1.) The movie opens with a sweeping ariel shot of what you think is the jungle, but surprise! It's downtown Los Angeles where the police are in a prolonged gun battle (and losing) with drug gangs on the street. There are news reporters there so you get the idea this has been going on for some time...but...then how are the gangs getting their ammo? They're firing at full auto with assualt rifgles that must have neverending rounds. Admittedly movies do this kind of thing a lot, but it still seems kind of silly. I mean do they have some lowly gang member running back and forth with an ammo can or constantly filling magazines? I didn't see him.
• Okay, I get it, you want to show that in this supposedly awful future of 1997 crime has almost overwhelmed the law enforcement of LA. But the police would (theoretically) be able to have access to far more ammunition than the gang members in this scene, and the gangs would HAVE to run out of ammo sooner or later.
• NOT Averted...yeah, I know they show the gang members with an unholy amount of ammo and weapons in the building but if they had all of these rocket launchers and high caliber weapons of destruction why didn't they pull that stuff out earlier instead of a prolonged gun battle with the authorities? I ain't buyin' it.
• A few snipers on the buildings or a helicopter could have solved this problem pretty damned fast. Again, not averted....even though the doughy police sergeant has dialogue that states that the Special Weapons Team is involved in Another shoot out and the bad guys shot down a police chopper there. You gonna tell me that the LA police department only has ONE chopper?
• There sure are a lot of civilian gawkers in the area! I mean, geez, there are even CHILDREN in the background! Who the hell would stick around to watch an all out gun war with gangs and the cops on the street? With their kids?
2.) I love how the cops seem hopelessly outmatched until Harrigan shows up, no body armor, and does what the all of the other cops (WEARING BODY ARMOR) should have done like an hour ago. He basically just bulldozes his car into the scene and blasts the gang shooters with a shotgun.
3.) After the Predator kills his second bunch of victims and our heroes investigate the scene Danny notes that some of the dead chumps are part of the Jamaican Voodoo Posse, led by a guy named "King Willie". Now the movie has set up the Jamaican Voodoo Posse as a major gang in the city, but Lambert (Bill Paxton) asks "Who the hell is King Willy?". Wouldn't he know that? He's supposed to be a hotshot cop in a city that is having shootouts with these gangs in the streets! When Lambert first arrives in the movie he tells Harrigan he busted his ass to get transferred to this unit. But he didn't bother to find out exactly who the criminals are first? No wonder the cops are in such a mess!
4.) Why exactly is the Predator back in the apartment where he killed all of the gang members when Danny sneaks in to gather evidence? He couldn't have been hiding the entire time unless both the police and Keye's team are super inept. (Keyes and his men KNOW the Predator can cloak itself, so you'd think they'd be prepared for that). That means the Predator killed his prey, and then came back hours later for absolutely no reason.
• It's equally as stupid to say he came back to get his little fork projectile. First, is that the ONLY one he has? That's dumb. Second, why wouldn't he have retrieved it from the wall it's stuck in before he left the first time? There was no reason he couldn't or wouldn't and he had plenty of time to do so. Third, how did Keyes and his men, who are SPECIFICALLY looking to study the alien's weaponry miss the daggone thing when they were there?
• The Medical Examiner tells Harrigan and Lambert that Danny's death was instantaneous. Ummm...no it wasn't. We could hear him screaming and even saying "No! Please!" as the Predator "boned him like a fish". (We don't get to see the murder. At all.)
5.) Harrigan jacks Keyes up in the lobby of police headquarters because...reasons? He's pissed about Danny's death, but Keye's had nothing to do with that, yet he acts like Keyes is somehow responsible for it. This is literally 2 minutes after the chief and his captain told him to stay out of the investigation and leave Keye's task force alone. In front of about two dozen witnesses to boot. How does this guy still have a job?
6.) It didn't occur to the crack team of Alien Hunting Federal Agents that the Predator might have some form of high tech night vision goggles?
7.) Seriously movie? You expect me to believe this old lady (or her unseen husband that she speaks to) let alone anyone else in the apartment building only heard the Predator roar when it treated its wound in her bathroom but not when it crashed through the third story bathroom window and started demolishing the wall?
8.) I wonder if the Predator aliens were an inspiration for the Hirogen Hunters from Star Trek: Voyager? If anyone knows, drop me an email.
HANGOVER MOMENTS
♦ If you think about it, you'll want to drink more....Keyes straight up tells Harrigan that he'll "turn up missing" if he keeps investigating the weird-ass Predator murders. Now what exactly does he expect the Police or Harrigan TO do? Keyes and his team show up AFTER the Predator has killed. The police don't know at this time that an alien is involved. Does Keyes just figure the police should not even respond to multiple murders at all? Wouldn't it make more sense to let Harrigan and the others involved in on the truth? That way he could get their cooperation. Other than to make Keyes the Obstructive Bureacrat there's no reason NOT to tell him the truth.
♦ For a team that is hunting the Predator and trying to keep it's existence a secret, Keyes and his fed team sure leave a lot evidence lying around at the crime scenes for any schmuck to find.
♦ Harrigan goes to mourn for a moment at Danny's grave. But...this is like 2 days at the most AFTER he was murdered! What'd they do, take him a "Drive Thru Mortuary" or something?
♦ Keyes says the Predator returns to the same meat packing warehouse every two days to feed because it has a taste for beef. Wouldn't the employees of this place notice big chunks of frozen beef going missing? Somebody has to work there. Also why would this alien hunter eat earth food in such an obvious place when it has a hidden ship under the city? Did it forget to pack a lunch?
FAMILIAR TROPES
This movie is chock full of 'em....here's a few.
Lt. Harrigan is the living embodiment of the Cowboy Cop trope. He doesn't obey a single order given to him by his superiors in the entire movie to the point of declaring his intentions to disobey them directly to his boss and assaulting Keyes in the middle of the Police Station.
Of course if the movie has an earthbound alien it a shadowy, secret government agency will be there too, and no they won't let the local authorities in on the issue, even when it would probably be to the benefit of their mission.
This flick was filmed in 1990, released in 1991 and back then the LA seen in it seemed kind of plausible in 1997. Predator II has elements of this trope and this trope in it.
THE BAR TAB
With really no scary or gorey scenes this flick is one you can at least enjoy with the kids. Its worthy of having at least tried to shake up the Predator mythos, such as it was in 1991 by putting the story in an urban and heavily populated area instead of a remote jungle.
