight. The remaining survivors come together to try and figure out if there is a way to cheat death a second time.
Final Destination began life as a spec script for an episode of The X-Files, but wound being developed as a feature film instead, bringing on the writing partners James Wong and Glen Morgan to help develop the film, with James Wong directing as well. What works great about the film is that there is no defined personification of death, but rather exists within the film as an unseen entity moving certain pieces into position, almost Rube Goldberg-esque traps that the doomed characters fall into. The fact that it is innocent everyday elements that ultimately do in the characters when manipulated in deadly ways is part of what makes it unsettling, especially an early one where a character is strangled by a clothesline that is almost too realistic. This makes a welcome change from what could have been a guy in a large, black cloak offing teenagers and made the film a little more unique. Still, for everything the film does well, they do tend to lay it on real thick at the beginning of the film with repeatedly trying to make everything leading up to the plane disaster feel ominous and not all of it works. Thankfully, after the opening scenes the film does settle down a bit with that aspect of it. I also feel that a lot of the characters exist more as archetypes, such as Carter as the angry jock or Billy as the goof ball. Only Alex and Clear get any sort of real development. Although naming most of the characters after famous horror directors was a nice touch.
The acting in the film is decent, with Devon Sawa carrying the film as lead character Alex. He does a good job in the role of an ordinary boy in some very extraordinary situations, trying to figure out what is going on and keep it together. Ali Larter makes the most of her character, Clear, who gets closer to Alex as the film goes on and they make a good pair. I loved the strength she gave to her character, someone who has seen tragedy before in her life but pulled herself up and kept moving forward. Kristen Cloke as Valerie Lewton, the surviving teacher, was also an impressive turn as someone who started out the film as a sassy and strong woman, but after the crash just completely melts down and has trouble dealing with what happened. Cloke does a great job at conveying her character's inner anguish at what happened. Tony Todd makes a memorable appearance as a local mortician the kids visit who gives them some insight into the nature of death.
This film would go on to kick off a series of four sequels of varying quality, as well as a series of tie in comics and novels that I just recently discovered existed. Still, for me the first film is the best of the lot with a genuine sense of eeriness and more serious tone made it more effective for me than the ones that followed. It's one that I've always enjoyed and found to be an effective and memorable scary movie, one that's ripe for revisiting.
I've always enjoyed any movie that can subvert genre tropes and put a new spin on a well worn and familiar story. Tucker and Dale vs Evil is one such film, putting a unique and hilarious spin on a very familiar sub-genre, the hillbilly maniacs in the woods, a well-worn genre that would include such genre classics as The Hills Have Eyes, Deliverance, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Wrong Turn.
Tucker (played by Alan Tudyk) and his best friend Dale (played by Tyler Labine) are two affable but dim-witted friends traveling to Tucker's newly purchased lake home to start fixing it up. They are just simple rural guys looking to have a relaxing weekend together. Traveling up to the lake at the same time is a group of affluent college kids who upon seeing Tucker and Dale assume the two are creepy, homicidal maniacs. Later that evening, Tucker and Dale decide to go fishing and come across some of the kids skinny dipping. When one of the kids, Allison (played by Katrina Bowden), falls while trying to dive off a boulder and hits her head, Tucker and Dale go to help her while her friends run away, assuming Tucker and Dale are maniacs kidnapping her. They take Allison back to their cabin where she soon comes to. Meanwhile, the other kids return to camp and inform their friend Chad (played by Jesse Moss) what happened. Rather than go for help, Chad decides they need to rescue their friend themselves. The following morning, Allison is still recovering at Tucker and Dale's cabin and begins to bond with Dale over breakfast. Her friends outside begin to mount an ill-fated rescue attempt that leads to one by one her friends getting killed through a series of bizarre accidents and mishaps, such as one accidentally impaling himself or another trying to tackle Tucker while he feeds old tree branches into a wood chipper only to miss and go head first into the wood chipper instead). Naturally, the remaining friends misinterpret this as Tucker and Dale killing them as things only escalate and spin out of control from there as poor Tucker and Dale try to make sense of what is happening.
