Mythology in Storytelling: Predator 2

I haven’t seen Prey yet, so from that place of ignorance about the latest entry in that franchise, I submit that Predator and Predator 2 are the best films about that creature.

Predator 2 theatrical poster, 20th Century Fox

On its own terms, Predator 2 is well made. Callbacks are made to the original movie, but in economical ways, as a means to inform Liutenant Harrigan (Danny Glover) of what he’s getting into. Against a background of global warming and drug cartel wars, while Harrigan is trying to keep Los Angeles together, a Predator is collecting trophies in a densely populated urban center.

But Harrigan learns this in small increments, resembling the way an investigation unfolds. The writers avoid the current movie trap of hurrying through logical plot points and character development to get to the “good stuff”, references and Easter eggs. The script is written to support the mystery driving Harrigan’s curiosity and sense of duty, and his desire for revenge for the death of Detective Archuleta (Blades.) Writers Jim and John Thomas most definitely do NOT check the boxes of diversity and inclusiveness in their script, though they greatly succeed at these. We see that Harrigan’s team is made up of male and female Latino officers. It’s also led by an African American officer without these facts imposing on the narrative. We know he is competent because we see him bring order to a chaotic gun fight. And from there, we see him follow clues, talk to informants, piece together the overarching mystery of the City Hunter making trophies out of the heads of drug dealers, and disobeying his superiors. The last item was a writing trope of that era, the loose cannon cop who ignores the rules, but gets results.

And the movie succeeds. It moves along at a fairly competent pace, but then does something amazing and highly cinematic near the end.

Harrigan has chased the City Hunter Predator from a rooftop to an apartment building and into his ship. After cutting off his arm, preventing the Predator from activating his self destruct device, Harrigan finishes him off with his own Smart Disc. And in the moment of peace that comes after the intergalactic hunter’s fall, 9 other predators materialize. Shutting off their cloaking to make themselves visible to Harrigan, they surround him. There’s a silence where Harrigan takes in the situation, before saying, “Okay. Who’s next?”

These are the Yautja, the members that make up the clan that the City Hunter Predator ran with, till he more than met his match in Harrigan.

As an answer to Harrigan’s question, the members of the Yautja carry City Hunter’s body away, till it’s only the Elder Hunter and Harrigan in the room.

And the Elder Hunter gifts Harrigan with an exotic artifact before departing.

It’s a scene composed of 12 or 13 camera setups, with one line of dialogue, but it accomplishes so much in terms of cinematic storytelling in under 4 minutes:

1. The Predators are tribal, and while they hunt individually, they travel in packs.

2. They do not leave their dead.

3. They acknowledge defeat at the hands of a superior fighter.

4. There is variation of body types among the Predator phylum.

5. They have been around for a long time.

In a few minutes with the Predators, Harrigan has learned more about them than OWLF-Other Worldy Life Forms, the covert organization headed by Keyes (Gary Busey)-has learned after decades of tracking them over various countries. It’s a lean scene, yet densely packed with information that expands our knowledge of these deadly and fascinating creatures. What we’ve received in newer Predator movies hasn’t lived up to what Predator 2 accomplished, but there’s other media that has told engaging stories about the Predator while being respectful to the established canon. Dark Horse Comics published a compilation edition with a short story featuring the origins of the flint pistol.

Predator 2 builds on the predator mythology and leaves you hungry to learn more about them.

When was the last time entertainment did that for you?