I had never seen ‘Gremlins’ 1 or 2 before, but in recent months I’ve been asked to talk about it on a podcast, so I figured now was as good a time as any to really give them a spin.

I really had a soft spot for the original, it balanced light comedy and cuteness with a wonderfully hard PG13 black comedy edge that really won me over. So I was quite excited to see how things developed with ‘Gremlins 2’…unfortunately for me, it seems to have been a case of ‘wrong tone in the wrong headspace’

the film picks up a few years after the original, the old man who was looking after Gizmo has passed away and Gizmos been grabbed and sent to ‘Clamp industries’ basically a parody of Trumps businesses in the 80s. where he’s been sent to the genetics lab for experimentation. Billy and Kate are in new york as they’re now employed by clamp as an artist and tour guide respectively. Gizmo gets wet, the gang end up back out in force and they seize Clamp tower with the aim to take over the world…but now with some cool genetic powerups added in as part of hte deal.

Im gonna keep this one brief, but basically. I dont think I was really in the right headspace to appreciate this movie. Tonally, its leaned MUCH more heavily into appealing to children and more mature themes that helped give the original ‘Gremlins’ bite, has been toned down a little bit in favour of much more slapsticky over the top ness.

I mean, the film opens and closes with a loony toons bit directed by Chuck Jones and that pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the film. But the problem is its SO aggressively trying to be daffy weird goofy humour, that if you were going intot his expecting a bit more of a ‘slow burn into chaos’ experience, your going to be sorely dissapointed. This things manic, overexcitable and I just was NOT in the headspace for screeching, screaming and over the top highly styalized visuals today.

the comedy is a bit hit or miss, the castings a bit hit or miss (Christopher Lee was a VERY delightful touch though) but…yeah, this wasnt one for me…not today at least. Its good! I cant fault it technically, the scripts lampooning of corporate american lifestyles and its aping of Trump was fun!…but I feel like this films better watched when your more in the mood for toony style humour.

I think this film has stronger highs than the original, but I also think limiting the potential audience with a tonal change is a shame. The original may not be QUITE as iconic as this one…but I could see myself watching the first film a LOT more than this one.

Next time I get the urge to catch something zany with a little bit of bite, i’ll absolutely be back for this thing…But today? I really struggled to get on with its vibe.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/gremlins-2-the-new-batch/