Terminator Genisys (2015) - Theatrical Review

Director: Alan Taylor

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Matt Smith

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 126 Minutes

When I recently reviewed Terminator 3, I declared it to be the worst Terminator film to date. I now might have to redact that statement though because I just saw Terminator Genisys and it sucked the big one. Terminator Genisys is one of the most overly complicated and boring science fiction films that I have seen to date. This film leaves so many questions and disregards so many franchise consistencies that it boggled my mind at points. I cannot believe that James Cameron of all people gave this film his approval and declared it "the true third film in the series." I wonder how much money Paramount paid him in order to give the film his blessing, because it most certainly does not get mine.

Terminator Genisys comes from Alan Taylor, the director of the bland Thor: The Dark World, and screenwriters Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier, responsible for such great films as Pathfinder and Dracula 2000. I hope you sense my sarcasm on that last one, because Terminator Genisys was essentially placed into the hands of a bunch of artists who craft schlock, not legitimate and thematic science fiction cinema. These writers' and director's pedigree shows, as Terminator Genisys is nothing but computer generated garbage and studio notes from start to finish. My heart goes out to all of the die hard Terminator fans like myself who saw this film out of loyalty to the franchise and left with a hole in their chest thanks to Alan Taylor's punch of death.

Back again...to disappoint.

I guess I should summarize the plot before I go any further, or at least try my best to summarize the plot, because what plot is there? Terminator Genisys completely disregards the ending of T2 and the entirety of both T3 and T4. The film picks up in a post apocalyptic future where SkyNet took over the world in 1997. However, John Connor has finally led the resistance to victory and crushed SkyNet for good. Unfortunately, SkyNet sends a Terminator through a time machine and yada yada yada you know this. Genisys doesn't start changing things up until Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) is sent back in time to 1984. Upon his arrival, he discovers that the time line has been completely altered and that Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) already has a guardian, an aged T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who was sent to protect her in 1973. After dealing with both the evil T-800 and T-1000 (Byung Hun Lee), Kyle and friends realize that they must go forward in time to 2017 in order to stop a new threat, Genisys (which is essentially SkyNet but under a different name).

One of the biggest problems that I have with Genisys is that the film cannot decide whether or not it wants to be a reboot or a sequel to the Cameron films. Genisys is more of a greatest hits collection of Terminator moments than it is anything else. The first third of the film is anything but new, as we see characters and events from T1 and T2 pop up. Post apocalyptic future? Check. Time machine? Check. The T-800 going back in time to 1984? Check. The T-1000 getting shot and reforming into liquid metal? Check. "Come with me if you want to live!"? Check. It's all here.

It honestly takes a good hour before Genisys becomes a true reboot and ditches the previous Terminator films altogether. However, if I had to specify what Genisys is, I would call it a reboot-quel, a film that sort of acts as a sequel to other films but reboots the series at the same time with new actors and a new time line. Genisys' own identity as a film is about as complicated as its own plot. You could also call Genisys a Terminator fan film, as it literally combines as many elements from the Terminator franchise as possible while pretending to be fresh and new. It just seems like a real film because it has a $150 million budget and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Alright! Practical T-800's are b...oh no.

I also have a major issue with the film's casting. Even though every single character has been recast, the T-800 is still played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. What gives? Why does Arnold get to return but everyone else has to be recast. This qualm plays into my other problem regarding the film's status as a reboot and a sequel. If this film were a true reboot, than every single actor would have been recast, including Arnold. However, Arnold's inclusion strengthens the film's status as a sequel that much more.

Even though every actor assigned to each classic role does fine work, they unfortunately have to work with a painfully bad screenplay. Every character interaction is utterly forced and in no way natural or organic. The "romance" between Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese is especially bad. Fortunately, Arnold Schwarzenegger, J.K. Simmons, and Byung Hun Lee shine the best out of anybody. Both Arnold and Byung Hun Lee (A Bittersweet Life, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) play emotionless characters, so their roles are mostly physical and silent. Plus, both actors are bad ass action stars, so it's nice to have two bad asses amongst an otherwise tame film. J.K. Simmons on the other hand plays one of the few new characters, Detective O'Brien, who happened to be saved by Kyle and Sarah back in 1984. His character, a kind and helpful detective, is the only shining light in the entire film.

Genisys is a tad more thematic than Terminator 3 at least, I can give it that. However, the film's attempt at being relevant and thematic is simply chuckle worthy. Genisys is the second film this year, the other being Kingsman: The Secret Service, to utilize society's anticipation for a new app or piece of technology as the villain's tool for taking over the world. The film plays off this Genisys operating system, one that connects our phones with all of the rest of our technology, as if it were a brand new thing in 2017. However, many of our devices in 2015 are already connected with one another. Therefore, Genisys is in no way revolutionary or remotely new, as it mostly exists within our real world society today. Whereas Kingsman handled its technological aspect as satire, Terminator Genisys takes its material deadly seriously and thinks it's on the cusp of warning us of a new technology.

Alright! Robert Patrick is b...aww, nope. It's not him.

Genisys also has the dullest action set pieces of any Terminator film to date. This is a shame because both T1 and T2 revolutionized action filmmaking for both the 80s and the 90s upon their release. And while T3 and T4 didn't have all around fantastic action sequences, both films contain a few choice set pieces that stand out and dazzle me with their jaw dropping imagery and impressive choreography. Genisys on the other hand is dull from start to finish thanks to an over abundance of computer generated imagery and a dull PG-13 rating. I praised the previous Terminator film, Salvation, for its reliance upon practical vehicles and sets for its action set pieces because it grounded the film in realism. Unfortunately, Genisys throws all of that grittiness and realism out of the window for animated schlock that lacks all tension and suspense. Although packed to the brim with action, there is not a single set piece that excited me in any way, shape, or form. Remember when the Terminator franchise was orchestrated around bad ass gun fire and practical stunts? Yeah, that's all gone now.

If you want to skip major spoilers, than jump to my final rating because I am going to delve deep into many of the film's problems concerning its twists. Alright, here we go.

First off, why does the T-5000 attack John in front of Kyle just before he goes back in time? Why not wait for Kyle to leave, and than attack John, thereby tricking Kyle into thinking that everything is fine. Also, who the hell sent the T-800 back in time to protect Sarah? This is arguably the biggest question left by the film and it's all the more frustrating because the screenwriters are obviously planning to answer it in a future film. But come on, this question is so huge that it needed to be answered in this film! Next, why does the T-1000 arrive in the same time line as the T-800, and in a police uniform for goodness sakes?! Therefore, who sent him back? Also, why does the T-800 not grasp the concept of hugs yet? He learned to understand the value of human life in two days in Terminator 2! And yet he can't grasp human affection after being with Sarah for like 10 years.

However, the biggest flaw of all that made my jaw drop during my screening concerned the T-800's decision to terminate itself. The T-800 gets put into a positiong during the big finale where he can detonate the building that will kill SkyNet. However, the T-3000 knows the T-800 won't blow the building because that would mean he would have to kill Sarah Connor. While it is true that a Terminator cannot kill that who it has sworn to protect, the bigger issue at hand concerns the T-800 itself. How the hell do the screenwriters not remember that a Terminator cannot terminate itself?! They play this moment off as if the T-800 would have blown the building and killed himself if Sarah were not involved. It shocks me that James Cameron okay'd this film because that element of the franchise was most apparent during the finale of Terminator 2 in which the T-800 asks for Sarah to kill him. I guess the biggest question of all is how Paramount okay'd this crap?

