A huge improvment over the original, GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH is surprisingly sympathetic towards the title menace, and surprisingly thought-provoking as extended commentary on modern life and morality. That the beasties should wind up the tragically ill-fated good guys should come as no
surprise to director Joe Dante's admirers; he's an enthusiastic fan of classic Hollywood kitsch, especially those monster movies, in which the saddest scene is the one in which the monster dies.
With GREMLINS 2, Dante has come up with what may be his best film yet--a dizzying, no-holds-barred satirical spectacle that will please fans of the original and anyone else lucky enough to drop by. This is no lifeless retread, even though every big scene from the first film has its equivalent
here. (Dante still seems especially concerned about the safe use of microwave ovens.) And even if the filmmakers' apparent intent was to make a movie that feels wildly out of control, GREMLINS 2 rarely loses sight of its objectives. Almost every plot twist, stunt, and sight gag elaborates the
movie's basic theme: the metaphysical price paid for plundering a rich human past to build a dubious, impoverished, and inhumane future, of which the gremlins are merely an unnatural byproduct.
This theme is mainly suggested by Clamp's urgency in tearing down New York landmarks (such as all of Chinatown), to construct cold, high-tech, soulless structures in their place, but it is echoed everywhere--from the Splice of Life lab, dedicated to developing new and "improved' life forms, to the
romantic subplot, in which Billy is tempted to throw away his long-term romance with Kate to further his career with Clamp.
Still, no one who makes movies as thoroughly modernist and as full of high-tech special effects as Dante does can ever make a sincere claim to yearning for gentler, simpler times. As a result, the film exhibits an oddly compelling ambivalence toward the gremlins throughout. But it doesn't stop us
from feeling a little sad for the gremlins after they meet their sticky end. They may be nasty, but they know how to party, particularly when they spontaneously mount a lavish musical number inspired by the Kander and Ebb classic "New York, New York." leave a comment
