Directed by: Joe Dante
Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Robert Prosky, John Glover, Haviland Morris, Christopher Lee
Gremlins 2 is a retread of the second-half of the original, when the mischievous gremlins wreaked havoc on a small upstate New York town. The original idea was how teenager Billy Peltzer (Galligan) was given a cute little creature named Gizmo for a birthday present. The lovable little guy came with two rules: Don't get him wet and don't feed him after midnight. There might be a third, but I don't recall it.
Well, we know there wouldn't be a Gremlins movie if the rules weren't disobeyed, and now there wouldn't be a sequel if the commandments were followed this time around. The first Gremlins was cute and fun enough, especially when I saw it as a teenager. However, the sequel (which I didn't see when it was released) is much, much more of the same gremlins only this time they're destroying half of New York City. They get into everything and seem a bit nastier in Gremlins 2. Soon enough, there are so many of them that it's a relief to see the humans when they do appear.
Billy and his girlfriend Kate (Cates) live in New York and work for Clamp Industries, a conglomerate run by Daniel Clamp (Glover), and who is certainly modeled after Donald Trump. His assistant and soon-to-be-girlfriend is named Marla just so the point can be jammed home. Clamp's building and security system are state-of-the-art, until Gizmo finds his way back to Billy and of course gets wet accidentally. The offspring that pop up in little balls from Gizmo's body then eat after midnight and away we go. Billy and Kate spend the bulk of the movie warning the others of danger and trying to outwit the clever critters.
The gremlins themselves range from sorta cute to dastardly. They take over the movie much in the same fashion they take over Manhattan. They're proof that even somewhat cute little monsters like them can still be too much of a good thing.
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