There is nothing like reviving a franchise to get a bit revisionist and try to appreciate and define more concretely what makes it stand out or what its main essence is. Right now we have the case of ‘Predator: The Prey’, a effective piece of action survival horror with sci-fi undertones that is having a great -and, why not say it, deserved- reception that other sequels to ‘Predator’ did not have.
Many fans of the original will praise precisely the more serious and urgent touch that the new installment has directed by Dan Trachtenberg, despite the fact that it takes itself more seriously than the original ever did. In fact, part of the DNA of the original consisted of incorrect and even parodic humor that put the sauce in an already great combo of genres. And it is something that the other sequels have understood well, especially the great ‘Predator 2’ by Stephen Hopkins.
another kind of jungle
On Disney+ you can enjoy this phenomenal piece, as powerful as it is casual, which took many of the stylistic keys of John McTiernan’s film and put them in another context, also incorporating elements that have transcended such as the lore that many have in mind when talk about predator. All the mythology of the hunter through the ages (which includes precisely ‘Predator: The prey’) and others aspects of his hunting method are introduced in this film.
Here there is no trace of the character of Arnold Schwarzenegger or the Central American jungle. Instead, we go to the asphalt jungle, in the hot Los Angeles where a war without quarter is being lived. The police are so saturated with the uncontrolled shootings against local clans that even a bloodthirsty hunter alien may be on the loose and no one suspects such a threat for an instant.
Therefore, despite the extreme brutality with which some corpses are found, the city’s police force investigates him as just another murderer. But soon Danny Glover’s character and the rest of his crew will see that there is nothing ordinary about this killer, but rather they are facing an unparalleled threat, and they will have to use their skills and their limited resources to achieve it. That while they are drenched in sweat.
‘Predator 2’: sweating the fat drop
Precisely the character of Glover will be the key by which this Hopkins proposal works. He Captain Harrigan is a tired, fed up, conscientious but normal man, as well as sweaty. When we see him face the Predator, he feels inferior and, after running the entire film, he feels tired. But he has to be noted, after all he is a policeman before the greatest hunter in the universe. Being at the end with your tongue hanging out gives you a certain authenticity to the action and horror part of the film.
All without once again giving up well-managed science fiction and the exaggerated humor that already defined the first one -even expanding it, like that way of bringing the climax of the movie to the bathroom of a random lady-. ‘Predator 2’ he understands well what works in the first one and tries to use it in an effective and highly entertaining blockbuster. More worthy of what was wanted to recognize at the time, although luckily more and more people are willing to admit it these days.