Alright! It's Terminator! I love this...oh, it's only Terminator Genisys.

When your film introduces that a time machine can be created by anyone in any timeline, the concept of time travel loses its uniqueness. I nearly laughed out loud by the time I saw the third time machine in this film. Terminator Genisys takes what started as one of the most unique franchises about time travel and ruins everything that made the series good. 

One of the reasons that I enjoyed Salvation so much is because it was something new in a franchise built around doing the same old thing. The film accepted T3's flaws and decided to move forward from there with a better product that properly paid homage to Cameron's originals. Unfortunately, Paramount decided to take the series several steps backwards and travel back in time yet again and tell another story about a good Terminator versus a bad Terminator. Paramount essentially threw all of McG's hard work away and decided to do the same old thing once again. I guess that is what pains me the most about Genisys. It is nothing more than an average cookie cutter blockbuster film primed for the most generic audience as possible. However, the film adds injury to insult with its overtly confusing screenplay. I do not look forward to the two eventual sequels and hope that this new trilogy fails to take fruition. This film should have been retitled Terminator Revelations, as it is essentially the end of a once great franchise, not the start of something new (i.e. Genesis, the start of the bible).

Rating: 3/10 - An overly complicated and utterly dull reboot of a franchise that deserves far better at this point.

Franchise:

The Terminator (dir. James Cameron, 1984)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (dir. James Cameron, 1991)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (dir. Jonathan Mostow, 2003)

Terminator: Salvation (dir. McG, 2009)

Terminator: Genisys (dir. Alan Taylor, 2015)

Terminator-a-Thon, Part 3 - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Director: Jonathan Mostow

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristanna Loken, David Andrews

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 107 minutes

The true Terminator saga consists of the two films written and directed by James Cameron, 1984's The Terminator and 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Both films tell a cohesive and conclusive story that ends in the final moments of T2. In fact, the ending of T2 is about as conclusive as cinematic finales come. John and Sarah Connor successfully destroyed Cyberdyne Systems, the T-1000, the original T-800's arm and chip, and even the new T-800. There was no possible way that Judgment Day could ever occur based on their handy dandy clean up. Unfortunately, John and Sarah forgot about the one thing that could bring anything back from the dead: box office dollars.

After a whopping 13 year hiatus, the Terminator franchise came back in 2003 with what is arguably the worst entry in the franchise, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. T3 is a lousy, cheap, and dull cash grab that fails to tell an interesting story or live up to its predecessor's legacy. It was made purely to cash in on the franchise's name and to get one more Terminator film out of Schwarzenegger before he left acting for politics. Terminator 3 is anything but cinematic or meaningful. It's a cheap B-movie made for the likes of the SyFy channel lacking any emotional weight, freshness, or originality. Terminator 3 is nothing more than the exact same plot done over once again but with none of the impressive special effects or memorable character work that made Terminator 2 one of the greatest action sequels of all time. What is most insulting is that Terminator 3 makes the viewer suffer through an hour and a half of stale 'been there done that' material to get to an otherwise brave and atypical finale.

Eh, I prefer the future of T1 and T2, not this video game garbage.

Terminator 3 takes place in 2003, 12 years after the events of Terminator 2. John Connor (Nick Stahl) is now a lone drifter who travels from city to city on his own. When Sarah died of an illness in 1997, John hit the road and decided that as long as he moved from place to place, no Terminator could ever find him. However, 2003 happens to be the time when two more Terminators return to the present in order to battle for the fate of the future. The evil Terminator this go-a-round is the T-X (Kristanna Lokken), a female Terminator who has some of the T-1000's abilities as well as some new ones. The T-X has traveled to 2003 in order to eliminate as many of John's lieutenants from the future as possible in order to give SkyNet an edge over the humans.

However, the Resistance sends back a new T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger), in order to locate John and protect him from the T-X if she were to find him. Due to one huge and ridiculous coincidence, John accidentally encounters Katherine Brewster (Claire Danes), his future wife, at the same time as both the T-X and the T-800 discover them. It is than up to John, Kate, and the T-800 to out run the T-X and to stop Kate's military father from activating SkyNet.

I know what you're thinking, why does that plot sound so familiar? Well, it's because screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris essentially copied James Cameron's script for Terminator 2, but chose to replace names and places with new ones. Terminator 3 follows the same basic formula of Terminator 2 but injects no freshness or character depth the way that Terminator 2 did to differentiate itself from The Terminator. Its characters simply go from set piece to set piece and never grow or develop in any way. So right off the bat, Terminator 3 suffers a huge blow because the film is a lazy rehash of T2's 'good Terminator vs. bad Terminator' plot.

However, the script also sucks because it places our protagonists into a similar situation where they have to break into a heavily guarded place once again and stop SkyNet from being created/launched. It seems that John and Sarah's efforts were for naught in 1995, because the military still created SkyNet even though all of CyberDyne's work based on the T-800's arm was destroyed. I have so many problems with the script for Terminator 3 that it boggles my mind that the film ever got released. Where do I begin?

That horrible red outfit alone makes me want to turn the movie off.

My biggest problem with Terminator 3 resides within one line spoken by the T-800, "You only postponed it. Judgment Day is inevitable." Hearing those words be uttered by the T-800 crushes my heart. Terminator 2 had a powerful message about our fates being only what we make and that no future is set in stone. It's a positive message that gives its characters hope in the face of annihilation. Unfortunately, Terminator 2's screenwriters had to scrap that mentality altogether in order to explain the Terminator's reappearance. There is truly no good reason for Terminator 3's existence except for box office dollars, plain and simple. T3's screenwriters didn't even try to come up with a reason as to why Sarah's efforts in Terminator 2 failed. Instead, they came up with some bull crap response that Judgment Day is so powerful that it can only be postponed but not stopped. After 13 years, that was the best they could come up with.

Terminator 3 is also ridden with plot holes. First off, why would the resistance send the T-800 back in time to save John if he had no clue as to where John was. SkyNet sent the T-X back in time in order to kill John's lieutenants because they could not locate John, fair enough. Therefore, I am supposed to believe that the resistance took a gamble and sent back the T-800 just to be safe? What if the T-800 never found John? The only reason the four lead characters collide is so that Terminator 3 can get on the road towards duplicating Terminator 2 beat by beat. Also, I don't understand why the T-X orgasms when she licks John's blood and recognizes him. Why did the screenwriters make the T-X lick blood to recognize people anyways? Was it purely to add more sex appeal to the film?

I also don't understand why the T-X reprograms the T-1's to do her bidding and kill all humans when SkyNet is about to go online and make all of the machines self aware anyways. Did she just want to jumpstart the machines herself? When John sees the T-1's start to go on a rampage, he says, "They've become self aware!" But they haven't, ugh. Also, why would the screenwriters now introduce that a Terminator's fuel cells can explode? If this is true, why didn't previous Terminators' fuel cells explode at the end of T1 and T2? As you can see from the last five paragraphs, the Terminator 3 script is riddled with plot holes and franchise inconsistencies that do nothing but piss me off.

