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Plot – The gremlins are back baby! When a large, soulless corporation attempts to take over the shop of Mr. Wing the stress contributes to his death. When his store is destroyed to make way for a new venture of Clamp Enterprises our furry hero, Gizmo, is discovered and taken into the company's hi-tech headquarters to be studied at an animal research facility. Thankfully for little Gizmo, his old friend Billy Peltzer happens to work at Clamp Enterprises. Billy attempts to rescue Gizmo, but before he is able to smuggle him out of the building the gremlins are unleashed and once again all hell breaks loose!
I think The New Batch has got to be on the most under-rated sequels out there. It really does seem to get rather over-looked, sitting in the shadow of the superior original outing. Though it's perhaps not a great surprise that it isn't as loved, as I didn't use to be a particularly big fan of it myself; but over time, with repeated viewings and growing as a person and a movie viewer I've been able to appreciate it a great deal more, to appreciate just how smart it actually is. This is no simple rehash of the original, with those in charge seemingly believing that if you're going to so a sequel you may as well try and do something a little different, and if nothing else Dante and Haas should be congratulated for not simply re-treading the same territory as in the first film.
Where the first Gremlins film was content just mainly ripping into the harmless target that was Christmas films, The New Batch sets its satirical sights a good deal higher. This time it goes after corporate America; the big corporations and their extreme greed in their quest for success, how they take advantage of the working man while removing all sense of character to create a uniform existence. It achieves this satire through a number of little touches, from the soul-crushing lack of character allowed in the company offices, right down to the logo of the Clamp company itself; a clamp literally squishing the world between its pincers. And when watched today in the current social climate, Gremlins 2 still feels spectacularly relevant.
The film turns the tables in terms of characters this time out. In the original Gremlins the human characters for the most part were lovely small town folk up against the monstrous gremlins. In the sequel however, more often that not its the humans who are painted negatively while the gremlins are imbued with a somewhat sympathetic light which makes us actually care for them in a way. Outside of the characters we had already come to know in the original, the new additions are generally those involved in big business who care about nothing but money and status. A huge factor in creating this are some strong performances from those inhabiting these villainous human roles. Robert Picardo is great as the slimy suit, while Christopher Lee appears to be having a whole lot of fun as the amoral genetic scientist. And then there's John Glover who is terrifically entertaining as Daniel Clamp, a rather Donald Trump like creation.
Part of making the gremlins more sympathetic comes from expanding the amount of different characteristics the creatures can possess. Alongside some high concept creations (Bat Gremlin, Spider Gremlin, Electric Gremlin) there's Daffy; the goofy cross-eyed one who is just really silly and childish. There's Greta (aka Lady Gremlina), the sole female gremlin with her shapely figure and pouting red lips. And then of course there is Brain, the intellectual gremlin who is brought to life wonderfully through the voice of Tony Randall. He's a fantastically entertaining addition to the gremlins, and my personal favourite. And their actions are even goofier and broader this time out; reaching their pinnacle with their wonderful musical production of New York, New York.
Following on in the same vein of the original, The New Batch is also chock full of homages and allusions to numerous films; my favourite would have to be Gizmo's adorable attempts at following in the footsteps of Ramob, complete with headband, and bow and arrow. And this time out it even goes so far that it starts to parody its predecessor. It all gets very meta on us at times, even acknowledging some of the criticisms that the original film came in for. It breaks the fourth wall to acknowledge the existence of Gremlins as a movie, with a parent complaining this sequel is just as tasteless as the original. It also features a neat little cameo from film critic Leonard Maltin who had been negative of the first outing's content. He is seen reviewing the VHS release of Gremlins and is again criticising it when a group of gremlins attack him. As I said The New Batch even parodies itself, with Phoebe Cates again delivering a ridiculously dark story about why she hates Lincoln's birthday this time, only to be cut off.
All of this satire and meta musings is certainly not to say that The New Batch doesn't include its own considerable dash of manic laughs and outlandish violence. After a slightly slow start the film packs the same energy and fun that made the original such a delight. And at times this one proves to be even more surreal and outlandish.
Conclusion – The gremlins are back and almost as fun as ever. To echo the sentiment with which I started this review, I really do think The New Batch is one of the most under-rated sequels around. There's enough chaos and visual creativity to satisfy fans of the original, whilst adding in some new dimensions which ensure it feels fresh. A lot of the time with a sequel you really can't see why they bothered, except for purely financial reasons. By taking a slightly different approach however this certainly is a worthwhile experience.