The film was directed by Eli Craig from a script he wrote with Morgan Jurgenson. They manage to find the right balance for the film with showing how the kids were able to completely misread the situation while also making the titular characters completely lovable. At the same time, the film is completely over the top in it's humor, striking a good balance between the outrageous and gruesome aspects of the film. They do a really adept job at subverting the standard tropes at almost every turn in really amusing and funny ways. They also set up the scenario perfectly by having Chad tell his friends a story around the campfire about a murder spree that happened in the area perpetrated by a pair of murderous hillbillies so the idea is already seeded in their heads, so when they come across Tucker and Dale, they immediately connect them to the killers from twenty years prior. It also helps that almost none of the characters, save for Allison, are particularly bright.
The two lead performances from Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine are quite good. Tudyk manages to find that right note of perpetual annoyance for Tucker, who just wanted to spend a relaxing weekend at his newly purchased "vacation home," but instead has to deal with perhaps the most insane situation ever. On the other hand, Labine infuses Dale with a real teddy bear sweetness. Dale is a character who has never had much luck with the ladies, which may be in part because he seems to lack any sense of self-awareness. A perfect example comes early in the movie, when he decides to try and talk to the girls when they are all stopped at the gas station and decides to walk over while carrying a giant scythe. Katrina Bowden has a nice turn as Allison, a psychology student who begins to bond with Dale as they spend time together but also tries to be the voice of reason to her friends when things begin to get out of control. Jesse Moss does a great job playing the preppy Chad with a deep hatred of hillbillies and alpha male hero complex who only succeeds in exacerbating the situation.
Tucker and Dale vs Evil has developed a bit of a cult following over the years. It's a very funny film that succeeds because it is very smart in being very dumb. It's certainly a film that is more funny than scary, but I included it this year because it does still fit within the horror comedy genre (it is very gruesome despite mostly being played for laughs). It's well worth checking out, especially for fans of the genre.
Boys in the Trees is a film that was recommended to me by several members of a movie group I belong to on Facebook. It was one I had never heard of personally, but has been slowly building a following after appearing on Netflix. The film is a unique blend of coming of age drama with an almost fable-esque supernatural under-current that makes it one of the more unique and memorable films I've seen in recent memory.
Corey (played by Toby Wallace) is getting close to finishing school and is at a crossroads of sorts, wanting to go to college in New York to study photography despite the disapproval of his father and his school friends, an obnoxious bunch of boys, led by Jango (played by Justin Holborow). Jango delights in bullying other kids, especially Jonah (played by Gulliver McGrath), a loner classmate of theirs. Jonah and Corey used to be close friends when they were younger, sharing a childhood game together, but their friendship became understandably estranged when Corey started hanging out with the popular kids. As a result, the lone voice of reason in his life is Romany (played by Mitzi Ruhlmann), who encourages him to break free from the pack of friends he runs with as he's not like them and go to New York, using her own ambitions to study in Toronto to encourage him. As he walks home from partying with his friends, Corey comes upon Jonah in the local skate park alone, skating on his skateboard. When Jonah falls and hits his head, he asks Corey to help him get home and tells him he wants to show them something. Corey begrudgingly agrees as the two set off. As they journey through the neighborhoods, Jonah shares a couple of ghost stories with Corey, based around very real fears the two share as high school comes to a close and adult life looms large. As they slowly make their journey home, the two begin to repair their broken bonds as their past begins to blend with their present. Yet, something vaguely ominous about the night begins to grow, as the secrets that drove the two friends apart are revisited.
The film was written and directed by Nicholas Verso who manages to combine coming of age drama, gothic horror themes, and and surreal imagery into an intoxicating Halloween themed treat. I'm using the term horror fairly loosely here because the main part of the film is focused on the two friends with the more gothic horror elements used for more symbolic purposes, such as the use of werewolves for a metaphor for Corey growing up and changing, throwing in with the popular kids who tormented the likes of Jonah, who as he puts it "didn't change." All of this is carefully employed by Verso and his crew, giving the film an unexpected poignancy. Each tale that Jonah regales upon Corey has secret meanings that tie directly into their current lives, which becomes abundantly clear as the film moves forward. He also uses heavily stylized imagery to the film with interesting shot choices and artful use of slow motion which only adds to the film, especially as Corey and Jonah find themselves at a Dia De Muertos celebration late in the film. The film was shot and is set in suburban Australia, which also adds a unique flavor to the film as well, as climate wise this film is very different from the usual Halloween fare as it would be Spring there whereas it is fall in the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, Romany remarks are one point that she "hears it snows on Halloween in some parts of the world." I have been informed directly by Nicholas Verso via Twitter that line got a hearty laugh when the film played in Toronto and Minnesota.
