Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Film Review)

1990 Warner Bros.
Directed by: Joe Dante; Written by: Charles S. Haas
Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, John Glover, Robert J. Prosky, Robert Picardo, and Christopher Lee
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 106 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 7/10

The aloof but well-meaning Daniel Clamp's got his own TV network and a massive, high-tech, wacky skyscraper in Manhattan. That skyscraper is full of wacky floors, including a genetic lab run by a mad scientist, who has recently begun experimenting upon an ancient soft and fuzzy Chinese creature named Gizmo. Clamp also has a floor dedicated to architectural design, which employs Billy Peltzer, the hero of Gremlins. Lucky for Gizmo, Billy is his former owner. Unlucky for everyone else, getting Gizmo, a mogwai, wet, causes him to reproduce, and if the little mogwai eat after midnight they become mischievous, reptilian monsters called gremlins. Well, Gizmo does get wet, and his offspring not only eat after midnight, but get into some pills in the genetic lab. Soon, there's a Bat Gremlin, a Vegetable Gremlin, a Brain Gremlin, any kind of Gremlin that any Hollywood writer can imagine. Sunlight, which kills gremlins, is the only thing holding the little imps captive in the Clamp Center...can they be stopped before they escape?
1990's Gremlins 2: The New Batch, for the most part, is just one big live-action Looney Tunes sketch after the next. Apparently, director, Joe Dante, wasn't overly fond of his first Gremlins film or its massive popularity, so after being asked to return for a sequel for several years, he returns with the most Joe Dante film possible. Unlike the original, which certainly has its humorous moments, Gremlins 2 never takes itself seriously and is ridiculous from start to finish. The investment comes in wanting to see just how ridiculous the film will get, how dumb the idea for the next gremlin will be, and how outlandish the situation that gremlin will be placed into. 

Dante and his scriptwriter, Charles S. Haas, endlessly spoof and satirize films and real life events with a hyperactive cartoon energy that's a Clamp Center-load of fun. Rick Baker's puppetry and animatronics looks great, each gremlin distinct and disgustingly charming. Meanwhile, Jerry' Goldsmith's score is pitch perfect. I do feel that all the gags eventually become a little tiresome somewhere around the 90-minute mark, but at the same time, I feel like Gremlins 2 can only rise in my estimation over the (hopefully) coming years upon rewatch. Despite the gross-out gremlins, and that the film starts to get a bit redundant, Gremlins 2 is comfort viewing.