Delayed Reaction: Predator 2

What I Guessed It Was About: The Predators comes back to Earth. Last time it was in the jungle, so this time it should be more populated. Arnold isn't back, so it's probably an unrelated story entirely. I'm going to guess the only similarity is that it's a bunch of people with weapons who stumble onto the Predator and have to fight it.

How I Came Into It: The first Predator is pretty clearly a movie that works by itself, not as a launching pad for a franchise. The Predator character is original and fun, but the plot of a bunch of people trying to fight it with lesser technology isn't all that easily repeated. In other words, I had my doubts about this.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Danny Glover is an interesting replacement for Arnold Schwarzenegger. He wasn't an up or downgrade. Rather, he changed the tone more so than the setting change did. The action scenes were similarly well executed as the first movie, although in a far less exotic location.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Predator is more Commando than True Lies. You see, True Lies can be redone with another actor. Sure, some of the charm is lost, but someone else (Bruce Willis, for example) could add something new and equal to it. Commando is Arnold Schwarzenegger. His very specific presence makes it work. Predator worked due to Arnold and Carl Weathers and Jesse Ventura. It was a testosterone-fest and that's why it is a fun movie. The producers of Predator 2 made the mistake of assuming that the Predator was the star of the movie.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend