The Reel Rejects - GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (1990) MOVIE REVIEW

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Starting point is 00:01:02 Here we go. If you happen to be listening on Apple or Spotify, just go ahead and leave us a rating. Maybe five stars, you know, just suggestion. Five stars are bust, bro. Yeah, very much appreciate it. It helps spread the good word of the reject nation. But, oh my God. Roxanne.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Yeah, I just, to start because of the whole thing with the genres, Everybody, the genre of the first movie is different than the genre of the second movie. Did you feel like these were completely different genres? And if so, what genre was this movie? They're both demented. Like, yeah, this is definitely a departure from the first one. Although, I do feel like, in a way.

Starting point is 00:01:48 And, oh, props to Rick Baker, definitely, like, going above and beyond for this movie. But, oh, and Mark Mangini, damn. Sorry, I met him a couple times. I used to teach improv, I think, to his kid. Anyway. That's cool. Yes, and.

Starting point is 00:02:05 I feel like, you know, this movie has a reputation for being wild and off the walls and, like, a big departure from the first one. And certainly, I get that and it is, but it's not quite as, like, completely different. Oh, isn't it? Yes. Daffy Duck. Yeah, it's definitely. different, but I feel like it makes sense the direction they took it in and the sort of

Starting point is 00:02:33 madcapness. Like, I guess it's a little less horror movie, monster movie, when it comes down to it, but it still has those tones and those nodes. It's just like going for more madcap more of the time. But in a way, this felt kind of like the natural sequel you would, you would want to do to me. But what did you think? I didn't feel like they were that different genres. They were both like really uniquely absurd with comedy and horror and camp and yeah I enjoyed this one as much as the first one it did feel a little longer this one I don't know if it actually was sure but I didn't mind that because I was so invested I'm trying cut those in but even things like that like I feel like this movie knew what it was I think because of the first one

Starting point is 00:03:26 it felt confident in itself and it was like we are going to have fun with this if it kills us yeah and they knew when to like just stopping the movie more than halfway through and pretending like the gremlins cut it it was genius and and yeah i feel like this movie knew exactly what it wanted to be it delivered on that it was so weird that one moment with phoebe kates with the the lincoln thing you lurking about don't you people have home Don't worry, Daffy. We'll be there in no time. The Lincoln thing, which is obviously a reference to the Santa thing,

Starting point is 00:04:02 like that she just breaks off into these monologues, and it clearly wanted to just, like, play on that, you know? There is, like, a meta-humor about this one in that it, yeah, is sort of playing off beats from the first one and counting on you to be like, oh, no, here we go, you know, and then sort of subverting. Like that, I felt like that was handled. Part of me wanted to hear the story, but part of me, was also like, all you need is this

Starting point is 00:04:29 to satisfy what is happening here, yeah. Like, oh God, of course she's got another, like how much tragedy lays in this character's past. And it's such a striking kind of dramatic beat of the first movie. Yes. Oh, no, you don't.

Starting point is 00:04:47 Whoa. 60 years of hog on the end title is enough. That's all, folks. Whoa. Yes, Chuck Jones was going to say it's that. He looked a little grinchy. I'm getting better at pulling animators and stuff. And they credited to the local animation guild in the credits.

Starting point is 00:05:08 But, yeah, like I liked that. Yeah, me too. And I love the wraparound of the Looney Tunes characters because, like, this is very much a Looney movie. Yeah, it's very much a Looney Tune. And, yeah, like having that beat with her is just such a funny, lore thing because you're like this girl just must have tons of tragedy in her past and uh and yeah like like I liked in the previous movie that that becomes like a whole poignant little moment and you

Starting point is 00:05:35 really do feel for her and here it's a different kind of movie and I get why they didn't go into that because there's not I think you know the the motif of the quiet you know bucolic town versus you know the bustle of the big city like it suits the tone and setting of this movie to have it be like oh my god on abraham lincoln's birthday or whatever on president's day you know this guy came out and then you know we we get it and we move on yeah exactly this felt very much like ghostbusters to me like it felt very tonally similar it came out in 1990 i'm seeing so yeah you were right about not the late 80s but the early 90s it makes sense for the time even this like art that we're looking at on amazon prime with the one finger and looking at the city yeah just the the the whole thing

Starting point is 00:06:23 It screams late 80s, early 90s. It screams sequel, but in the best way possible. This is before sequels were annoying as hell. Yeah. It did its own thing. The sets was completely different, which I really appreciated that we didn't just stick on the same situation that we had in the first one. We went different place, bigger. Now we're nervous about the entire city, right?

