Quote from: SiL on Sep 12, 2022, 09:40:39 AMI think the main thing with the humour of the first two movies is it never really comes at the expense of a meaningful moment. There's no sad moment ruined by a stupid joke like most Marvel movies. Shit's tense when it needs to be tense and lightens the mood when it needs to release steam.
Even "Want some candy?" takes a f**ked up tone.
I think the big thing with the first film is most of the humorous tone that exists goes away the moment Hawkins' dies. Some of Arnold's best acting outside of Terminator follows suit. Nobody winks at the audience after that, and certainly when they find Hopper's team, and see one of the hostages get executed nobody is laughing or making snide remarks.
The only two exceptions are in the final duel "Ugly mother" < but the audience is absolutely on the same page, and Arnie's quip "Bad Idea." That's it. The final thrust of the film from once they enter the valley all the way through stays very earnest. Irreverent I guess?
To my mind I don't think anything sticks out in Predator 2. I was just listening to the AVPG podcast for Predator 2 and was trying to think about any jokes that really come off as tonally off. Not to me.
Quote from: Master on Sep 12, 2022, 07:03:11 PMAnother thing I want to talk about are sets of Predator 2. It has the most memorable sets out of all films with Predator. The ship is iconic but there's much more then the ship. King Willie's alley, Metro Command precinct or Ramon Vega's apartment. All of those reeks with style and uniqueness. I especially love the door of Ramon's apartment.
I agree. I remember the first time I saw the film as a youngin back in the late 90s. I don't think the exterior of Los Angeles is particularly interesting, but certainly the penthouse, alleyway, and Predator ship deliver some great atmosphere and visual flair. I don't know that the slaughterhouse is a particularly interesting locale, but they do some interesting things within in it.
One of the biggest contributions to the visual language of the Predator universe is that ship, and it absolutely ticks me off every time I watch the AVP films, or even The Predator, and see those very generic uninspired designs. I love that the Predator's basically have cave paintings in their ship and that wonderful ceiling piece that we only get a glimpse of. Beautiful set design. Properly alien, yet still strangely familiar. Harkening back to our own ancestral history.