Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

They're back!!

I decided to watch and rate the second Gremlins movie after having reported on the original. I have to say that my feelings are rather mixed on this one. While the movie still tries to maintain a highly comedic aspect, I think that it might have tried a little too hard. It was possibly a little too clichéd for my taste.

This movie is a follow-up to the original storyline. It begins by reintroducing us to Billy Peltzer, who was the young hero in the first movie. Billy is now living with the girl, Kate, that he had won over when he had first conquered the evil Gremlins in their town home. He now works in a large corporate building as an underappreciated struggling architect while, his girlfriend works in the same office building as a tour guide.

Little Gizmo is reintroduced into the mix by being shown to be held captive in a science lab in that same office building. The depiction of the corporate world in this movie is definitely shown to be corrupt and dog-eat-dog! This can be seen through the torturous scientist who uses animals as research subjects and through the cutthroat deceptive attitudes of the other business employees who work there (not including Billy of course)!

While in the lab, the same rules that had been broken in the first movie were yet again broken. Gizmo was exposed to water out popped a new batch of Gremlins! God old Billy had found Gizmo-or so he thought. He took home the wrong Mogwai!! However, he was eventually reunited with little Gizmo.

The Gremlins yet again began trying to take over the world, starting with the office building. However, this time they had new weapons: they had taken multiple chemical concoctions from the lab that gave them supernatural powers. For example, one Gremlin turned into a tarantula, another could fly and one had attained an enormous IQ. It was up to Billy (of course) and Kate to try and save everyone from these crazy little critters.

There were a lot of really hilarious scenes in this movie. Nothing is funnier than a bunch of Gremlins dressed up singing, “New York, New York!” The fact that the rowdy bunch was lead by a head Gremlin who had taken a chemical concoction that made him supremely intelligent and talk with a pompous accent was really funny! Also, the appearance of a female Gremlin who dressed almost like a drag queen was definitely laughable! However, it was a little creepy that she basically raped one of the human male business executives!

In terms of the movie going a little too far, I wasn’t quite sure what the point of having a wannabe news reporter who was dressed as a vampire! There were also a lot of extra scenes that tried to show the destruction that the Gremlins were creating in the building; I think that there were just too many.

My favorite scene in the whole movie had to be when little Gizmo turned Rambo. The Gremlins pushed him a little too far this time and he retaliated by “pumping up” and acquiring the much needed spunk that the little cutie had been lacking. It was nice to see that he wasn’t so helpless after all.

I would say that this movie is a pretty good recommendation if you want a mindless night. However, upon pressing play don’t expect a master piece to unfold before your eyes!