Starting point is 00:06:48 I mean, I guess at the end of the last one we were, but it just felt like there was more danger. and because we knew about it, we only knew partially how to stop them, but not completely how to stop them. We went about stopping them in a different way. The electricity thing, like nothing was wasted. That came back into play. Everything kind of, the Rambo seeing that on the TV came back into play. There was a lot of callbacks, a lot of references.

Starting point is 00:07:12 This worked for me. This was weird. This worked for me immensely. And again, like, it has that reputation of being like a such a WTF kind of movie. and I know that like up until this point I have associated the two movies with like people love Gremlins it's a classic and then two is like a cult classic but I feel like it's a perfect one to punch

Starting point is 00:07:32 yeah it's like it does a lot of things you expect from a sequel in that it's changing up the setting it's going a bit bigger it's expanding even further on the Gremlin's lore like I loved here that you had the mad science department basically where they find all the different means of coming up with infinite variations of the gremlins, you know, we've seen them in different outfits and with different personalities, but here, yeah, we see them like in actual different morphed, warped formations

Starting point is 00:08:00 leading up to the one who can talk, who sounds like... That was awesome. Yeah, and them, like, kind of evolving and, like, the cognitive dissonance of, like, all the chaos they caused, and he's over here, like, yes, we just want all the amenities of high society and civilization, yes. And, like, yeah, this was, like, the perfect... It maintained... And then he shoots the ground.

Starting point is 00:08:23 Yeah. Like, it maintained the perfect irony in line with the first movie because the first movie is, like, sweet, and it is a holiday movie, and there's, like, a familial element there that makes it kind of a bit genuine while it's also being sort of ornery and wild. And this one certainly ramps up on the craziness and stuff. But, yeah, it's like, it made sense. You don't have quite as much, like, character story going on. Like, it's a pretty familiar setup. It's like, okay, so Billy and, oh, God, Kate moved to the big city, and, you know, they're trying to make life happen there. And I like that, you know, the clamp industry's place, you know, brings the spirit of dad along.

Starting point is 00:09:06 And the whole starting it out with, like, them trying to build space age Chinatown and wanting to evict the old man. Just like little touches to tie it back into the first one without, like, over, like, overlavering. or forcing those things to be like a full on part of the plot. Like I thought the stuff they maintained and brought back worked and we have the image of home to remind us. But it really did feel like, yeah, we moved away to a new spot. And yeah, there's a lot of fun corporate satire, which that element of the movie with just all the different yuppies

Starting point is 00:09:40 that we meet working at Clamp and then Clamp himself and just like the attitude about gadgets and gizmos and smart anything. thing like there's so much about this that i think yeah that i think has actually gotten more relevant and it's funny because you know you see a lot of things like this that make you go oh the more times change the more they stay the same but like this is 1990 and he called it like a smart building which is like very today vernacular like i'm sure stuff was called smart when it was super tech back then but not to the degree smart house or the disney movie that came out when we were

Starting point is 00:10:16 kid's smart house smart house or smart guy no smart guy was the um taj maury show smart house that was one of those decoms

Starting point is 00:10:25 oh I think I missed this oh whoa let me see what year that was pull it up because yeah like that stuff I thought you know got actually you know I'm sure it was

Starting point is 00:10:36 fun and biting at the time but like so much of what the rest of the movie is doing aside from the chaos the sat like the social satire is like super sharp and relevant even now which I thought was just like very kind of charming and it's always like a

Starting point is 00:10:50 99. I've seen this post for sure. Okay. So yeah, you know, like the whole and it's okay. So smart. It's creeping into the. In the 90s. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:11:00 But this was probably, I mean, this is early 90. This is 90. Yeah. This isn't that transition point where you're still, the aesthetic is still very much 80s, but it's starting to shift into what will eventually become the 90s. Right. Style. If I'm being, and I know you guys love this.

Starting point is 00:11:16 If I'm being nitpicking. Do it. Picking knit. If I'm picking nits. While this movie did really work for me, I mean, the women are so 90s in this. Like, and I don't mean. What are you talking about? And I don't mean how women were in the 90s.

Starting point is 00:11:29 I mean how women were written in the 90s and in the 80s. What are you talking about? For two lead characters, it's like you are either a woman throwing yourself at men that you know are taken or you're a woman turning a blind eye because that's your bay and you don't care and you're just going to stand by your man and it's like the lack of the the fact that the uh i feel like in this you know the dude characters are very much uh save the day going to figure it out even the rich guy the rich character who is like you know doing the damn thing friggin clamp yeah clamp i feel like he had plenty of layers it's like he's a uh not a good dude but there's some redeem qualities with the women i was just like okay well i think that both of you guys are doing

Starting point is 00:12:16 That's exactly how it's written. Both these actresses are killing it here. It would be nice to have a little, like, nuance in it. But it, you know, it works for this kind of movie, but it is just very 80s, 90s. I was like, there's just no way there was a woman in this room when they were writing this. I do. Yeah, I can't at all argue with that because, like, the bummer is that Kate is so endearing in the first movie. She's so endearing.

