Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Plot synopsis:
After the death of his owner Mr. Wing, the mogwai Gizmo becomes the guinea pig of scientists at Clamp Enterprises, a state-of-the-art office building in Manhattan, run by eccentric billionaire Daniel Clamp. At the mercy of the chief researcher Dr. Catheter, Gizmo is rescued by his friend Billy Peltzer and his fiancee Kate, both of whom work for the company. Clamp befriends Billy upon being impressed by his skills in concept design, also sparking the interest of Billy's superior Marla Bloodstone. Gizmo is left in the office, where water spills on his head and spawns new mogwai, including Mohawk, who then has Gizmo locked in the vents. They eat after midnight, turning into gremlins.
After Gizmo finds a way out of the vent, Mohawk tortures him while the other gremlins cause the fire sprinklers to go off and spawn a gremlin army that throws the building into chaos. Billy attempts to lure the gremlins into the lobby, where sunlight will kill them; after Billy briefs Clamp on gremlin knowledge, Clamp exits through a secret tunnel to cover the front of the building in a giant sheet to trick the creatures. The gremlins devour serums in the lab; one becomes the intelligent Brain Gremlin, who plans to use a "genetic sunblock" serum to immunize them to sunlight. One gremlin turns into a female, while a third becomes pure electricity and is trapped in Clamp's answering machine by Billy. All the while "Grandpa Fred" watches the chaos on camera with help from a Japanese tourist named Mr. Katsuji.
Murray Futterman, Billy's neighbor from Kingston Falls who is visiting New York City, encounters a bat-hybrid gremlin and covers it with cement, effectively turning it into a gargoyle. Murray realizes that he is not crazy and that he has to help; when Clamp escapes the building using a secret route, Murray uses it to sneak inside to aid Billy. Billy and the chief of security Forster team up, but Forster is stalked and trapped by the female gremlin. Mohawk finishes torturing Gizmo and devours a spider serum, transforming into a monstrous half-gremlin half-spider hybrid. He attacks Kate and Marla, but Gizmo confronts Mohawk and kills him with an ignited bottle of white-out. Outside, a rainstorm frustrates Clamp's plan as the gremlins gather in the building's foyer, singing "New York, New York".
Billy formulates a plan to kill the Gremlin army: Mr. Futterman sprays the army with water while Billy releases the electric gremlin, electrocuting them. Clamp charges in with the police and press, but sees the battle is over; he is so thrilled by the end result that he gives Billy, Kate, Fred, and Marla promotions and hires Mr. Katsuji as a cameraman. Billy and Kate then return home with Gizmo.

Tags: cult, horror, satire

Review:
What I hadn't bargained for was the sharpness of the writing and the satirical structure that director Dante laid out for audiences to watch.Focusing very much on the then modern obsessions like tearing things down to build state of the art monstrous complexes, or the need for a better world; be it the laboratory testings for better life forms, or machines to run our lives; Gremlins 2 plays out as a sort of morality tale that sees the creatures themselves as byproducts of the human condition.
This film is often looked back on as not only the lesser of the two Gremlins flicks but not a very good movie in general.
In fact, I think many people disliked this film because of its total irreverence compared to the first; it didn't try to be scary for a second and Rick Baker's creature effects turned out goofier than Chris Walas's original creature designs.
I pity kids nowadays who don't have the attention span to soak up little moments like that.Dante takes everything that was great about Gremlins and cranks it all the way up to a zillion.
The movie even attempts to begin as a Looney Tunes cartoon.Gizmo, now back with Mr. Wing, escapes the curiosity shop after the old man dies and is found by a scientist working at Splice of Life, a laboratory located in the Clamp Premiere Regency Trade Centre and Retail Concourse (a big skyscraper in Manhattan).
The following day the Clamp building, and all of the tenants (from the Archery Channel to the movie print itself, leading to an amusing cameo from Hulk Hogan) are besieged by a horde of gremlins intent on mass destruction and good times at any cost.One can accuse the film of having no story beyond giving the Gremlins a lively backdrop for their wild antics, but when you're having so much fun isn't that what matters most?
John Glover is brilliant as the easily excitable Daniel Clamp, a Donald Trump-like property magnate who has more money and power than he knows what do with.It's amazing that a third Gremlins movie was never made.