The performances in the film are quite good, especially by the two lead actors. Toby Wallace does a great job depicting his character's unease and inner conflict. He runs with the popular kids, the wolves as Jonah refers to them, but yet doesn't really feel a part of them. Over the course of the night, he comes to realize what he has allowed himself to become and tries to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life as he revisits his childhood games with Jonah one last time over the course of one magical night. Gulliver McGrath is compelling as Jonah, earning sympathy as a bullied kid, but also shows a little mystery to his character as he takes Corey on a tour of sorts through their past together. Mitzi Ruhlmann has a nice turn as Corey's potential love interest in Romany, who not only doesn't take crap from him but challenges his perceptions of not only the true meaning of Halloween, but himself as well. Justin Holborow is suitably obnoxious and nasty as the bullying Jango, who finds his own cruelty amusing, making the audience wonder why Corey would even think of hanging out with him, a question Corey himself starts asking himself as the film goes on.
Boys in the Trees is a film that straddles many different genres, using elements of each to tell a unique and moving story about two childhood friends reconnecting on one special Halloween night before they enter adulthood. It's not a movie that is outright scary, but at the same time had certain creepy vibe to it and paired remarkably well with it's deeply emotional story that made the film really stick with me for a few days after viewing it. Its a beautiful and unique film well worth checking out for anyone looking for something a little different this Halloween season. It's currently available on Netflix for those who are curious.
It is once again that time of the year, where for an entire month straight I indulge in my love of the horror genre as I review films in a genre that I have always greatly enjoyed. Kicking things off this month, I take a look at the recent release, The House With A Clock In Its Walls. This one is a fun filled spooktacular with a few decent family friendly scares to keep the kids entertained this season.
Lewis Barnavelt (played by Owen Vaccaro) is traveling to live with his Uncle Jonathan (played by Jack Black) after the tragic death of his parents. Moving into his Uncle's creaky, old house, Lewis wants to find a sense of normalcy. However, he's in for anything but as his discovers that his Uncle is a Warlock and Jonathan's next door neighbor, Florence Zimmerman (played by Cate Blanchett) is a witch. Upon discovering this, Lewis begs Jonathan to teach him and Jonathan agrees to. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Florence are trying to locate a clock hidden somewhere in Jonathan's house by the house's previous occupant, Issac Izard (played by Kyle MacLachlan). The clock is clearly counting down and while Jonathan and Florence don't know what will happen when it reaches zero, they know it's not good. Lewis makes friends with a popular kid, Tarby Corrigan (played by Sunny Suljic), but when the friendship starts to drift apart Lewis lets him in on his magical secret. They perform a spell to raise the dead, bringing back Issac Izard, who resumes his plot with the mysterious clock and sets to bring about the end of mankind with only Lewis, Jonathan and Florence to try and stop him.
The film is directed by Eli Roth from a script by Eric Kripke from the book of the same name by John Bellairs, so as far as horror cred goes, this one is pretty rock solid. Eli Roth takes a sharp departure from the more gory horror flicks he's been known for and instead brings a certain early 80's Spielbergian charm to the film, creepy without being too scary with plenty of comedic moments as well to break the tension. Of course, this makes sense as Steven Spielberg is on of the producers on the film. Much like he did with Tobe Hooper on Poltergeist, he took a director known for far more hardcore horror films and had them re-channel it into something a little more family friendly. Kid-centric horror films for quite awhile now have been pretty sorry, watered down affairs, so imagine my delight that this film actually had some decently creepy imagery and a couple decent jump scares too. Still, the film does succumb to some tired plot points, such as Jonathan being needlessly vague to Lewis when if he had just told him the truth, it would have saved them all a lot of trouble. Although, if he had the plot wouldn't have progressed, so...umm...hmm. Still, I wish they'd found a better way to deal with it than the same tired plot points. Despite that, the film conjures up some fun fantastical elements to the film, including a large stained glass window that changes every day and a large, living topiary lion that lives in the backyard (although a recurring joke with said topiary probably reoccurs a couple times too many). The film also has some gorgeous production design, both with bringing it's 1950s period to life as well as the more fantastical elements of the story to the screen.