Starting point is 00:12:43 And she's not the main focus of that movie. but she is like a distinct supporting character. And here I thought Phoebe Cates was, she still maintained the loveliness of that character. Because we like her as an actress because she's sweet and she's cute. Yeah, I mean, she is on the margins. And I mean, even though Billy is still the lead, even he is sort of like, there's so much.

Starting point is 00:13:07 I mean, the gremlins are the star of this movie. But yeah, Kate and what's her name, Marla Bloodstone. Yeah. Like they are super architect. And at least for Kate, like I could have maybe done with just, yeah, like a little bit more of like a core. That's the thing is you, that moment with her backstory does play funny. I like what it is in isolation. But if you look at it in context of the whole movie, it is sort of indicative of how those characters are treated across.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Yeah, like a throw away, a ride off. Like, okay, and we're moving on. Thrilled to be partnering with a brand I've been using for nearly two years now. And that's Harry's Razors. I'm generally more drawn to anything that goes against the norm. And Harry's does just that in the grooming world. They saw the high prices in the industry and decided to blaze their own trail with quality and affordability. I keep a beer, but whenever you see these cheeks in the neck clean, and that's the work of Harry's right there.

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Starting point is 00:16:48 ExpressVPN.com slash rejects. And you can get an extra three months of ExpressVPN for free. That's ExpressVPN.com slash rejects. So how to ExpressVPN.com slash rejects to learn more. Thank you again. Even Dr. Catheter has his big character arc moment. Like, if we get out of this, I will never do this ever again. This is not what, you know.

Starting point is 00:17:09 Yeah. And I mean, I love the madcapness of what the just ecosystem of the building is. And yeah, how like, you know, they're not even fully aware of who's renting and why. And like, oh, I knew we should have put a plastic surgery place in there instead of a gene splicing place in there. And like, yeah, it's fun to have. Like there are so many character actors throughout this. And yeah, like Christopher Lee. Like there are a lot of nods. And I enjoyed, too, the different little monster movie bits. You've got like the Phantom the Opera one who does like the phantom shot at one point and you have christopher lee who's like a hammer movie veteran and all sorts of genre movie veteran um and then you know you got like uh obviously dick miller's back and even like the cameraman guy like all these all these different familiar looking that guys and whatnot um and yeah like it's interesting i feel like the characters in this one except for billy and kate to a degree exists to be these caricatures more than anything totally yeah it's not like every character is perfectly written except for the women. There's a lot of different flaws.

Starting point is 00:18:14 And it does work fine. I noticed on Amazon that, I mean, it works more than fine. It's a great movie. But I noticed on Amazon, one of the things that I thought was interesting. And so it says that it's, I forget, but like thriller or comedy. Yeah, can't be and frightening. Can't be frightening comedy. But the one that I thought was interesting is that it lists itself as a fantasy.

Starting point is 00:18:36 What do you think about that? I agree. Yeah, like, because, I mean, fantasy and horror flirt, you know, with each other quite, quite a lot, genre-wise. And, yeah, like, especially having Gizmo, because you have the fact that Gizmo is so dear and sweet, and there is a version of the Gremlin's that, too, and there is this sort of peripheral magic. And even that, like, they're commenting directly on, like, what are the rules? It's midnight somewhere, like stuff like that. I thought was great. But, but, yeah, like, the fantasy element.

Starting point is 00:19:07 is yeah is in full swing here because two like you know monster movies and mad science i feel like dips into fantasy as well so while this is often skewing gross and demented there's definitely yeah there's definitely an air of fantasy and the there's the whimsy uh with which the rest of the world is depicted and that's what i liked about clamp actually like i would be totally down as well for a version of this movie where he's revealed to just be the worst and gets like you know some kind of horrible end but i also appreciated the quirk of the choice that he is disconnected just this sort of well-meaning misled guy with a lot of resources and power who yeah is like disconnected and who is always kind of getting halfway there and then kind of missing the