Arnold kicks ass with a mini gun yet again.

Terminator 3 is all around less filmic and artistic in contrast to its masterful predecessors. The film is burdened by uninspired cinematography and a truly awful film score. Marco Beltrami composes an almost entirely new set of compositions that barely retain any of Brad Fiedel's original themes. And while I respect that Beltrami wanted to craft a score that is mostly fresh, none of his themes are inspired or memorable. Therefore, the only time the film's music comes to life is whenever one of Fiedel's classic themes pops up. And speaking of music, Terminator 3 has a horrendous selection of songs that make painfully unfunny comedic moments even unfunnier. You'll be begging for T2's perfect inclusion of "Bad to the Bone" once you hear crap like "Get Funky Man, Get Funky."

It also doesn't help that the film's sense of humor steers towards self parody and cartoonish slap stick a-la Alien Resurrection. The screenwriters either didn't take the film seriously or understand how to write good comedy. For example, the film's first major set piece, a truly fantastic and awesome car chase, is burdened by numerous cartoonish moments of the T-800 being ripped from a motorcycle by a hook, slammed into an ambulance, and than splatted across the front of a fire truck. These actions sound like scenes from a Looney Tunes cartoon, not a Terminator film! I also hate all of the throw away characters (the gay stripper, the convenience store clerk, the fire men, etc) who appear simply to partake in what is supposed to be a humorous moment at their expense involving the T-800. "Humorous" moments such as Arnold putting on a pair of a star studded sunglasses or pointing his hand towards a clerk and saying, "Talk to the hand," really liven up the film! I hope you sense my sarcasm.

So how about the performances? After all, one of The Terminator and Terminator 2's strongest points were their amazing performances and the arcs that accompanied them. Well here, they're eh, that's all I can muster to say. No one is particularly awful, but no is ever memorable or even great. I guess that truly is the worst insult of all for a film when it contains a batch of performances that are as cookie cutter as they come. Nick Stahl does a decent job in the John Connor role, but lacks the likability of Furlong's performance from T2. The character is ruined by the script's decision to turn him into a whining wimp who fears his destiny so that he can have sort of an arc into the future leader of the resistance. Unfortunately, there are no key moments on John's journey that help define his arc. The most notable moment is a scene where the T-800 picks up John and says he should kill him, only for John to lash back. But otherwise, John is the furthest thing from the savior of the future in this film.

Do it please! Save us from this movie!

But how is Arnold? After all, he is the veteran and marque name of the franchise. Well, he's alright. Like I said before, the material hampers most of his performance, not Arnold himself. Unlike T2, the T-800 arcs and changes in no way. He simply shows up, informs our characters on oodles of important exposition, and kicks ass every now and than. Arnold's first appearance within the film feels more like an expected story beat than it does a mysterious or memorable moment. This was also Arnold's last role before he became the Governor of California. Some believe that Arnold's heart was not in the role because a) he was paid an insane amount of money to star even without James Cameron's involvement, and b) he reviewed legislation and documents while on set, essentially already acting as the Governor of California while also being the Terminator. He truly was the Governator on the set of Terminator 3. While I wouldn't say that Arnold's heart wasn't in the role, it's clear that Arnold saw this as a fun chance to return to the character that defined his career and have a fun ride one last time regardless of the awful script.

However, everyone, including Claire Danes, is leaps and bounds better than Kristanna Lokken's forgetful turn as the T-X, the franchise's first female Terminator. Oh boy, where do I start with her? First off, the screenwriters try to play off of the T-X's sex appeal as much as possible. We are treated to several sexualized scenes that play off of the T-X's feminity, such as a gross moment where she increase her breast size to attract a cop and a ridiculous moment where she orgasms when she licks John's blood and recognizes that it is his blood. I think these scenes are utterly insulting and degrading to the character and female gender in general because they make the character more like a sexualized object than a human being (sorry, cyborg). Why can't the T-X just be a bad ass killing machine like the T-1000 devoid of these ridiculous sexualized moments? 

Also, Kristanna Lokken has got to ditch that terrible red outfit. Oh man, I cannot stand that awful outfit! It is so dated and disgusting that it makes me want to turn the film off or at least fast forward through her scenes. It's clear that Lokken tried to emulate Robert Patrick as much as possible with her calm demeanor and lines like, "I like your gun," that are similar to Patrick's readings from T2, "Say, that's a nice bike." Unfortunately, her character is nothing more than a cheap copy cat that fails to be anywhere near as memorable as the T-1000.

Terminator 3's technical merits are especially weak, arguably the worst within the franchise. Its action sequences suffer from an overabundance of dated computer generated graphics and all around lack of creativity or tension. However, the film's opening car chase in which John escapes the T-X as the T-800 pursues them atop a motorcycle is great stuff. Jonathan Mostow lays waste to an entire city with this sequence as nearly every car and building in site gets flattened, crushed, or destroyed by the vehicular mayhem. It's unfortunate that the film's action peaks in the first 30 minutes and never rises above its inspired lunacy. The film also features oodles of terrible stock sound effects; from gun shots, to smashed tiles, to door hinges, T3 is a nightmare for your ears. 

I can't help but laugh at this shot, it's just so stupid.

The most positive compliment that I can pay Terminator 3 is that its final scene is a truly powerful and surprising one. After an hour and a half of stale adventure, Terminator 3 tricks the audience into believing that John and Kate will shut down SkyNet. However, the two realize upon their arrival to Crystal Peak, the supposed place that Kate's father said can shut down SkyNet, is none other than a fallout shelter. There never was a chance at shutting down SkyNet. Therefore, Kate's father lied and led them to the safest place on the planet, a fall out shelter deep underground. This ending is extremely surprising because it pulls the rug out from underneath the audience's feet and essentially jumpstarts the long awaited Judgment Day. It's just frustrating that such an uninspired film gets this inspired in its final scene! 

Once again I find myself writing more than I probably should about a film that doesn't deserve my time or attention. But alas, my devotion to the genre and the Terminator franchise gets the better of me sometimes. Terminator 3 is one of the most forgettable sequels that I have ever seen. My brain regards it as more of a piece of big budgeted fan fiction and not a sincere and legitimate sequel to one of the greatest action films of all time. It's a shame that the film is so uninspired and lazy though. It has almost no filmic merit and in no way needs to be seen by anyone other than fans of the franchise or Arnold heads. Just as the T-800 reminds us that "Judgment Day" is inevitable, I guess that a sequel to two of the most successful science fiction films of all time was inevitable. But did it have to be this bad? Fortunately, the future apocalypse hinted at in the film's final moments led to a much better sequel.

Rating: 4/10 - A lazy and insulting sequel that hampers what could have been a perfect Terminator saga.