The film assembled a great cast starting with Jack Black as Uncle Jonathan, firmly in warm, cuddly teddy bear mode again. The scenes of him bonding with his young nephew as well as teaching him magic added a lot of heart to the film. Cate Blanchett is wonderful as always as Florence and makes for a great pair with Jack Black as the two bring their characters' feisty relationship to life. There is some tragedy in her character's past that Blanchett plays beautifully as Lewis' arrival might give her the chance to start a new chapter in her life. Owen Vaccaro is great as Lewis and manages to carry large parts of the film with easy. He does a great job of capturing his character, thrust into a new place and the unease of not fitting in, as well as the fact that he's still trying to come to term with the loss of his parents. Yet, he also perfectly captures the joy his character experiences as a whole new world is opened to him by Jonathan and Florence. Kyle MacLachlan is good addition as the villain, Issac Izard, and is clearly having a ball playing the villain. Yet, there are smaller moments when it's revealed the reason he want's to destroy mankind and MacLachlan plays it so perfectly it was easy to see how his character reached to conclusion he did. It's still completely insane, but at least it makes sense. That's more than can be said for some movie villains.
The House With A Clock in Its Walls is a fun and spooky addition to the pantheon on kid friendly Halloween fare while actually being genuinely creepy at times. With a collection of good performances and solid direction from Eli Roth, this is a movie I enjoyed plenty know and would have devoured as a kid. It isn't exactly groundbreaking as far as family friendly fantasy films go, but at the same time it's better than most recent offerings.
The latest installment of the Predator franchise, simply titled The Predator despite it being the fourth film in the franchise, is a curiously strange entry in the series. For a series built on hard hitting action, an intense villain and equally intense violence, this latest entry is surprisingly...really funny.
Quinn McKenna (played by Boyd Holbrook) is an Army Ranger sniper who witnesses the a Predator crashing to earth from his failing spaceship. He goes to investigate and locates the wreckage of the pod, but no Predator. Grabbing a couple items, including the Predator face mask and gauntlet, he high tails it to the nearest town to mail the items home before he is picked up by Government agent Will Traeger (played by Sterling K. Brown), who knows Quinn witnessed something. Traeger decides to have him placed in a Veteran's psych ward to keep him locked up and Quinn is placed on bus with several other vets, including Nebraska Williams (played by Trevante Rhodes), Baxley (played by Thomas Jane), Coyle (played by Keegan-Michael Key), Nettles (played by Augusto Aguilera) and Lynch (played by Alfie Allen). Things go sideways when the Predator shows up at the base looking for the stuff Quinn stole. Meanwhile, biologist Casey Brackett (played by Olivia Munn) is brought in to assist and study the Predator. Back at Quinn's home, his young son Rory (played by Jacob Tremblay) has found the package his dad sent home and opened it, discovering the Predator tech inside. Rory accidentally activates the tech and begins playing with it. Quinn realizes the Predator is looking for the stuff he took. He convinces his fellow prisoners to help him break free, and along with this newfound band of misfits race to get back to Quinn's home ahead of the Predator, picking up Casey along the way and with Traeger and his goons in hot pursuit.
Shane Black makes his return to the Predator series here, this time as director and co-screenwriter alongside Fred Dekker. The result is an unusually witty and funny film that also adds some wild new twists to the Predator and their ongoing lore. For perhaps the first time since the first film, this movie manages to craft a unique and memorable assortment of characters to occupy the film. The band of misfits as I have come to call them are the assorted vets Quinn meets on the bus that become a unit of sorts against the Predator. They're a fun group, if not altogether there mentally (it is a bus destined for a Veterans Mental Health hospital after all), but they are a surprisingly lovable bunch that I found myself really rooting for. Dekker and Black also find some unique ways to twist the formula for the film by including Quinn's kid in the action, an incredibly intelligent kid on the autism spectrum who happens to have a talent with languages, which comes in handy when he starts playing with the Predator tech. There are also a few plot points that reminded me more than a little of another Shane Black/Fred Dekker movie, The Monster Squad. In fact, tone-wise, this film is very much in the same wheelhouse. All that we are missing is a character kicking Predator between the legs and remarking with astonishment, "Predator's got nards!"