For movie buffs, it's especially fun with all the references to other films in here.However, it should be pointed out that there are still plenty of scenes where the gremlins are nasty and attack people, so the film is still horror-like in that respect.
He winds up just being too silly.Phoebe Cates and Zach Galligan reprise their roles as the cute, small-town, wholesome (despite not being married, however) couple who live together who, of course, know all about these gremlins.It was nice to see Jackie Joseph (of the original "Little Shop Of Horrors") again as well as some other well-known characters such as Christopher Lee, Robert Prosky, Dick Miller and Keye Luke.
The collaboration between Goldsmith and Dante isn't unlike that of Hitchcock and Herrmann or Spielberg and Williams.The film abounds with dark jollity and watching it you can tell that the filmmakers had a fun time making the picture.
gremlins 2 is not a horror movie like the original kind of was, but it's funnier, and more entertaining than the original in my opinion.
"Gremlins 2: The New Batch" is the 1990 sequel to the 1984 box office hit "Gremlins" which is one of my all-time favorite movies.
Plus, it got a little tiresome to watch the gremlins do some of the exact same things that they did the first time around like drinking, smoking, etc.
Most of the references are obscure (such as Dick Miller killing a gremlin in the same manner as his character Walter Paisley from "A Bucket of Blood"), but that's what makes the film viewable again and again.Those who loved the first may dislike the second, but those who disliked the first may like the second.
It might be one of the appearances by Lee I enjoy the most.If you mixed the original "Gremlins" with "Muppets Take Manhattan" (or maybe "The Great Muppet Caper"), it would be almost like this.
This time their target is a high-tech corporate skyscraper run by a Trump-like suit."Gremlins 2: The New Batch" tries hard enough, and it's certainly original and creative.
The Gremlin Gizmo has been captured and given to the corporation's genetics unit and, as a result, it gets accidentally exposed to water again and multiplies, sending a new batch of mischievous, hideous and dangerous little monsters lose on the entire building and its unsuspecting staff.
It doesn't have the character development, unique flavor and suspense as the original movie, instead, it's just a wild crazy-fest of gremlins and overzealous humans trying to deal with all the chaos.
Especially since they manage to combine comedy and horror in a most satisfying manner, but most importantly because of the Mogwai and the gremlins themselves.If you enjoyed the 1984 "Gremlins" movie, then you will definitely also like the "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" from 1990.This is a direct continuation of the first movie in a way, and the writers managed to come up with a story angle that supports the transition between the first and second movie quite well.In "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" Billy (played by Zach Galligan) and Kate (played by Phoebe Cates) have moved to New York and are working for the Clamp company and work in an advanced skyscraper.
When Gizmo finds his way to Billy, and is accidentally exposed to water, New York is in for a repeat of the incident that happened at Kingston Falls.One might think, at a glance, that I have already seen this in the first movie.
Alright then: this movie rocks so hard that Gizmo has mo choice but to do his little bop-dance to it while the twin scientists bop their heads and Christopher Lee does his best glowering of his career (and this man could glower a statue into submission!) This is Joe Dante and his collaborators going into a throw-all-the-kitchen-sinks-at-the-wall approach, and Gremlins 2: the New Batch is even more of a love letter to B movies and Loony Tunes than the first one; like the Evil Dead movies, the sequel finds its auteurs (lets not forget Spielberg too, and this time Rick Baker does fx work) not really wanting to make a sequel (the studio demanded a follow-up to the #4 box-office hit of 1984), but with final cut at his disposal, under Spielberg's supervision, Dante does a delirious cartoon of a live-action movie.
Only one scene, when the new 'Stripe' gremlin leaps out of the board in the control room, is actually scary, but no matter.This is a movie to laugh your ass off to, and as a child you find yourself laughing at things but as an adult the jokes come harder, faster, and you get more of them.
While Hulk Hogan may be a little dated, hearing a line like the Casablanca joke (making Clamp a lo of Trump and also a lot of Ted Turner), or the Brainy Gremlin voiced by Tony Randall make mention of Susan Sontag, or the references to the musical Dames and what exactly the movie is that the gremlins sneak into the theater that breaks the 4th wall of the whole movie itself (naked volleyball!) makes this a real treat and a half.