Franchise:

The Terminator (dir. James Cameron, 1984)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (dir. James Cameron, 1991)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (dir. Jonathan Mostow, 2003)

Terminator: Salvation (dir. McG, 2009)

Terminator: Genisys (dir. Alan Taylor, 2015)

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Director: The Wachowski Siblings

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Colin Chou

Country: United States / Australia

Rating: R

Run Time: 129 minutes

*spoilers abound*

While I have always loved The Matrix Reloaded since its initial release in 2003, The Matrix Revolutions has always been the sequel to escape me. After having seen once it in the theaters in 2003, I never got around to seeing the film again. I don't know what was wrong with me but I know that somewhere along the line I developed the opinion that the film sucked and jumped on the bandwagon for the film's hate. For my excursion into the much maligned Matrix sequels, I decided to watch The Matrix Revolutions back to back with Reloaded. This was also my first time viewing the film in over 10 years. And you know what, I think that The Matrix Revolutions is an awesome and underrated finale that gets an unfair bad rap. 

To be honest, I think that Revolutions is a film that needs to be watched back to back with its predecessor. For starters, both films were shot and written at the same time. Therefore, both films were envisioned as a two part finale. Second, both films were released within the same year a mere six months apart; something that is unheard of in today's cinematic world. They were envisioned to be seen very close together. And third, Revolutions picks up from the moment that Reloaded ends on. In a sense, Reloaded is act one and two of the Matrix finale while Revolutions is the third act drawn out to movie length. This is why watching Revolutions on its own may make for a detached and distanced experience if one does not have the events or characters of Reloaded fresh in their mind. Therefore, I believe that Revolutions holds up better when paired back to back with Reloaded (much like the Bond films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace).

Revolutions takes what started as a small scaled franchise and turns it into a massive science fiction epic the likes of Star Wars with its plentiful characters, epic action scenes, and grand storytelling. The two final battles of the film take place on such a grand scale that I couldn't help but get swept up into their proceedings. It's hard to resist massive machine wars and a grand one on one fist fight when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Unfortunately, Revolutions has more issues than Reloaded does. However, I still find the film to be thrilling in parts and serviceable as a whole despite its flaws. 

Why do people dislike this movie again? All I see is beautiful double gun fisted action.

Revolutions falters from the get go as it struggles to wrap up the loose ends of Reloaded. After Neo used his powers in the real world at the end of Reloaded, he passed out and mentally landed inside of a train station that serves as the go between for the Matrix and the real world. In the real world, Neo was placed on a table next to Bane, a human controlled by Agent Smith of the Matrix. Therefore, Revolutions spends nearly 25 minutes of its run time resolving Neo's imprisonment at the train station.

And while this sub-plot results in a stupendous action sequence that homages and resembles the iconic lobby shootout in The Matrix (arguably the best action sequence in the film), the search to rescue Neo puts us back at square one concerning the war with the machines. It's as if the Wachowskis didn't want to end Reloaded without leaving a cliffhanger for audiences to ponder over until Revolutions. In the grand scheme of things, the opening act of Revolutions is entirely pointless and feels more like cinematic homework than it does an enjoyable viewing experience.

Once Neo is freed from the clutches of the Train Man (Bruce Spence of The Road Warrior fame in a nice cameo), he and Trinity decide to head for the source of the machines in the real world in order to stop the attack on Zion. However, the machines have already begun their war with Zion. Unfortunately, the humans have no ships or EMP's to their name in Zion. Therefore, Morpheus and Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) pilot the last remaining ship with an EMP to Zion in order to help out with the grand battle of Zion. Neo ultimately realizes he must make a pact with the machines in order to destroy their common enemy, the program Agent Smith, and to save his people. What follows is an epic and massive one on one battle between Neo and Agent Smith inside of the Matrix that puts the Superman vs. Zod fight at the end of Man of Steel to shame (just saying, anything puts the Man of Steel fight to shame, it sucks).

I'd be just about speechless if I witnessed this first hand.

Once The Matrix Revolutions arrives to the meat of the film, the war in Zion, the film kicks into gear and never lets up. What results is a fantastic and awe inspiring battle between human controlled mechs and terrifying machines. This anime inspired battle features incredible special effects and visuals that I will never forget. The Wachowskis conjure up some of the most beautiful and horrifying imagery I have ever seen in a science fiction epic during this massive machine battle. You'll never see a more terrifying machine once you have seen the sentinels form up into a worm-like shape in mid-air (pictured above). I want to specify that the Wachowskis do an incredible job at crafting some of the most terrifying robots in cinema history. We all agree that the T-800 in its skeletal form in The Terminator is a terrifying robot. However, the sentinels in the Matrix films are absolutely terrifying in both their design and their actions. Don Davis' score reaches terrifying heights during the many robot heavy sequences of the film in order to reflect the machines' menacing nature.

Even though the massive battle between the machines and the humans makes for a stupendous array of special effects, thrilling action beats, and memorable character moments (The Kid!), it is not the be all end all of the film's action sequences. Instead, the Wachowskis posit the face off between Neo and Agent Smith as the grand finale of the film. Even though I am typically for as much action as possible in a film, I think that the Neo vs. Smith fight is too much to handle after experiencing the incredibly tense and jaw dropping machine battle. The Wachoswkis go from a truly massive set piece to yet another massive set piece within 10 or so minutes of one another. Because of this, the fist fight between Neo and Smith feels monotonous and exhausting instead of tense and gripping as it should be. Still, the fight scene is cool and showcases more of those computer rendered characters that I "loved" so much in The Matrix Reloaded.

Unfortunately, this final fist fight is rendered completely useless when reflected upon. In order to enter the Matrix to fight Smith, Neo allows the machines to plug into his body. Once Neo lands face to face with Smith, the two engage in a ridiculous 10 minute fight scene that pails in comparison to their previous fights from both The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded. At the end of the fight, Neo stands still and allows Smith to duplicate him. Once Neo is taken over by Smith, the machines destroy Smith using their mechanical connection through Neo's physical body. Therefore, both Smith and Neo die. However, the entire fight between Neo and Smith was completely useless than. Why didn't Neo simply allow Smith to duplicate him from the start? The machines could have destroyed Smith in a matter of seconds instead of having to wait 10 minutes for Neo to stop fighting Smith. It may seem like a silly error to some, but I found it to be a laughably silly excuse for a fight scene once reflected upon.

"Should I bother fighting him even though I want him to win? Oh, whatever."

Unlike The Matrix Reloaded, there isn't much to say about the final Matrix film. Revolutions is essentially a third act finale dragged out to movie length. And even though the film wastes its opening act, features a hilariously over the top performance by Hugo Weaving, and rushes to the credits before you know it, I still enjoy it. Plot holes aside, The Matrix Revolutions is a grand and epic finale to a series mostly forgotten by today's movie goers and movie buffs. Once the film arrives to the battle of Zion, the film kicks into gear and never lets up. And even though the film is mostly special effects fueled, the imagery is beyond beautiful (except for the slow motion shot of CG Hugo Weaving being punched in the face, what were they thinking?).

In my personal opinion, the Matrix trilogy is one of my favorite movie franchises, warts and all. I love the characters, the action scenes, the music, the cinematography, the story, and the franchises' plentiful inspirations ranging from Akira, to Ghost in the Shell, to the cinema of action maestros John Woo and Yuen Woo Ping. And even though Revolutions is easily the most flawed of the franchise, it still stands as a serviceable and awesome finale that kicks more ass than any one of Michael Bay's Transformers films. In all honesty, I don't believe that movie fans will ever get an R rated blockbuster franchise like the Matrix series ever again. Therefore, I hope to be one of those movie fans who reminds people why the Matrix films are so special and why haters be damned.

