Review of Short Circuit 2 (1988) by Ashley B — 26 Feb 2009

Here's a movie that I hadn't seen in well over a decade, but I saw many times as a kid. When I was younger, I always thought that 'Short Circuit 2' was better than the original, but how does it hold up 20 years later?

Surprisingly well, I found, despite its cliches. Michael McKean plays a horribly cliched character (the con man with the heart of gold who learns a valuable life lesson), but he plays it well. Fisher Stevens, meanwhile, plays a horribly stereotyped character (the East Indian who speaks mangled English in a funny accent). As a kid, I never even thought about that; but now, well, the guy's funny, and while it may not be the most politically correct, it's harmless enough.

The heart and soul of the movie is, of course, the robot, Johnny Five, and he is still one of the cutest mechanical characters ever created for the movies, right up there with WALL·E and R2-D2. (I don't care what anybody at Pixar says, they were ripping off good ol' Number Five when they created WALL·E.) Some might find it a little off-putting or over-the-top when Five goes all ugly commando at the end of this movie, but I still found it funny.

Now I need to get my hands on the original 'Short Circuit', and compare....