And I do think that it may be one of the greatest under-appreciated sequels ever made.Several years after the events of the original, Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) and his girlfriend Kate (Phoebe Cates) have re-located to New York City and are both working for Clamp Enterprises, a company run by eccentric and amusingly naive millionaire Daniel Clamp.
But all is not well- an accident causes a new batch of Gremlins to emerge, and it's up to Billy, Kate, Gizmo, Clamp and the visiting Futtermans (Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph) to save the day once again.Director Dante, along with screenwriter Charles S.
To find that here, it's rather surprising and i think that this was this political consciousness that took aback the audience.Beyond this, the Gremlins are really well done (and CGI can take lesson) and the fun is explosive: the monsters attack their studio, their own film and the previous one, Daffy brings chaos (and great ideas for long, boring, meetings or courses...).Well, the script is full of great ideas and Dante reunites all the good cast from the first movie and Goldsmith is back as well with a great score!
I like how this film tends to be more about the Gremlins.A fun time, a great sequel.
Gizmo gets accidentally wet and gives birth to a new batch of mischievous green meanies are on the loose.Directed by Joe Dante (The Howling, Innerscape, Matinée) made a loose, wild, wacky and out of control sequel to the original.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch is not a great movie and a very big disappointment compared to the original.Gizmo isn't that main,the main characters as the new Gremlins,who are causing trouble around a big building for half of the movie.The original is displayed in a sort of old fashioned neighborhood,this movie is completely different,its an a very futuristic place.Once the Gremlins turn into the monsters the whole plot just gets abandoned and its just gag after gag,at once stage they have to stop the whole movie and Hulk Hogan has to put the movie back on,what where they thinking,you can tell it wasn't written by Chris Columbus.The Gremlins have returned,Gizmo is found by a building where his old owner Billy is now working,and scientists give him water and multiply him.Then the other Gremlins are experimented on and one is able to talk,once again they are fed after midnight,and take total control of the building.Its up to Billy and Gizmo to save the day..
Billy and his newlywed wife work together in the building, he's a shy and obedient executive and she's a competent hostess who tries to fit in New York and people's rude manners.The heroes are given more depth and character than in the first film but so are the Gremlins who're not just a generic group of monsters.
It's a pity that such a scene-stealing character blooms very late in the film, he's one of the things we remember and one of the aspects that subtly hints the sequel's satirical intent.Indeed, "Gremlins 2" is not like any sequel.
"Gremlins 2" is undeniably original, and had better intentions than many more successful sequels, it was also served by a nice supporting cast, many prestigious cameos, from the Looney Tunes to Hulk Hogan, from Christopher Lee to Leonard Matlin, but its self-referential approach must have disrupted a majority of teenage fans who probably didn't get all the references to classic films like "The Wizard of Oz" or "Marathon Man".
I mentioned that the first movie also suffered from a kind of schizophrenia as it was trying to be a horror-B movie and a 'family' Christmas story, but those were twists in the formats while "Gremlins 2" tries to be two different things tone-wise, and it didn't quite succeed although it had some great potential.Three years later, another movie would suffer the same fate, and would be a box-office flop due to a similar misunderstanding, "Last Action Hero".
Gremlins 2 continues the story of Gizmo, the cute little toy like creature from the original.
Gremlins' two main characters Billy and Kate (Gallagan and Cates) return and are working in same building (Clamp office tower).
Gremlins 2 is a good sequel to the enjoyable first film.
Although the Gremlins look a little different they still have their same "devilish" attitude's along with a few new gremlins.This movie is fun and creative and I really enjoyed watching it, even though it is slightly "lighter" then the first film.
They make a mess of things and do all those things that you wished you could do at your parents house when you were a kid.Don't watch Gremlins 2 expecting a good plot-just watch and enjoy the entertaining chaos that ensues and to see the cute Gizmo with his funny little face.
The first is the better film, but Gremlins 2: The New Batch is the better movie.The first real appearance of the Mogwai, Gizmo, sees him jiving to Fats Domino in a delightfully showoffish scene that only exists to brag about how much more advanced the special effects are.
This film is a great sequel to the original gremlins movie.