Rating: 7/10 - Unnecessary story and plot errors aside, The Matrix Revolutions is a damn awesome finale that deserves a second chance after all of these years.

Franchise:

The Matrix (dir. The Wachowski Siblings, 1999)

The Matrix Reloaded (dir. The Wachowski Siblings, 2003)

The Matrix Revolutions (dir. The Wachowski Siblings, 2003)

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Director: The Wachowski Siblings

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Colin Chou

Country: United States / Australia

Rating: R

Run Time: 138 minutes

Even though The Matrix Trilogy consists of three films, the series is truly split into two parts. When the Wachowski Siblings set out to make their Matrix trilogy, the two had to deliver a successful Matrix Part One before they could be guaranteed a Part Two or Three. Therefore, when The Matrix blew up in 1999 and set a new precedent for action filmmaking in Hollywood, two sequels were obviously commissioned. These sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, were shot back to back and released within the same year, 2003. However, both of these sequels featured numerous new characters and a grander storyline previously unexplored in the small scaled The Matrix. Even though The Matrix introduced us to a post-apocalyptic world run by sentinels, The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions were the films that directly dealt with the issue head on. The Wachowskis essentially crafted a focused and small scaled Part One that led into two large scaled Parts Two and Three shot at the same time. Therefore, I have always viewed the two sequels as being separate from the original for this reason.

However, many other movie fans view the sequels as being separate from the original because...well, they hate them. The Matrix sequels are notorious amongst movie buffs as being inferior and unnecessary in comparison to their amazing predecessor. The general consensus is that the sequels favor special effects and plot over the focused character work of The Matrix. Personally, I also think that the sequels' choice to dive head first into the heavy themes teased at in the original alienated audiences as well. Action is fun and all for audiences, but not so much so when you have to listen to heavy conversations about predestination, artificial intelligence, and causality. 

Is there anything more awesome than leaping out a window firing guns?

I remember seeing The Matrix Reloaded at midnight with my dad when I was in the 5th grade in 2003. Even though I probably didn't fully understand what was happening, I can tell you that the action scenes blew my mind as a kid. I don't know if my childhood history with the film clouds my opinion, but I think that The Matrix Reloaded is an ambitious sequel that falters in parts but mostly succeeds. Even after 10 or so viewings of The Matrix Reloaded, I still find myself picking up on ideas that I previously forgot the film explored. Regardless of how good or bad you think the sequels are, the fact that the films jog your brain after each viewing is a testament to their lasting value. Therefore, I have decided to revisit these two massive and complex sequels in order to determine my opinion on them once and for all. Also, I am going to go into mild spoilers for the two films. 

The film begins six months after the events of the first film. Neo (Keanu Reeves) and friends continue their rebellion against the machines in both the Matrix and the real world. The machines have begun to drill into the human city of Zion in order to attack the humans back for freeing so many minds from the Matrix. When Neo speaks with the Oracle for help, she tells him to locate a Key Maker who can lead them to the source of the machines within the Matrix. However, Neo's journey for the source of the machines is complicated thanks to the likes of antagonists Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) and The Merovingian (Lambert Wilson). 

The Matrix Reloaded heavily expands upon the mythology of the first installment by introducing numerous new characters and tackling a large scale story hinted at in The Matrix. If anything, The Matrix Reloaded is one of the biggest sequels ever next to The Chronicles of Riddick in terms of expanding upon the mythos and scale of the small scaled original film. The film also dives deeper into themes of artificial intelligence, identity, reality, predestination, creation, religion, and causality dealt within The Matrix. However, Reloaded and its sequel devote entire scenes and conversations to discussing such themes. Therefore, modern audiences may find themselves bored and distant from such complex scenes that come in between slam bam action set pieces that please the eyes. The Wachowskis clearly took advantage of The Matrix's success and decided to go full philosophical and intellectual with their sequels. When I look back on the Matrix sequels, I almost can't believe that a studio like Warner Bros. funded such deep and complex R rated action films.

"Surprised, Mr. Anderson?"

While ambitious and positively epic, The Matrix Reloaded bites off more than it or its audience can chew. The film relies so heavily on plot, and a weird one at that, that it leaves its characters in the dust at points. The sequel also incorporates such a massive amount of sub-plots that it becomes difficult to keep track of them all even after all of these years of viewing the film. You've got the threat of the duplicating Agent Smiths, the Smith induced Bane character who wants to kill Neo within the real world, the threat of the machines' imminate attack on Zion, Neo's journey for the source of the machines, Neo's desperation to stop his visions from coming true, the tension between Morpheus and Commander Lock, to even the stories of the littlest of supporting characters like Link or Kid. Because everyone has a story of their own amidst the grand scheme of things, it becomes a lot to take in for only a two hour film. And while I love the ambitious nature of Reloaded and find some of its sub-plots to be truly riveting, the film's ambition turns it into a somewhat bloated epic that lacks The Matrix's tight focus.

Even though the film features far too many characters for its own good, I still enjoy some of them. My personal favorite is the Oracle's bodyguard, Seraph. Not only does Seraph have a great character design and purpose within the film's narrative, but he is even played by Hong Kong action star Collin Chou (Flash Point). Chou does a great job with his few minutes in the film and even takes on Neo in a great one on one fight a top several wooden tables. I also love the design of The Twins, two of the Merovigians henchmen who have the ability to turn into ghosts in order to phase through walls and to heal themselves. Other character highlights include the stern Commander Lock (Harry Lennix, Man of Steel) who will do anything to protect Zion, the cold but sexy Persephone (Monica Bellucci, Brotherhood of the Wolf), and the kind and helpful Key Maker (Randall Duk Kim, The Replacement Killers). Returning franchise characters Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, The Oracle, and Agent Smith are all well played by their respective actors; especially Laurence Fishburne (Death Wish II) who turns in an incredibly emotional and physical performance.

Praise the action movie gods.

It's no surprise that The Matrix Reloaded's strongest aspect is its fantastic action sequences. The Wachowskis and choreographer Yuen Woo Ping (Kill Bill, The Grandmaster) up the ante by delivering the kind of bigger and crazier set pieces you expect in a sequel. Reloaded showcases fist fights, car chases, and gun fights galore. The melee fights in the film are uniformly perfect, ranging from a massive brawl between Neo and numerous Agent Smiths to a small one on one fight between Morpheus and Agent Johnson (Daniel Bernhardt, John Wick) atop a moving 18 wheeler. The epic car chase in the middle of the film stands as the biggest and longest set piece in the entire franchise. Filmed entirely on a newly constructed freeway specifically for the film, the Wachowskis deliver a grand and massive cavalcade of vehicular destruction.

I especially adore the Vampire Chateau fight between Neo and The Merovigian's henchmen set to music by Rob Dougan. The sequence features pitch perfect camera work, excellent editing, and stunning fight choreography. The sequel's many action sequences are made all the better by composer Don Davis' score. Davis continues to expand upon the musical themes heard in the first installment by upping the ante and delivering a broader and grander score. Additional tracks by Rob Dougan and Juno Reactor are just as fantastic as Davis' musical themes. I truly could go on and on about Reloaded's exquisite action scenes and how I have watched some of them well over twenty times. But I will leave these few short words to express my adoration and obsession with them. When Yuen Woo Ping is the fight choreographer and Bill Pope is the cinematographer, a film's action scenes are going to look damn good.

