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#765 - Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Joe Dante, 1990
A young couple starts working in a high-tech New York skyscraper only for a species of maniacal reptilian creatures to start causing havoc inside.
I do tend to cast a skeptical eye on any sequel that tries to compensate for its inherently derivative nature by throwing as many ideas at the wall as possible in order to see which ones will stick, especially when it opts to change up a lot of the original film's fundamental qualities. By this logic, Gremlins 2: The New Batch has already failed by opting to shift the action from the idyllic Capra-style small town of Kingston Falls in favour of the big smoke of New York City. Not only that, but it opts to replace that same familiar small-town vibe with a grotesque parody of 1980s yuppie culture by having the film take place inside an unnecessarily high-tech skyscraper belonging to a conglomerate that has many conflicting interests taking place inside the same building. It is inside this mess that the heroes of the first movie (Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates) find work as both a concept artist and tour guide respectively, hoping to distance themselves from the trauma associated with the first film. However, thanks to a grimly serendipitous series of events things soon get to the point where a nightmare full of Mogwai and Gremlins becomes very real very quickly and, well, you know the rest...
...or do you? While the original Gremlins was admittedly a little constrained by the gee-whiz Christmas parody it was going for, the creative freedom offered by a shift to the big city is definitely put to good use. So much of the movie feels like a conscious decision to take the already-silly concept of homicidally mischievous reptiles with a clearly established set of rules and push it to its logical extreme, so this naturally involves concepts as ludicrous as a genetics lab (run by Christopher Lee and the twins from Terminator 2, no less) within the walls of a generic corporate building or the kind of obstructively useless yet ironically cheerful technology you'd expect to see in Terry Gilliam's Brazil (though this is arguably an exaggeration of the many worthless inventions made by the main character's dad in the original film, too). This makes for the ideal environment for the Gremlins to run amok, and their constant attempts to find new ways to cause havoc definitely lead to some incredible moments (with the most infamous example arguably being the moment where they find a way to stop the movie completely...) Fortunately, the effects on display are competent enough to carry out Dante's eclectic vision that opts to skewer the most toxic aspects of yuppie culture just as effectively as he poked vicious fun at small-town tropes in the original film.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch may not necessarily yield that much when it comes to laughs but it definitely exhibits a rather canny knowledge of how best to escalate a sequel to a hit film. This is a tricky process to get right as the results can just as easily yield unimpressed reactions as favourable ones (if not more of the former) but I definitely feel like this one more than lives up to its predecessor. By starting off on an already surreal note in its absurdist treatment of everything from Wall Street to cable TV, it proves more than capable of executing a constantly escalating series of misadventures that result in all sorts of improbable shenanigans. In this context, even the inevitable bout of self-awareness involving various extras jokingly discussing the rules surrounding the Gremlins does little to undermine the overall film. It's not what you'd call high art, but it's quite capable of demonstrating just how much potential there is in such a fundamentally goofy B-movie franchise. The lunacy on display is enough to make me understand why there was never a Gremlins 3, and if the proposed reboot actually does go ahead then it's more than got its work cut out for it trying to match the madness of this one.
Joe Dante, 1990
A young couple starts working in a high-tech New York skyscraper only for a species of maniacal reptilian creatures to start causing havoc inside.
I do tend to cast a skeptical eye on any sequel that tries to compensate for its inherently derivative nature by throwing as many ideas at the wall as possible in order to see which ones will stick, especially when it opts to change up a lot of the original film's fundamental qualities. By this logic, Gremlins 2: The New Batch has already failed by opting to shift the action from the idyllic Capra-style small town of Kingston Falls in favour of the big smoke of New York City. Not only that, but it opts to replace that same familiar small-town vibe with a grotesque parody of 1980s yuppie culture by having the film take place inside an unnecessarily high-tech skyscraper belonging to a conglomerate that has many conflicting interests taking place inside the same building. It is inside this mess that the heroes of the first movie (Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates) find work as both a concept artist and tour guide respectively, hoping to distance themselves from the trauma associated with the first film. However, thanks to a grimly serendipitous series of events things soon get to the point where a nightmare full of Mogwai and Gremlins becomes very real very quickly and, well, you know the rest...
...or do you? While the original Gremlins was admittedly a little constrained by the gee-whiz Christmas parody it was going for, the creative freedom offered by a shift to the big city is definitely put to good use. So much of the movie feels like a conscious decision to take the already-silly concept of homicidally mischievous reptiles with a clearly established set of rules and push it to its logical extreme, so this naturally involves concepts as ludicrous as a genetics lab (run by Christopher Lee and the twins from Terminator 2, no less) within the walls of a generic corporate building or the kind of obstructively useless yet ironically cheerful technology you'd expect to see in Terry Gilliam's Brazil (though this is arguably an exaggeration of the many worthless inventions made by the main character's dad in the original film, too). This makes for the ideal environment for the Gremlins to run amok, and their constant attempts to find new ways to cause havoc definitely lead to some incredible moments (with the most infamous example arguably being the moment where they find a way to stop the movie completely...) Fortunately, the effects on display are competent enough to carry out Dante's eclectic vision that opts to skewer the most toxic aspects of yuppie culture just as effectively as he poked vicious fun at small-town tropes in the original film.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch may not necessarily yield that much when it comes to laughs but it definitely exhibits a rather canny knowledge of how best to escalate a sequel to a hit film. This is a tricky process to get right as the results can just as easily yield unimpressed reactions as favourable ones (if not more of the former) but I definitely feel like this one more than lives up to its predecessor. By starting off on an already surreal note in its absurdist treatment of everything from Wall Street to cable TV, it proves more than capable of executing a constantly escalating series of misadventures that result in all sorts of improbable shenanigans. In this context, even the inevitable bout of self-awareness involving various extras jokingly discussing the rules surrounding the Gremlins does little to undermine the overall film. It's not what you'd call high art, but it's quite capable of demonstrating just how much potential there is in such a fundamentally goofy B-movie franchise. The lunacy on display is enough to make me understand why there was never a Gremlins 3, and if the proposed reboot actually does go ahead then it's more than got its work cut out for it trying to match the madness of this one.