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Year of release
1990
1990
Directed by
Joe Dante
Joe Dante
Written by
Charles S. Haas
Charles S. Haas
Starring
Zach Galligan
Phoebe Cates
John Glover
Robert Picardo
Christopher Lee
Zach Galligan
Phoebe Cates
John Glover
Robert Picardo
Christopher Lee
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
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Plot – The gremlins are back baby! When a large, soulless corporation attempts to take over the shop of Mr. Wing the stress contributes to his death. When his store is destroyed to make way for a new venture of Clamp Enterprises our furry hero, Gizmo, is discovered and taken into the company's hi-tech headquarters to be studied at an animal research facility. Thankfully for little Gizmo, his old friend Billy Peltzer happens to work at Clamp Enterprises. Billy attempts to rescue Gizmo, but before he is able to smuggle him out of the building the gremlins are unleashed and once again all hell breaks loose!
I think The New Batch has got to be on the most under-rated sequels out there. It really does seem to get rather over-looked, sitting in the shadow of the superior original outing. Though it's perhaps not a great surprise that it isn't as loved, as I didn't use to be a particularly big fan of it myself; but over time, with repeated viewings and growing as a person and a movie viewer I've been able to appreciate it a great deal more, to appreciate just how smart it actually is. This is no simple rehash of the original, with those in charge seemingly believing that if you're going to so a sequel you may as well try and do something a little different, and if nothing else Dante and Haas should be congratulated for not simply re-treading the same territory as in the first film.
Where the first Gremlins film was content just mainly ripping into the harmless target that was Christmas films, The New Batch sets its satirical sights a good deal higher. This time it goes after corporate America; the big corporations and their extreme greed in their quest for success, how they take advantage of the working man while removing all sense of character to create a uniform existence. It achieves this satire through a number of little touches, from the soul-crushing lack of character allowed in the company offices, right down to the logo of the Clamp company itself; a clamp literally squishing the world between its pincers. And when watched today in the current social climate, Gremlins 2 still feels spectacularly relevant.
The film turns the tables in terms of characters this time out. In the original Gremlins the human characters for the most part were lovely small town folk up against the monstrous gremlins. In the sequel however, more often that not its the humans who are painted negatively while the gremlins are imbued with a somewhat sympathetic light which makes us actually care for them in a way. Outside of the characters we had already come to know in the original, the new additions are generally those involved in big business who care about nothing but money and status. A huge factor in creating this are some strong performances from those inhabiting these villainous human roles. Robert Picardo is great as the slimy suit, while Christopher Lee appears to be having a whole lot of fun as the amoral genetic scientist. And then there's John Glover who is terrifically entertaining as Daniel Clamp, a rather Donald Trump like creation.
Film trivia – After the surprise success of Gremlins, Warner Bros. Immediately wanted a sequel but Joe Dante was not interested at the time and declined. Work on the sequel went ahead without him, with the studio approaching various writers and directors for the project. Potential storylines included relocating the gremlins to a large city such as Las Vegas, or even to the planet Mars! When these ideas failed to satisfy, the studio returned to Dante, who this time agreed on the condition that he be allowed to do anything he wanted.
Following on in the same vein of the original, The New Batch is also chock full of homages and allusions to numerous films; my favourite would have to be Gizmo's adorable attempts at following in the footsteps of Ramob, complete with headband, and bow and arrow. And this time out it even goes so far that it starts to parody its predecessor. It all gets very meta on us at times, even acknowledging some of the criticisms that the original film came in for. It breaks the fourth wall to acknowledge the existence of Gremlins as a movie, with a parent complaining this sequel is just as tasteless as the original. It also features a neat little cameo from film critic Leonard Maltin who had been negative of the first outing's content. He is seen reviewing the VHS release of Gremlins and is again criticising it when a group of gremlins attack him. As I said The New Batch even parodies itself, with Phoebe Cates again delivering a ridiculously dark story about why she hates Lincoln's birthday this time, only to be cut off.
All of this satire and meta musings is certainly not to say that The New Batch doesn't include its own considerable dash of manic laughs and outlandish violence. After a slightly slow start the film packs the same energy and fun that made the original such a delight. And at times this one proves to be even more surreal and outlandish.
Conclusion – The gremlins are back and almost as fun as ever. To echo the sentiment with which I started this review, I really do think The New Batch is one of the most under-rated sequels around. There's enough chaos and visual creativity to satisfy fans of the original, whilst adding in some new dimensions which ensure it feels fresh. A lot of the time with a sequel you really can't see why they bothered, except for purely financial reasons. By taking a slightly different approach however this certainly is a worthwhile experience.