Unfortunately, I have to fault Reloaded for its terrible incorporation of CGI during a few shots of the burly brawl between Neo and Smith. While most of the film's fight sequences feature real stunt men performing real stunts, the burly brawl between Neo and Smith requires up to 100 actors to be seen on screen at once. Therefore, some of the characters are rendered entirely with computer animation for a few choice shots in order to deliver complex moments of fight choreography. Much like Guillermo Del Toro's Blade II, The Matrix Reloaded shoots itself in the foot with these painfully obvious moments of computer graphics. It doesn't help either when the Wachowskis cut from a shot of a CG Keanu Reeves to a shot of the real Keanu Reeves within the same fight sequence. The jarring difference between computer graphics and human actors pulls the audience out of the filmic experience whenever it is apparent in the film. And believe me, it is extremely apparent when the characters in the film look like something out of an early 2000's PlayStation 2 video game.

"Well that's a neat trick."

Entertainment Weekly declared The Matrix Reloaded the 25th worst movie sequel of all time in 2007. Their paragraph on the film directly attacks the film's rave sequence and mocks it as a Lenny Kravitz music video. In all honesty, how can this be the one thing that Entertainment Weekly wrote about? Did they not see the amazing action scenes, brave storytelling, and incredible ambition that I saw? Yes, I admit that Reloaded is a somewhat bloated epic that falters from poor CGI and heavy reliance on plot. But I find that its positives greatly outweigh its negatives. I adore The Matrix Reloaded warts and all. It's an incredibly entertaining and massive science fiction epic that I have been watching for more than 10 years now and hope to continue revisiting for as long as I live. Tune in next time for the finale that movie fans hate more than The Matrix Reloaded...The Matrix Revolutions!

Rating: 8/10 - Haters be damned. The Matrix Reloaded has everything I love about an R rated blockbuster.

Franchise:
The Matrix (dir. The Wachowski Siblings, 1999)
The Matrix Reloaded (dir. The Wachowski Siblings, 2003)
The Matrix Revolutions (dir. The Wachowski Siblings, 2003)

AvP Double Feature - Alien vs. Predator (2004) + Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Guaranteed box office dollars? You bet. Guaranteed quality? Nope.

After Predator 2 was released in 1990, everybody expected an Alien vs. Predator film to be made soon after. Unfortunately for those people, AvP wouldn't arrive until summer 2004. Much like the previous year's versus flick, Freddy vs. Jason, the film's delay had been the fault of a lengthy development hell. What is truly sad is that an Alien 5 had been in development with both Ridley Scott and James Cameron writing, producing, and directing! Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox pulled the plug on that film and went with the sure fire money maker, Alien vs. Predator, instead. After the first film's success, a sequel titled Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was eventually released in 2007.

There's no doubt about it, these films are the bane of the Alien and Predator franchises. Few fans actually like these films and most fans love to hate on them. These films don't exactly count within the Predator or Alien franchise continuity either. They are more like fan fictions that don't align with the canon of the series at all. However, I still have to check them out for my journey through the Predator films and dedication to all action films good and bad. These films classify more as spin-offs than sequels anyways. So I guess this review doesn't get a part in the Predator-a-Thon. My blog, my rules.

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Lance Henriksen, Raoul Bova, Ewen Bremner
Country: United States / United Kingdom
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 101 minutes

After such a long wait, 20th Century Fox finally decided on none other than Paul W.S. Anderson to direct Alien vs. Predator. I have never stated it before on my blog but Anderson is one of my least favorite directors currently working in Hollywood. He churns out bland and generic PG-13 sci-fi actioners that are fueled by special effects and nothing else. His track record (Resident Evil, Three Musketeers, Pompeii) is less than stellar. Therefore, many of the film's issues can be laid on Anderson because he directed and wrote the film. I wish he had Tommy Wiseau'd the thing though. Than we could have seen him produce and star too!

After a satellite detects a heat bloom in the Antarctic, billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) assembles a team to investigate the occurrence. When the team discovers the origin of the heat, they find a large pyramid buried underground. As they enter, they quickly find themselves caught in a battle between Aliens and Predators. The Predators fired a laser into the ice in order to carve themselves a hole into the ground and to attract humans to the pyramid. The Predators than use the humans to create Xenomorphs, alien creatures that they deem to be the perfect prey for their hunts. The team than has to fight their way through the pyramid in order to survive or end up as Alien food.

The biggest issue with Anderson's film is that all of his human characters are incredibly boring. None of them are memorable or contain a single character trait beyond their profession. Every character exists to be executed by the Aliens or the Predators, therefore making them useless to the audience. It's a shame that there are no human characters to latch onto and root for. A likable human lead amongst crazed alien creatures is what made films like Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Predator, and Predator 2 successful. Anderson utterly fails at writing good human characters and gets right to what he does "best", special effects fueled fight sequences.

The action scenes between the humans, Aliens, and Predators are fairly decent. Nothing is photographed horribly and the concepts are quite fun at times. Regardless of how silly or stupid this movie is, the big Alien vs. Predator fight is still a cool showdown. And while it isn't breathtaking, it sure makes for some fun sci-fi schlock. That's the best way to describe this film and it's sequel, ridiculous schlock. The problem with this film is that Paul W.S. Anderson thought he was making a chilling film full of tense build up. That is just not the case. The build up in this film is nothing more than boring and yawn-worthy. Anderson doesn't seem to put his best traits as a filmmaker to work until the film goes full action.

Unfortunately, I have some major issue with the film. For starters, every scene is lit too bright. These characters are in a pyramid underground and yet every hallway is lit like a Christmas tree. The bright and shiny visuals completely pull one out of the film. Another obvious issue with the film is its box office friendly PG-13 rating. The Alien and Predator franchises are hard R films with loads of gore and blood, not lame PG-13 films with lots of cutaways. Whomever okay'd the film to be released with a PG-13 clearly never saw one of these films before. The Predator make up is also some of the worst make up I have ever seen for a creature in a blockbuster motion picture. Whoever designed the Predator's face in this film should be introduced to an Alien facehugger and left for dead.

However, for all of my complaints, AvP is never god awful or terrible. Once the Alien and Predator fights get going, the film makes for some dumb yet fun popcorn entertainment. Unfortunately, this is a huge step down from the previous Predator and Alien films in terms of pure craftmanship, action choreography, character work, and atmosphere. Not recommended.

Rating: 5/10 - Anderson leaves his stamp of mediocrity on two franchises that deserve better.

Director: The Brothers Strause

Cast: Steven Pasquale, Reiko Aylseworth, John Ortiz, Johnny Lewis

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 94 minutes

If Paul W.S. Anderson, a director with actual experience, wasn't bad enough, how about two brothers with no directing experience whatsoever? The Brothers Strause are special effects artists, not directors. Therefore, the two of them do what they know best as far as this film goes. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem is all blood, gore, action scenes, and violence without any subtlety, suspense, build up, or creativity. By the looks of the horrible creature design and poorly written characters, you might suspect that this sequel is a Sci-Fi Channel Original. But alas, it's a $40 million film released by one of the biggest studios on the entire planet.

