Review of Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) by Scott S — 20 Oct 2009

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) -- [6.0] -- This is more of a madcap comedy than a horror movie, with none of the fable quality or dark atmosphere of the first film. The script is meager enough to allow for large blocks of gremlins shenanigans that overwhelm the movie.

This is good if you like monster mayhem, bad if you like things like story and character. While the animatronics and special effects are far superior to "Gremlins", director Joe Dante indulges in a display of technological prowess that spirals into a busily boring mess before it's over.

I still enjoy the first three-quarters of "The New Batch", if only for its audacity. It's like a bloody pileup of clown cars, a toxic onslaught of comic book chaos -- a kind of childish, whacky filmmaking that rarely gets such a big budget and lavish production values.