Still, there is a reverence for the previous films that runs throughout this one. It references not only the first film but the second one outright, while also maybe obliquely referencing the third one (it's hard to fit that one in since it takes place on another planet). They even bring in Jake Busey to play Sean Keyes, the son of Gary Busey's character from Predator 2. At the same time, they do a great job of expanding on those previous films and trying to take the series in some interesting new directions. They aren't content to just rehash what came before and I appreciated that choice. That said, the tone of the film does seem a little off in places with one moment in particular standing out that had me wondering if wants me to laugh or is supposed to be an emotional moment. I wasn't alone there either with someone in the back of the theater laughing and I wasn't sure it was supposed to be funny. I would elaborate but it would be a huge spoiler. Suffice to say, for better or worse, it is definitely a Shane Black Predator movie.
The acting in the movie is solid, with Boyd Holbrook giving a suitably charming performance. Sterling K. Brown gives an interesting spin on the shady government spook, giving his character plenty of wit and personality, but underneath is a genuinely frightening menace. Olivia Munn was good as Casey Brackett, bringing both strength and intelligence to her character. Jacob Tremblay continues to impress as one of the best young actors working today with his turn as Rory. He really does a great job of capturing who a character like Rory would be like without him seeming stereotypical. I also loved the unique buddy relationship between Keegan-Michael Key and Thomas Jane's characters that brought a lot of humor to the film.
This film is certainly one of the more interesting entries in the on-going Predator series. It is a very jokey and comedic film whereas the other films have been far more serious. Whether or not this works for you will greatly depend on how well you can enjoy a film like this that is perhaps tonally more in line with a Predator film a 13 year old boy daydreaming in class would dream up rather than a serious minded sci-fi action-horror film. Because that is the best way to summarize what this film is. It's not that it's a bad thing or a bad film, or at least I didn't think it was (plenty of critics are disagreeing with me there). I enjoyed it for what it was and applaud it for daring to be different, but at the same time I can say your mileage may vary.
After two failed attempts at making Alien vs. Predator a thing, it was decided to take things back to basics and make another solo film with everyone's favorite intergalactic trophy hunters with Predators. With an eclectic cast and a unique premise, this outing succeeded at least somewhat in bringing back what was great about the original film.
Royce (played by Adrien Brody), a Mercenary, awakens to find him falling through the sky. Soon a parachute automatically deploys and he falls to the ground, finding himself in a remote jungle...somewhere. He is soon joined by several others arriving by the same means: Mexican Drug Cartel Enforcer Cuchillo (played by Danny Trejo), Russian soldier Nikolai (played by Oleg Taktarov), Israeli sniper Isabelle (played by Alice Braga), Death Row Inmate Stans (played by Walton Goggins), Yakuza enforcer Hanzo (played by Louis Ozawa Changchien), Sierra Leone Death Squad soldier Mombasa (played by Mahershala Ali), and Physician Edwin (played by Topher Grace). The group sets out to try and figure out where exactly they are, none of them recognizing where they are. They soon discover that they are no longer on the planet Earth. Rather, they are on a planet that is treated as a game reserve for a species of aliens we know as the Predators. This unlikely group of strangers have no choice but to band together to fight the trio of Predators hunting them and if they are lucky try and find a way off the planet.
Predators was originally pitched to 20th Century Fox by Robert Rodriguez back in 1994 as a follow-up to Predator 2. Deeming it too expensive to produce at that point, they set it aside. When neither of their attempts to create a crossover franchise out of Alien vs. Predator panned out, they returned to the concept Rodriguez laid out. Alex Litvak and Michael Finch were brought in to re-write the original script by Rodriguez, with Rodriguez overseeing the production as a producer. Nimrod Antal was brought in to direct the film. With this outing, it is very much a return to the isolated jungle environment of the first film, but with the twist of it being on an entirely different planet. It's also the assembly of characters this time out, rather than a cohesive military unit we have a group of strangers each of whom are more than comfortable to cut and run to save their own skin if it comes down to it, adding a interesting, if nastier quality to the film. The fact that none of them completely trust one another adds an intriguing dynamic to the film. Where the scripting falters a bit is that the characters never really move past archetype, which makes it hard to care about them that much.
