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Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Warner Home Video
Blu-ray Disc Released: 5/8/2012
All Ratings out of
Movie:
1/2
Video:
1/2
Audio:
Extras:
1/2
Review by Mike Long, Posted on 5/16/2012
These days I rarely get to the movie theater, but years ago I used to see nearly every movie that played. This frequent theater-going meant that most of the experiences blended together. I can remember seeing some films in at the multi-plex, while I would most likely be surprised to recollect seeing others. (I paid to see Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken?) However, a few moments really stand out. One of those is my initial viewing of Gremlins 2: The New Batch. This was during the time when the studios would regularly hold "Sneak Previews" of movies where you could see a movie a week or two before it opened and then stay to see another movie for free. How I loved those double-bills. I saw Gremlins 2 in a situation like this and reps from Warner Bros. were there giving away t-shirts. (I got "Brain Gremlin"!) I saw the movie, loved it, and was convinced that it would be a smash hit. Well, I was wrong and 22 years later, I'm still hoping that viewers will discover it on home video.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch opens some time after the events of
the first film. Gizmo (voiced by Howie Mandel) has gone back to live with Mr. Wing (Keye Luke) in Chinatown. When the old man dies and the building is demolished, Gizmo must flee for his life. Meanwhile, Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) and Kate Beringer (Phoebe Cates) have moved to New York City and both work in the Clamp building -- Billy works as a graphic designer (architect?) and Kate is a tour guide. Billy learns that Gizmo is in the building and takes him to his office. Of course, Gizmo gets wet and multiplies, spawning five corrupt Mogwai. These creatures find a way to eat after midnight and soon the building is crawling with evil mean gremlins. Billy is able to convince mogul Daniel Clamp (John Glover) that his building and tenants are under siege and they begin to work on the plan to stop the mischievous creatures.Looking back, Gremlins was the most unlikely of hits. At the time, learning that a movie produced by Steven Spielberg earned over $150 million at the box office wasn’t all that surprising. However, if you take into account that it was a decidedly mean-spirited movie from the director of The Howling and Piranha, it seems a bit more shocking. And yet, people loved Gremlins, both for its tongue-in-cheek black humor and its no-holds-barred action which showed both humans and gremlins meeting their demise. Along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins was one of the movies which lead to the creation of the PG-13 rating.
Coming along five years later, Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a somewhat different film. Returning Director Joe Dante clearly didn’t want to make the same movie over again, so he and new screenwriter Charlie Haas (replacing Chris Columbus who wrote the first movie) decided to take things in a new direction. Instead of simply re-doing Gremlins or making a straight sequel to that film, Dante has made a movie which essentially lampoons the original. While the first film certainly had its funny moments, Gremlins 2 plays as much more of a comedy and Dante packs as many jokes as he can into scenes. Yes, this film contains scenes of violence, but unlike Gremlins, at no point is it taking itself seriously. (When “Brain Gremlin” becomes smart, he’s suddenly wearing glasses. Does that make sense? No. Is it funny? Yes.) Not only are the gremlins goofier than before, they get to take on new personas courtesy of a genetics lab in the building. This gives the film the chance to become more and more ludicrous. On top of this, Dante and Haas have crammed the movie with references to old science-fiction and horror films and astute viewers will be treated to many jokes in the background.
Unfortunately, when it came to the movie-going public, this approach backfired. Apparently, the people wanted a retread of Gremlins and not something which tried to be fresh and original. This means that they missed a very funny and entertaining film. Even at 106 minutes, Gremlins 2 is very fast-paced once the invasion begins and Dante throws joke after joke at the viewer. The story contains some clever twists and the inclusion of the new types of gremlins helps to keep things from feeling stale. Again, the movie is overflowing with jokes and seeing it again today, I’m still surprised by how laugh-out-loud some scenes are. While I truly admire Gremlins 2, there are two things that I don’t like about the movie. I get that Dante was making a different movie, but there’s no attempt to make things scary or creepy here and none of the scenes hold any suspense, whereas the original had some good jump scares. Also, Gizmo is barely in this movie and his part is almost a glorified cameo. Sure, it’s a different movie, but we’re still here to see Gizmo.
Change is never easy, so I can understand why audience initially balked at Gremlins 2: The New Batch. However, they missed a truly clever movie which offers great jokes and a payoff for those who know their old movies. Save for some blue-screen effects, the gremlins look good and the scenes with the creatures are well-staged. “Metta” movies which contains references to other media are now common-place, so maybe it’s time for Gremlins 2 to find a new audience.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch...wait...is that the blonde from Sixteen Candles?...on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Warner Home Video. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 19 Mbps. The image immediately jumps out as being lacking. The grain isn’t overwhelming, but it is prominent. The picture is notably flat, not showing the depth with we’ve come to expect from Blu-ray Discs. The colors are OK, although they are somewhat muted at times, and the image is never overly dark or bright. The bottom-line is that this transfer is only slightly better than DVD. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.2 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are well-done, as they highlight sounds coming from off-screen. For an older film like this, care has been put into the surround effects and there are several nice moments when we can hear the gremlins moving through the rear channels. Subwoofer effects add to certain scenes, but aren’t present throughout.
The Gremlins 2: The New Batch Blu-ray Disc contains a few extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Joe Dante, Actor Zach Galligan, Writer Charlie Haas, and Producer Michael Finnell. "The Making of Gremlins 2: The New Batch" (6 minutes) is a brief featurette from 1990 which is simply an EPK, as it contains clips from the movie, comments from the cast, and a smattering of on-set footage. The 22-minutes of "Outtakes" can be viewed with or without commentary. "Outtakes" usually implied bloopers, but these are deleted scenes, including a longer animated opening with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. This reel contains scenes from nearly every part of the movie. Most of these are quiet brief, running less than a minute, and don't introduce any new subplots or characters The Disc offers a 6-minute GAG REEL. At a certain point in the movie, the film "break" and the Gremlins take over. This was changed for the home video release and we get to see this in "Alternate Home Video Sequence" (3 minutes). The final extra is the THEATRICAL TRAILER for the film.
Review Copyright 2012 by Mike Long