As much as i love Gremlins '84 my favourite of the two is Gremlins 2:The New Batch (1990) i just dig the whole new surroundings such as the big New York City high tech building that all the trouble happens in & the new look each GREMLIN has & that the legendary DICK MILLER is back in a bigger part & the FX are even greater this time & the whole atmosphere is fun & wacky but still with scares & only the BRILLIANT JOE DANTE can mix it up this good & make it great!!!
He was actually friends with Joe Dante and was one of the few people who didn't like the original movie.
But, sure enough, Gizmo gets wet and before you know it the Clamp building is crawling with gremlins.Sequel to Gremlins doesn't have as much charming devilry as the first film.
Don't worry if you haven't seen the first film because it doesn't matter too much - it does spend a long time getting up to speed before the chaos is unleashed.Having moved away from small-town Kingston Falls, young couple Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates) move to New York and both find jobs working for media mogul Daniel Clamp (John Glover) - Billy as an architect and Kate as a tour guide for Clamp's enormous skyscraper.
Can Billy and Kate save the day along with their old neighbour Murray (Dick Miller) before the gremlins escape the building and create chaos in the Big Apple?While nowhere near as dark as the first film, "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" is considerably more inventive as the different types of gremlin seem to number in the hundreds.
1984's Gremlins is a renounced cult classic of a film, having fans the world over and after a six year break director Joe Dante returned to the series, making a much more comic and surreal sequel.After the events of the first film Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates) have moved to New York City, working for Clamp Enterprises, Billy as a concept artist and Kate as a tour guide.
Since it was so popular, Joe Dante decides to make a sequel six years later at 1990 known as "Gremlins 2: The New Batch".The story continues a few years later after the incident where Billy and Kate move to New York by working for Daniel Clamp.
It also has some efficient direction from Joe Dante and the music from Jerry Goldsmith is the epitome of magnificence.Overall, Gremlins 2: The New Batch isn't nearly as excellent as the original, but it is an underrated sequel that it's a shame that this failed at the box office.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a fun and enjoyable film that has less of the scary moments the first offered but it does have a lot more humour and light hearted jokes.It must be said that Gremlins 2 IS a self-satire movie and intentionally makes fun of its self and the original.Now don't expect what you got from the original, II is a different beast but still thoroughly enjoyable but doesn't quite have what the original does, but what sequel does?
This time round, the bulk of the action takes place in a high-rise New York skyscraper, run by media mogul Daniel Clamp (a thinly-veiled pastiche on Donald Trump)  an impersonal and overly-automated working environment which it's genuinely fun to see the gremlins have their wicked way with.
It comes recommended, especially for anyone who wishes that the rest of the original 'Gremlins' movie could've been more like that wonderful tavern sequence.Grade: A-.
Joe Dante returns along with Galigan, Miller, and Kates, and basically made a movie that had no point other than to poke fun at its predecessor and let the Gremlins out for more playtime.
Gizmo, the cuddly protagonist that accidently spawns the malicious monsters makes you melt every time his big eyes fill the screen, and the gremlins themselves are having too much fun being naughty to be taken seriously, especially when they start destroying a lab and mutating into new species.
I can remember seeing this film when it first came out 12 years ago, and while as a 10 year old i loved it, it wasn't until i was older that i realized how many jokes and gags went over my head in 1990, that i found hilarious many years later.This movie, although enjoyed by kids, is really meant for adults who loved the first one.Gremlins 2 - The New Batch, is a must rent, and will probably join my DVD collection when it is released later this year (August 20th, I believe).
I saw this film in 1990 and at that time I had not seen the first part yet so perhaps I did not have the expectations that some of fans of original had.I think the jokes are hilarious, the special effects are amazing and many performances are outstanding, especially John Glover is great as media tycoon Clamp (I love the 'Clamp' logo by the way...).
Out of all the movies I have seen, I would have to say that the 'Brain' Gremlin is my favourite character of all-time.
Not an 'event' movie like most sequels aspire to be, but well worth your time and better than 90% of the other "comedies" out there..
It works so well because it completely breaks the rules  - spoofing itself, even referring to the original, and having the Gremlins eat the film itself.
All in all, great acting, and some brilliant comedic moments, "Gremlins 2-The New Batch" is a refreshing sequel, that is well worth a look.Overall rating : 8 out of 10..