While National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is my number one Christmas movie of all time, Gremlins is a very close second. When I was a kid, I loved Gremlins, I never saw the first movie in the theatre, but I watched the VHS over and over again. When Gremlins 2: The New Batch was released in 1990, I was old enough to go and see this in the theatre and I could not have been any more excited.
How to Download Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch was released on June 15, 1990. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
A Fun but Different Sequel
Let me get this out of the way right now, Gremlins 2: The New Batch is nowhere near as good as the first movie. However, that first movie is truly something special and it was near impossible for them to top it. I think that Joe Dante knew this and instead, they just had fun with this movie.
There are many scenes in Gremlins 2 that poke fun at the Gremlins lore, from discussing the “Gremlins rules” to direct fourth wall breaks with the audience. I remember seeing this in the theatre and freaking out big time when Hulk Hogan showed up to tell the Gremlins to stop messing around in the production booth. Then I was super disappointed when this scene was changed for the home video release when we rented it several months later!
A New Setting in New York
This time around the movie is set in New York. Poor Gizmo is all alone after the old man looking after him dies, wandering around New York Gizmo is captured by two scientists. They take him to a genetics lab at the high-tech Clamp Center. A giant building owned by Daniel Clamp. Here a scientist, played by Christopher Lee (known to many as Saruman from The Lord of the Rings: and The Hobbit), who is awesome by the way, wants to do some experiments on Gizmo!
Thankfully, Billy and Kate are both working in this building and Billy manages to save Gizmo. Trying to hide Gizmo in his office drawer does not go too well, Gizmo ends up wet and we have more trouble making Mogwai’s on our hands. I love the new Mogwai’s they have different personalities this time around and are clearly different characters, my favorite one being the absolutely insane Daffy, who Billy and Kate mistake for Gizmo and take home!
A Wild Variety of Gremlins
The Mogwai want to turn into Gremlins and manage to do so. As I said the Mogwai were different, but once they turn into Gremlins, due to some “mishaps” in the genetics lab, we get some crazy Gremlins too. There is a bat Gremlin, an electric one, a spider one, and more! Neca does a phenomenal line of action figures based on the Gremlins from this movie and they are some of the best movie figures ever made in my opinion. A neat bit of trivia about the movie is that Steven Spielberg felt that there were too many Gremlins and as a result, some scenes were cut or changed altogether.
A Fun, Self-Aware Adventure
We then get Billy and Kate, along with some help including Daniel Plant himself, Grandpa Fred who is pretty much Grandpa Munster, and Mr. Futterman from the first movie trying to stop the Gremlins from getting out into New York City! It is just a fun and wild movie and I like how it is so self-aware of what it is, there was honestly no other way to do a sequel to Gremlins other than how they did it here.
As I said, it is nowhere near as good as the first movie, but I consider the original Gremlins to be a 10/10 movie! There was no way this could have lived up to it, however, this is still a very fun movie. While I have not watched this as much as I have the first movie, I still have a great time each time I watch this. Before I go, I just want to give a shoutout to the NES Gremlins 2: The New Batch video game which I got for Easter in 1991 and it was awesome!
