Who says this is a bad movie? Who? I thought the only debate was “is this almost as good as the first one, or is it even better?” Not a hit, I get it. But I doubt this even has a rep as a bad movie. You just wanted to talk about it, didn’t you? :)

I’m gonna hafta see it again to make up my mind; last time, I admired how much bigger the sequel was, so I’d say it’s easily the better-produced movie, but the first one is just so crazy, yet so simple. Like a Terminator/Terminator 2 thing, these are both perfect movies, but in different ways, and different genres. Gremlins was a monster movie with humor. Gremlins 2 could not be mistaken for anything but a glorious farce.

I remember not liking Gremlins II as much when I was a kid (well…teenager) because of how much it broke from the tone of the original, which IIRC was more like a straight horror movie, but for kids… which was and is still kind of unheard of. I haven’t actually seen either one since back then though, so they may both may be worth revisiting. Thanks!

Regarding the creature effects, special mention should also go to artist Steve Wang. Rick Baker was the head of the creature FX shop and thus made most of the big decisions, but the actual look of the Gremlins II puppets came from Steve Wang’s sculpting and painting. He worked for a number of FX houses during the 80s and 90s, and his creatures are always highly recognizable because of his unique art style.

This movie is one of the rare examples of a movie that surpassed the original, and overflows with great stuff, down to blink-and-you-miss-them gags (e.g. at a time when colourizing old movies was controversial – voice on PA: “Now on the Clamp Channel – Casablanca! In colour! And with a happy ending!”). Practically everything the brain gremlin says is gold.

I’m surprised that no one mentioned the very beginning of the film where it looked like we were going to get a new Looney Tunes short to accompany the movie.

For anyone who saw Gremlins 2, it was essentially the transition/segway into the rest of the film. As well as the first to feature voice actor Jeff Bergman who (much like fellow VAs Joe Alaskey, and Billy West after him since) would go on to be the voice of both Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck after the passing of their original VA, Mel Blanc a year before the release of this movie.

Most recently, Mr. Bergman returned to voice both characters in the (now finished) Looney Tunes Show for Cartoon Network