While they are both great action movies, they are both funnier than they need to be.
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It is possible to watch the movie without seeing the satire hidden just below the surface because of the subtle humor in the film. There is a reason that the image of a muscular Arnold Schwarzenegger grabbing the hand of a muscular Carl Weathers has become a meme. The way American masculinity was undermined by the U.S. defeat in Vietnam is depicted in the film.
If you want to see a satire that is funnier than an action movie, you should see Predator. The other layer makes it even more fun. The movie is about a group of men who are hired to take out rebels in a remote part of the world with the belief that they will be able to get the job done.
Once they accomplish their initial mission, they realize they are being hunted by something much stronger than the rebels they ambush. The movie is even better due to the fact that these guys are muscular Vietnam veterans who have already seen how bad things can get when you go into the jungle with too much confidence.
We can see how good these men are during their initial attack on rebel forces, but we can also see how much of a threat they are. The first time you watch the movie, you'll probably read a lot of the one-liners. All of that fades away when he faces the predator. A show of confidence designed to make you look cool is what one liners are supposed to be.
Since the release of Predator, the send-up of machismo has been written about, and some argue that the sequel carries on the legacy of precise interrogation. At the time, it was not universally beloved. It was seen as little more than another piece of generic action film by most critics.
Roger Ebert, who liked the movie quite a bit better, still saw it mostly as a competent blockbuster that delivers on what it promises.
Vapidity that many critics initially derided begins to feel like the point with age. A movie about how stupid the men at the center of most action movies are, and one that delights in killing most of them off in gruesome fashion.
The movie works as a sendup of both the Vietnam War and American excesses abroad even as it deconstructs the central cast. The parallels to Vietnam are obvious, but the early plot development of Dutch and his team being misled about the nature of their mission is a reminder of how corruptible these types of special military ops are.
Dutch thought that he had been asked to assemble a team of special forces to find a cabinet minister who had gone missing in the jungle and was likely shot down by rebels. Dutch was hired to take out some rebels and give a story that would fit his morals. Not much can be done about it by the time they finish the raid.
Dutch and his crew have been hired by the US government to do terrible things. The commentary about a group of American expats taking out rebel forces without thinking about the morality of their actions was timely.
That's connected to the machismo that these men put on display. It is connected to their sense that they are the best soldiers in the world because of the flag that they fight under. The movie ignores the idea that these guys are hired to do the dirty work of the U.S. government.
If you want to, you can watch the movie 100 times and not pay much attention to the little things. It is an important film in the career of the man, as well as creating a great meme.
If you look closer, you will see that the movie is more self-awareness than most action movies, and that it is able to critique both the genre of action movies and the real world around it. Men who are macho don't save them from a predator who thinks they're vulnerable prey.
You can watch the movie on the streaming service.
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