Predator 2 (1990)

Film of 2012 #36

A world I love is that of the Predator, I like the creature and the lore behind it and what it can do and when I saw the sequel on TV again I thought yes I have to watch this. Made in 1990 it takes the original idea of the hunter in the Jungle of South America and moves it into the Urban Jungle of down town LA. A concept and idea that I can get behind and think you can see why there would be excitement behind this idea. You have Danny Glover as a super cop, an idea that I cannot get behind, in an LA that is essentially ripping itself apart through gang war, it put me in mind of Detroit from Robocop. You have the cops fighting the gangs who are fighting each other and while the cops try to win this battle the Predator targets the gangs and starts following Danny Glover as the ultimate target, quite unbelievable really.

I would just like to say that I like this film even though there are several flaws that I know annoy lpeople. The biggest issue I have is the casting of Danny Glover he cannot carry what the role requires. The support cast of Bill Paxton, Maria Conchita Alonso and Reuben Blade as the cops and Gary Busey as the shadey Government official are good and work for me and the story line in essence is solid enough for me. However the Colombian and the Jamaican bad guys are very stereotypical and pull you out of the piece, there are also a lot of set pieces and side characters that could be cut and would not detract from the film. 

Overall this is an enjoyable film that if you switch your brain off at the door, you can enjoy the action packed romp through LA as they fire guns all over the place and you get a really bad impression of LA through the 1990's. I give this 3 stars I think I see a lot of Nostalgia in this film and can enjoy it for what it is, let me know if you agree with me or have a different opinion.

The Running Man (1987)

The Arnold Schwarzenegger film from 1987 based upon the book written by Richard Bachman who we all know is Stephen King, so you have a sci-fi film from the pen of Stephen King, I have never read the book but want to. This is another film that I have seen several times and I love it every time, it is the real height of Arnold's career where he gives all of his best one-liners including the I'll be back repeated from 1984's The Terminator.

I will see this many times again in the future and recommend that everybody gives it a go. You have a future where the corporations are running everything and the number one rated show on the network is The Running Man where criminals are sent in and killed by themed Stalkers, you have Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards who had been previously framed and escaped from jail and he is launched into the game zone. This film works so well as it puts the corporations with all the money as the bad guys and as liars.

This is a 4 star recommend for me, it suffers form being dated a bit and there are laws that some people will not get over but i think it is well worth seeing.