The film assembled an eclectic cast for the film, starting with Adrien Brody as a badass soldier. More famous for serious dramas, his casting raised more than a few eyebrows, including mine but much to my surprise, he really committed to the role and manages to pull it off. Alice Braga was pretty awesome as Israeli soldier Isabelle and along with Brody's Royce the other character that is the best developed in the film. Walton Goggins does a good job playing the creepy and very deadly Stans, whose idea of a good time is doing a lot of blow and then committing rape and murder, much to the horror of the very much out of his element (or is he?) Edwin played by Topher Grace at his most weaselly. I also liked Oleg Taktarov as Nikolai, the Russian soldier. Taktarov did the most he could with the character and made him surprisingly lovable.
Predators does a reasonably good job at taking the series back to the elements that made the first one so memorable. At the same time, it doesn't quite capture the same spirit as the first film. Still, it's a memorably entertaining entry in the series, even with the thin characterizations and rather lazily executed late in the film plot twist being it's biggest stumbling blocks. Still, for fans of the series there's plenty to enjoy here.
It is only natural that a film like Predator would spawn a sequel. This time around, they switch up the literal jungle for the urban jungle for a second go-around with the intergalactic trophy hunter that is one ugly motherf...well, you get the idea. Despite the absence of Arnie this time, this sequel manages to be a reasonably entertaining follow-up that expands on the mythology of it's titular villain as well.
1997 Los Angeles is besieged by a nasty gang war and an equally nasty heatwave that has tempers flaring. Right in the middle of it is LAPD Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (played by Danny Glover), along with his partner Danny Archuleta (played by Ruben Blades), Leona Cantrell (played by Maria Conchita Alonso) and new transfer Jerry Lambert (played by Bill Paxton). They are trying to bring an end to the gang wars in a city that is quickly descending into chaos. While investigating a building after an intense gang battle, they discover several gang members massacred inside, including one that is strung up in the rafters. After members of the rival gang are massacred in a penthouse apartment, Harrigan and his fellow officers are prevented from investigating from the head of a Government task force claiming to be investigating the warring gangs, Peter Keyes (played by Gary Busey). Suspicious, Harrigan and his team continue to investigate not only the slayings but Keyes and his agents, bringing them face to face with the Predator himself.
Returning to script the sequel are the screenwriters of the original film, Jim and John Thomas. Rather than just do the same thing for a second time, they wisely mix things up for the sequel. They received a lot of criticism for moving the action to an urban environment for this film, but honestly that's probably what I would have done if I had written it. Of course, such a change in locale offers some challenges. They would need to find a valid reason to keep our intrepid hero in the fight when every ounce of his being should be telling him just to get the hell out of town, which is a viable option this time. They overcome this by making the fight personal for the officers, which works within the film even though it does lean on cop movie cliches, especially cliches that were prevalent at the time. But I am willing to give the film a pass on it though because at the same time it does expand on the mythology of the Predators in the film, especially as the movie works to it's climax. There are little touches here that would reverberate throughout the rest of the series, and even, for better or worse, inspire Alien vs. Predator. The film is directed reasonably well by Stephen Hopkins, who adds his own flair to the film, directing the action sequences with a certain sense of style, with the showdown on the subway being a specific standout scene. Returning for the sequel is Alan Silvestri, providing another rollicking score for this film.
The casting in the film is really great. I love that they cast Danny Glover for Mike Harrigan, going for someone that is removed from the super macho guys of the first film, but also a capable action hero. It's a refreshing change of pace and Glover gives a wonderful performance as the stressed out, irritable Harrigan. Plus, after seeing him play the straight man Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon films, it's fun to see him play the more reckless cop for once. Gary Busey brings his special level of crazy to the proceedings as the shady Peter Keyes who, as anyone likely would guess, is not on the scene to track drug cartels and gang activity, but in fact tracking the Predator. I also need to talk about Bill Paxton in this film. He only has a supporting role in the film as Jerry Lambert, but he makes the most of every moment he's on screen, riding the line between amusing and annoying, but seeing as how it's Bill Paxton it's always amusing to me. It's also with this movie that he achieves one of the rarest geeky distinctions, where (spoiler alert!!!) he has been killed on-screen by a Terminator, an Alien and a Predator.
Predator 2 may not be as good as the first film, but at the same time I do feel it is a bit unfairly maligned as far as sequels go. It does a good job mixing things up a bit from the previous film while also expanding upon the original film and not resting on just doing the same thing as the previous film. It is it's own distinct film and not simply a retread of the original film, which is something I can admire. It's not perfect, but it is a lot of fun.