Let me get this out of the way. This is a terrible mess of a film. However, I enjoyed it far more than the first film. The first film tries to take itself seriously and thinks that it is actually suspenseful. This sequel on the other hand goes full sci-fi schlock within the first minute and never turns back. It's as if the filmmakers knew that an AvP sequel couldn't be taken seriously after the first film. Therefore, the Brothers Strause went all out and packed their film with as much action and violence as they could. I knew going into this film that I wasn't going to be able to take anything seriously. And since the filmmakers didn't either, I found myself able to enjoy this film as pure unadulterated sci-fi trash.

AvP-R picks up where the last film left off; that is with a baby Pred-Alien bursting out of a Predator's chest. This Predator/Alien hybrid creature causes one of the Predator's to shoot a hole into the side of his ship and send it crashing down to Earth. Before he dies, a Predator sends a distress signal (instead of setting off a bomb like they always do) for a lone Predator to come down to Earth in order to clean up the evidence of the escaping Pred-Alien and facehuggers. What follows is an hour and a half of Aliens and a Predator killing humans in a small Colorado town while fighting one another.

It's astonishing how little disregard there is for human life in this film. Characters are established and killed off with the littlest of ease throughout this film. Their deaths are also far gorier than the tame PG-13 kills of the previous film. Gory highlights include heads exploding, bodies sliced in half, and faces melting from dripping acid. However, the film goes too far when chestbursters erupt from a child and a pregnant woman. I don't know if it's a cinematic rule but killing pregnant women and children in a film should always be avoided unless it serves an important narrative purpose. Here it is just to increase the body count of the film; what a noble purpose.

Like I said, there is far more action and violence in this film than the previous entry. Even though I did enjoy the concepts and settings for these action scenes, it's a shame that they are so dark and horribly shot. My two favorite action scenes were when the Predator took on some Aliens in the sewers and when the main characters shot up numerous Aliens on there way to a helicopter. Speaking of the main characters, they are all laughably underwritten. The film's laughable attempts to give these character's backgrounds is really entertaining though.

Dylan and Cole Strause clearly don't care about franchise continuity because they break numerous established rules throughout the film. For starters, the Predator kills an unarmed cop and skins him alive for no reason. Why would the Predator go to Earth to eliminate evidence of Alien life if only to make more evidence himself? Also, the Predator has the ability to shoot Aliens point blank and to crush their heads without any acid getting onto him. And yet numerous human bodies are melted to death by splashing acid. The Alien chestbursters also grow to full size within a scene now instead of several slow scenes. So long to build up and subtlety.

But the worse offense of the entire film is the disgustingly awful design of the Xenomorph Aliens. My goodness, the Aliens have never looked worse! Each Alien is clearly a man inside of a rubber suit. There is rarely an animatronic or effective shot of an actor in their rubber suit. The Xenomorph mouths also look ridiculous. Since when do the Aliens need braces? Their teeth look like crap! It's a downright crime to take the sleek and beautiful design of H.R. Giger's Alien and turn it into a crappy cosplay quality outfit.

AvP-R is a mess of a film with awful characters, pacing, and effects. However, I really do enjoy this film as a gory and trashy horror film with numerous action scenes and lots of creature fights. After hearing everyone tell me that this is the absolute worst film in the series, I found myself enjoying it far more than anyone else. But alas, it is pretty lousy.

Rating: 5/10 - Equally as lousy as the previous film but more enjoyable as far as "so bad it's good" films go.

Franchise:
Predator (dir. John McTiernan, 1987)
Predator 2 (dir. Stephen Hopkins, 1990)
Predators (dir. Nimrod Antal, 2010)

AvP Spin-Offs:
Alien vs. Predator (dir. Paul W. S. Anderson, 2004)
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (dir. The Brothers Strause, 2007)

Predator-a-Thon, Part 2 - Predator 2 (1990)

Director: Stephen Hopkins

Cast: Danny Glover, Kevin Peter Hall, Gary Busey, Bill Paxton, Robert Davi

Country: United States

Production Company: Silver Pictures

Rating: R

Run Time: 108 minutes

I haven't revisited Predator 2 in a long long time. It's been nearly 10 years since I last saw this film. Now that I have revisited the film for my trek through action/horror hybrids during the Halloween season, I am so glad to have rediscovered this incredibly underrated sequel. While lacking the tense build up and unforgettable characters of McTiernan's original, Predator 2 still makes for fantastic action entertainment. The film ditches the "men on a mission" genre of Predator in favor of a "cops and robbers" genre picture.

Many non-action fans disregard this film completely. I don't understand why because Predator 2 is a far more faithful sequel than most other action sequels out there. The biggest issue that most people seem to have with the sequel is that Arnold Schwarzenegger did not return to star and the tone of the film is completely different. Even though I love Arnold's performance and the tone of the original, I think that director Stephen Hopkins and screenwriters Jim and John Thomas gave us nice replacements for those things. Instead of Arnold we get Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) and instead of tense horror we get a dark-satirical tone heavily reminiscent of the cinema of Paul Veerhoven (RoboCop, Total Recall).

Glorious stunt work that only the 80's and 90's could deliver.

The film takes place in Los Angeles, CA in 1997 (7 years ahead of the film's release date). In this 1997 version of Los Angeles, crime has run rampant. Jamaican and Colombian drug lords plague the streets and constantly find themselves in gunfights with police. The film opens with a fantastic scene that drops us right into a massive gun fight in the streets of Los Angeles. Several coked up Jamaicans fire away at police with Uzis and even grenade launchers. However, these drug lords stand no chance against Lieutenant Michael Harrigan (Danny Gover), our hero and protagonist of the film. As Harrigan and several other cops continue to trade fire, several Jamaicans make their way inside of a building in order to reload and get ready for round two with the police. However, an unexpected and invisible intruder breaks in on the Jamaicans' party and proceeds to slaughter all of them. When Harrigan finds the last remaining Jamaican, the Jamaican freaks out when he sees a camoflauged creature standing above Harrigan. As the Jamaican fires at the creature, Harrigan guns him down not knowing about the invisible Predator (Kevin Peter Hall) above him.

Please forgive me for this epic introduction to the film. While I thoroughly enjoy all of Predator 2, the opening action scene is better than anything else in the film. It's a violent, exciting, and lengthy scene that delivers all sorts of bloody mayhem. There are so many excellent action beats and moments in this scene. Danny Glover drives a car while leaning out the side of the front door, Jamaicans hip fire twin Uzis, and cops fly through the air in slow motion as they are fired upon by grenade launchers. Predator 2 gets a 10/10 for the opening scene alone. But alas, there is a plot and more to the film than just this.

Harrigan becomes suspicious of the Jamaicans' slaughter that day. Unsurprisingly, more Jamaican drug lords and cops start dying all throughout Los Angeles. As Harrigan investigates into the killings, he discovers that a team of men led by Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey) are on to the Predator's existence. It is than up to Harrigan and Keyes' team to take down the new Predator once and for all.

"Not the lips oh gosh!"