Starting point is 00:19:55 point and you know that whole thing at the end where he's like you know this isn't a place for people you know and you think he's kind of waking up to everything and he's like i'm gonna build something different. I'm going to build something that's cozy and homie, and we're going to make the most state-of-the-art version of something quiet and peaceful. And, like, you see the conflict of the whole character and the conflict of, like, again, it's a nice contrast because it's not like in your face. It kind of is, but not, it's not, like, directly speaking it to you. Like, the first movie does embody this peaceful, calm, small town vibe that then gets, you know, upended by the gremlins, whereas here, yeah you're in kind of the fully formed corporate fantasy where everybody is like so down the rabbit hole of you know those concerns and like seems like everybody in the clamp building just seems completely detached from life yeah yeah and uh yeah just was thinking when i initially said it's just funny like imagine asking somebody was your favorite fantasy movie and you you think that they're going to say i don't know star

Starting point is 00:21:04 Ors or Harry Potter and like gremlins. Legend or Willow or... Yeah, yeah, but this is it. I'll take gremlins. Also interesting that the way that they describe this, they say, that Billy and Kate reunite with their furry Frank Gizmo to destroy a mischievous new breed of talking gremlins. And it's like, I don't know about talking gremlins.

Starting point is 00:21:24 The one talks? Just the one. There's only enough brain juice for the one of you. And he was funny. Okay, so this worked for us. Is there a gremlin story? I don't think so. I don't know though

Starting point is 00:21:35 I mean maybe they'll come back and do one Joe Dante's still out there I would love another Gremlin's before What would you want? You know I could see them doing a movie Where Bill and Kate You know are older now You know you get the actors back

Starting point is 00:21:51 And they have their own kids now And Gizmo still living with them And you know they're about to be like Okay you know you're whoever their kid is It's like you're getting to that right age We're gonna introduce you to our little friend here Oh, they've been hiding Gizmo. Maybe.

Starting point is 00:22:05 I don't know. We'll work out those details. When we get in the writer's room. Gizmo's going to have a complex if he feels hidden from the kids this whole time. Maybe Gizmo has, no, okay, so Gizmo lives in the house and has, like, a hole.

Starting point is 00:22:16 There have got to be inventions around. And Gizmo has, like, little things he can ride around to, like, help him get to stuff and, like, little safeguards to make sure no gremlin mischief, you know, comes to pass. And then maybe...

Starting point is 00:22:27 It's like what Greg and Olivia did with all the cats. With all the cats stuff. Yeah, they can run around free. And then the kids really want to play with gizmo but they're like you know we gotta take this slow okay this isn't they're not a toy they're a real living thing and there's rules and then maybe the kids you know just like you know mom and dad go to sleep they maybe break gizmo out and then you know cause some havoc and then we get a whole new 21st century take from your mouth to the universe's ears

Starting point is 00:22:54 okay gremlins three coming to you soon and like the bit where they're in the movie that's one thing is i wish i like to see that in the theater would have been so great sick. I thought something was wrong at first. Did you immediately know what was happening? I'm used to seeing a film burn effects that I, that when it was like the initial jitters, I was like, okay, is the stream okay? When I see the white, then I, and the film starts to burn and you're like, okay, well, this isn't, this cannot be, this could not possibly be conjured by digital television. This cannot be. Yeah, but like even still, like the amount of commitment they did to that. And I've heard it said, like, them making this sequel. I don't know if maybe they were, like, trying to get other people to do it or whatever.

Starting point is 00:23:42 And eventually, Joe Dante was like, yeah, if you let me, I don't just want to remake Gremlins. If you let me come in and do my thing and, you know, make the story and the satire I want to make, like, I'll do it. And I think the, and people can clarify in the comments, but I think the studio was like, yeah, as long as it's got Gremlins in it, man, just like come in and make more. So, so, yeah, like, I really appreciate a. Make a new batch. Make a new batch. That's it. And like I got, we got to go watch the key and peal sketch now because there's like a famous key and peel sketch about like how this movie was conceived.

Starting point is 00:24:14 Should we react to here at the end? The problem is I don't know if that's going to destroy the monetization of this video. So we'll do that in our own time. Comedy Central is pretty anal about stuff. Let us live. Let us watch things on our own. That's it for now. We'll see you guys soon on behalf of Ron Joxy baby.

Starting point is 00:24:33 That was some drippy moistish. That was drippy. Oh, that was so drippy, so moist, so gooey. It was gooey, man. It was gooey. And we had like a late night horror TV's host. This had everything. This is the best movie.

Starting point is 00:24:46 And they had Leonard Malton. And they had Leonard freaking Malton. And I love a gag like that. I feel like we need a super cut of all the times that notable critics have shown up in movies to do some meta bit where they slam the first movie and then get killed by the movies. I'm friends with his daughter, Jesse. She's so lovely and he's so great. Anyway, okay, we'll see you guys soon. Later, Rejects.

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The Reel Rejects - GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (1990) MOVIE REVIEW

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