Los Angeles, 1997. Riots between rival Colombian and Jamaican drug gangs have turned the streets into a war zone. To make matters worse, theres a dreadlocked space-baddie picking off passers-by and using their skulls to decorate his front room.
The Predator is back, and it sounds like a job for Arnie. Right! Eh? Whats that? Hes not available? Oh. Who have we got instead then? Danny who? Danny Glover? The bloke from the Lethal Weapon movies? Oh, alright then. Suppose hell have to do. Still, at least we can still have John McTiernan directing. Sorry? Hes not here either? Stephen Hopkins is just as good though, isnt he? Isnt he? Hello?
Bloodshed and swearies become the order of the day as Predders who, incidentally, hasnt gotten any prettier hunts down various ganglords and street thugs from a-top the LA sky-scrapers. As Harrigan, the cop on this inter-galactic ogres tail, Danny Glover has to play one of Hollywoods most worn-out clichés. Hes a loose cannon, prefers to work alone, disobeys the orders of his superiors (particularly when the FBI stick their hooters in), and has probably even been known to break the speed limit on a couple of occasions. Neither originality nor character development are among this movies strong points.
Unlike McTiernans original, the suspense is limited and the expensive special effects wasted on a director with no clear tactic for how best to use them. If youre able to stick it out until the end, you do get to see the inside of the Preds spacecraft and also his trophy collection which includes the skull of an alien species normally associated with Sigourney Weaver. Much like all of this movies better points, its difficult to spot.