Predator 2 is less about the Predator stalking a single group of people in a limited location and more about the Predator going on a city wide killing spree. It's a shame that the film ditches the realistic tension and survival horror of McTiernan's Predator. The film is played much straighter with fairly typical action scenes and a pretty predictable plot; thereby making Predator 2 a weaker film. However, that doesn't stop the film from being an exciting and action packed thrill ride. There isn't a boring moment in Predator 2. You get far more action scenes, lots of ridiculous characters, and an equally impressive body count with far more kills coming from the Predator. Predator 2 shoots for basic action entertainment and nothing more.

McTiernan's Predator had a first rate cast of action royalty and certified badasses. Even though Predator 2 doesn't have a line up as excellent as Arnold and his pals, the cast is still darn impressive and a great representation of late 80's to early 90's actors. Danny Glover is Harrigan, the bad ass and no-nonsense Lieutenant with a ridiculous laser sight Desert Eagle as his signature hand gun. Instead of playing a safe and by the rules cop like in Lethal Weapon, Glover's character is more similar to his bad ass role in Lawrence Kasdan's 1985 western Silverado. Harrigan breaks rules, risks his life, and plunges head first into the twisting and spiraling murder spree that the Predator leaves in Los Angeles.

Lots of great character actors also pop up in the film. Gary Busey (Under Siege), Bill Paxton (Aliens), Robert Davi (Die Hard), Ruben Blades (Once Upon a Time in Mexico), and Adam Baldwin (Full Metal Jacket) all grace us genre nerds with their awesome presence. It's also worth mentioning that Bill Paxton plays a character in both the Predator series and the Alien series (coincidentally the second installments of each franchise). This officially makes him the only actor to have taken on both creatures in each respective franchise. Talk about a special life achievement. I would be far more thrilled with an accomplishment like that than an actual Academy Award win or whatever.

Mike Harrigan barrels down a bullet strewn street.

Predator 2 explores the theme of the bleak crime ridden city nearing a total breakdown. Many action films of '89 and '90 also explored this theme (The Punisher, Class of 1999, Darkman, RoboCop 2) and integrated it into their plots. Even child friendly films of the time (Tim Burton's Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Back to the Future Part II) touched on the crime ridden city for goodness sakes. However, it is most fascinating to see how similar Predator 2 is to both RoboCop and RoboCop 2. Both films depict a bleak and ultra violent future ripe with media satire, urban decay, and ridiculously oversized hand guns. Predator 2 is very similar to the RoboCop series because it embraces its absurd plot and setting in order to portray a hyper realistic city ripe with crime.

As I stated before, Predator 2 has excellent action scenes. There is a fantastic variety of human on human gunfights and Predator on human massacre scenes. After the opening scene though, the Predator becomes front and center for the rest of the film's action scenes. He slaughters Jamaicans in a high rise, murders thugs and civilians inside of a moving subway train, and even engages in an epic foot chase with Danny Glover spanning roof tops, apartments, an elevator shaft, and even his own spaceship! The Predator racks up the highest kill count out of anyone in the entire film. He kills around 25 or more people; quite the slasher-spree. Eat your ever killing heart out Jason Vorheeves! Even though the drama and mass killings are quite shallow in contrast to McTiernan's Predator, you definitely get your bang for your buck.

Predator 2 heavily expands the mythos of the franchise. We learn that Predator's are drawn to hot locations for their hunts. This explains why a Predator would show up in the hot jungles of Costa Rica and the hot city of Los Angeles. The film also establishes that a Predator won't kill a pregnant woman even if she is armed with a weapon or hurt a child with a toy gun. This proves that Predators only honor a clean death devoid of innocent loss. The Predator also uses far more weaponry than in the first film. His varied arsenal includes a retracting razor net, a spinning smart blade, a telescopic spear gun, and even rocket flares.

I love ridiculous moments like these.

However, the Predator does do some bizarre and odd ball things in this film. For starters, the Predator is always in the right place at the right time. Whenever a conflict arrises between cops or thugs, the Predator is there to slaughter everyone to death. This "right place at right time" aspect was more believable in Predator because the Predator was constantly hunting the same small group of men in a jungle. Now the Predator has all of Los Angeles to hunt in and somehow always pops up whenever the most dramatic scene takes place. That's quite a coincidence. He must have read the script.

The Predator also toys with his prey. When Danny Glover goes to visit his dead partner's grave, the Predator stalks him there and leaves his dead partner's necklace on a tree nearby. Why would the Predator toy with someone like this and not just fight them? It feels very out of character in contrast to the Predator established in the first film. The worst aspect of this new Predator is that he actually curses at opportune moments (once again, because he has read the script). When Glover walks up to the downed Predator, he starts to quote Arnold's famous line from the original, "You are one ugly..." Just than the Predator grabs Glover's throat and screams, "Mother f*****!" He even shouts, "S*** happens!" when Glover and him hang on the side of a building. I know that the Predator can record human dialog in order to play it back to throw off his prey. But this finishing off of other character's sentences and dropping one liners is just ridiculous.

Predator 2 is most infamous for an awesome blink and you'll miss it easter egg moment. When Danny Glover finally discovers the Predator's ship at the end of the film, he finds a wall of skull trophies. The skulls range from all kinds of creatures all across the galaxy. But one skull in particular caught everyone's eye back in 1990. Without a doubt, an alien xenomorph skull from the Alien films can be spotted on the trophy wall. This little image of the xenomorph skull in a Predator spaceship was enough to tease fans of an eventual Alien vs. Predator film.

Predator 2's set up of the versus film to be is very similar to the versus film set up in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993). At the end of that film, Freddy Kruger's claw emerges from the ground and pulls Jason's mask down to Hell. This was a teaser for the eventual Freddy vs. Jason (2003). However, it's a real coincidence and a kick in the balls to the fans of these franchises that it took well over 10 years to get both of these versus films made! These two versus films are infamous for being stuck in development hell. Even though fans of these series have their fair share of problems with both of these versus films, Freddy vs. Jason is clearly a far better versus film with more action and gore than the tame Alien vs. Predator (although Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem trumps Freddy vs. Jason as far as gore and kills come).

Hold on to that image audience of 1990. It's all you'll get for 14 years.

Predator 2 is one of the most underrated action films and sequels of the 1990's. The film is jam packed with action, Predator kills, and ridiculous characters that make the film fun and entertaining. As far as sequels go, Predator 2 does a lot to expand the Predator mythos by introducing more weapons and rules than the first film. The film's shortcoming is that it shoots for straight forward action entertainment instead of taking its time like McTiernan's masterful original. But even with these flaws, Predator 2 is an awesome sequel that should not be missed! It's unfortunate that this would be the last Predator film for a whopping 14 years until the awful Alien vs. Predator. It would also be the last good Predator film until 2010's Predators. Fans of the Predator series have not had it easy people.

Rating: 8/10 - An awesome action/horror hybrid that should be held up as high on a pedestal as the Predator holds up his victims' skulls and spines!

Franchise:
Predator (dir. John McTiernan, 1987)
Predator 2 (dir. Stephen Hopkins, 1990)
Predators (dir. Nimrod Antal, 2010)

AvP Spin-Offs:
Alien vs. Predator (dir. Paul W. S. Anderson, 2004)
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (dir. The Brothers Strause, 2007)