Helping matters is the fact that the cast is all game for what they’re a part of here. The returning actors all feel like they’re playing the same characters, which at least helps smooth over the tonal transition between the two films and doesn’t feel like a betrayal of their previous performance work, while the newcomers, including the late, great Christopher Lee and John Glover, are all having a ball.
Glover in particular delivers a grandiose parody of late ’80s/early ’90s era Donald Trump with aplomb. Daniel Clamp is a man who – quite literally – complains of fake news, only likes movies made in color, jumps to extremes like believing it’s the end of the world, and is more concerned about the lawsuits that would result from the loss of human lives over the actual lives themselves, all while remaining oddly likable in the process because Glover plays him as borderline childlike.
It’s a great performance, and even better is the Clamp building itself. Whereas the first film saw Billy’s quaint, quiet town dad trying to invent things because his eye was on the future, Gremlins 2 sees Billy surrounded by that very future, with everything in the Clamp building reliant on technology however needlessly, like automated revolving doors.
In fact, one of the most enjoyable parts of the film is simply listening to the “voice” of the building itself, whose sarcastic announcements throughout are easy to overlook, from shaming people who don’t wash their hands after using the restroom to requesting that someone remove their car from the parking lot just because it’s old and dirty to delivering a spiel about fire that ends with telling the building’s occupants to evacuate and “enact the age-old drama of self-preservation.” It’s such a simple touch, but one that exemplifies that Gremlins 2 is a film loaded with details both visual and audible that rewards multiple viewings.
And it’s that re-watchability that’s kept Gremlins 2 from aging poorly. Sure, some things may not entirely land in the modern day for someone who may not’ve experienced this movie back at release or throughout the ’90s, like that appearance of Hulk Hogan, but it also never outright dates itself by relying too heavily on era-specific jokes and references. Furthermore, the animatronics and puppetry on display are fantastic, and as goofy as the designs may be for some of the more out-there gremlins, they’re all wildly inventive, still looking good nearly three decades later. Although, admittedly, some of the stop motion effects have definitely shown their age. And, of course, Jerry Goldsmith’s score, complete with his iconic theme for the series, ties up the whole thing in a nice bow that goes hand in hand with the ever-increasing anarchy of the film.
As I mentioned at the outset of this, when all of this zaniness is taken together, it’s not hard to see why Gremlins 2 did not and still doesn’t appeal to many fans of the first movie. But the beauty of the sequel is that it doesn’t rest on its laurels to simply retread the first film. Look at, say, the different legacies of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, the latter of which I defended last year, and you’ll see a sequel that’s generally derided for being too similar to its predecessor; in contrast, Gremlins 2 eschews any type of formula and yet often gets dismissed for being too different.
Gremlins 2 never sets out to recapture the lightning in a bottle of the first film that was that project’s modest charm, and it’s all the better for it, as it has its own goals and wealth of personality instead that captures something wholly unique through its delightfully meta perspective on what it inherently is, something it does successfully with a wealth of merit worth embracing and cherishing if you can simply let go of preconceived notions about what a sequel should be and enjoy the worthwhile ride Dante and everyone involved is so eager to take you on. And if that’s not enough, it’s a film that features Gizmo idolizing Rambo and gremlins performing a musical number for “New York, New York,” so if that doesn’t make Gremlins 2: The New Batch worth appreciating and defending, then I don’t know what does.
