Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Thanks for the memories!

Admirable film.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I grew up with the GREMLINS films & absolutely love these films as I've watched them hundreds of times on my old double feature video!!! As much as i love Gremlins '84 my favourite of the two is Gremlins 2:The New Batch (1990) i just dig the whole new surroundings such as the big New York City high tech building that all the trouble happens in & the new look each GREMLIN has & that the legendary DICK MILLER is back in a bigger part & the FX are even greater this time & the whole atmosphere is fun & wacky but still with scares & only the BRILLIANT JOE DANTE can mix it up this good & make it great!!! A real childhood classic of mine that makes great late night entertainment That's full of fun & so rewatchable

This movie rocks. Oh, I need to say more? Alright then: this movie rocks so hard that Gizmo has mo choice but to do his little bop-dance to it while the twin scientists bop their heads and Christopher Lee does his best glowering of his career (and this man could glower a statue into submission!) This is Joe Dante and his collaborators going into a throw-all-the-kitchen-sinks-at-the-wall approach, and Gremlins 2: the New Batch is even more of a love letter to B movies and Loony Tunes than the first one; like the Evil Dead movies, the sequel finds its auteurs (lets not forget Spielberg too, and this time Rick Baker does fx work) not really wanting to make a sequel (the studio demanded a follow-up to the #4 box-office hit of 1984), but with final cut at his disposal, under Spielberg's supervision, Dante does a delirious cartoon of a live-action movie. When the gremlins wreak havoc it gives havoc a whole other name. Only one scene, when the new 'Stripe' gremlin leaps out of the board in the control room, is actually scary, but no matter.This is a movie to laugh your ass off to, and as a child you find yourself laughing at things but as an adult the jokes come harder, faster, and you get more of them. While Hulk Hogan may be a little dated, hearing a line like the Casablanca joke (making Clamp a lo of Trump and also a lot of Ted Turner), or the Brainy Gremlin voiced by Tony Randall make mention of Susan Sontag, or the references to the musical Dames and what exactly the movie is that the gremlins sneak into the theater that breaks the 4th wall of the whole movie itself (naked volleyball!) makes this a real treat and a half. Hell, just the scene with the Canadian restaurant (with a chocolate Moose cake!) is a laugh riot, but there's many more scenes where the comedy is with gag after gag after gag. And through all of this you got the return of some of the original cast, with Cates and Miller being most welcome, and John Glover giving a legitimately wonderful performance (comic, but with some humanity) in this time when a Trump mogul seemed... innocent by today's standards.Oh, and Gizmo turning into Rambo... I'm slayed.

Taking this to New York City and mixing the nasty monsters of Joe Dante's imagination with the nasty kiss butt employees of John Glover's mega billion dollar office complex provided not only a great story and lots of comedy, but made a nice analogy of how monstrous the corporate world can be in efforts to advance. Set literally across the street from where I work on Park Avenue, this shows a different horror in office suites that goes beyond the running out of coffee, back stabbing co-workers or grouchy bosses. Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates are back, and this time, Ms. Phoebe has a lot more to do. Gone unfortunately are Galligan's parents, but returning are their neighbors, played with small town tourist wide eyed innocence by Dick Miller and Jackie Joseph.This overly proficient and very impersonal office complex has typical over zealous security (lead by a delightfully evil Robert Picardo), an uptight supervisor (the very funny Haviland Morris) with secret lustful feelings towards Zach, a Grandpa Munster like horror movie host (Robert Prosky), Christopher Lee as a weird scientist, and a drunken cooking show hostess, memorably played by the great Kathleen Freeman. There's a lot more comedy, often parodying the whole idea, and playfully making fun of New York all around. In short, there was a lot more imagination put into it with a few inside jokes (including a clever use of the voice of Tony Randall as an intellectual monster) and one that looks suspiciously like a drag queen who takes a shine to Picardo. The Gremlins have more personality this time around too, but gone is the theory that these creatures need to go into some sort of pod in order to reveal their own true colors. They are still as malevolent as ever, but there's a delightful goofiness about each of them that makes each one more endearing, although I'd never want one, even the adorable Gizmo. When they break into "New York, New York" (lead by Randall), it becomes all the more hysterical, especially with Prosky's on the side reporter coverage of the goings on. Warner Brothers even spoofs it's own history with several musical numbers and a parody of Busby Berkeley. Any movie that drops a reference to "Singin' in the Bathtub" is o.k. in my book.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990): Dir: Joe Dante / Cast: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, John Glover, Dick Miller, Robert Prosky: Sequel transpires as a comedy and creates many different types of Gremlins that devour lab chemicals. Types including bat wing, spider legs, electric, and even a talking Gremlin. It is a new batch indeed, but the same old story in a different location for chaos. Visual effects are spectacular but story is lacking. Gizmo's home is destroyed and he is taken to Clamp Plaza, owned by a good natured tycoon. Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates return as employees at the Plaza and are eventually reunited with Gizmo. Director Joe Dante has fun with the gadgets yet creates virtually the same film. Other than the first Gremlins he also directed The Howling and Piranha. Galligan and Cates are reduced to props who go through the same faze. Dick Miller also returns as the neighbor who is still paranoid over the events of the first film so it is convenient that he will have to face his fear and step up. The only real interesting performance is John Glover who steals scenes as Mr. Clamp who tries to do what's best and is responsible for the few laughs available. Robert Prosky provides amusing as an entertainer who conducts an up and close interview with the gremlin that speaks. While the visual effects are inventive, what the movie really needed is a new batch of screenwriters. Score: 5 ½ / 10