शॉर्ट सर्किट 2

As much as I enjoyed the first movie, I had a feeling that getting the second one on DVD would be a mistake. I should have gone with my gut feeling. On the cover, it says that Siskel and Ebert have uttered that this may possibly be better than the first one. I really doubt that - someone please give me the reference if I'm mistaken. The problem is, as with Crocodile Dundee 2 and numerous other sequels, the purpose and originality of the first movie is the development of the characters. The quirks, social ineptitude, surprising qualities, cultural clashes, are what make the movie worthwhile and even enjoyable to watch. With a revenue success, far too often a sequel will appear. Again and again, it becomes clear that when you apply the lovable characters from the first movie to some formulaic plot in the sequel, it fails. It not only fails, it becomes painful to watch, going from one cliché to the next. Funnily enough, the kids seem to like it...

In this second installment of Short Circuit, Johnny Five is sent to New York to help his creator Ben Javari(Fisher Stevens), run his new toy business, which is lagging behind in production. Number Five decides while he's at it to check out the city and runs afoul of everyone, including the police and greedy banker Oscar Baldwin(Jack Weston), who has stolen a collection of valuable international jewels. When Number Five is smashed to near death by Baldwin and his gang, he decides to get his revenge. Can Number Five survive a leaking main battery and very little backup power long enough to outsmart Oscar and recover the jewels before he dies? Give this a rent and find out.

I thought this was a very touching movie. Johnny 5 is a very sympathetic character with real human-like qualities. I enjoyed the romantic angle and I could identify with all the characters. I bought this video for my Mother and she loved it. Overall, I think this is a very underrated movie and I think this is an instance where the sequel is better than the original. Remember, it's a fantasy - it's good escapism.

Number Five is back! This time he goes to New York City to help his co-creator Ben Jahrvi (Fisher Stevens) making toys-tiny robots that look just like Five. And he has named himself "Johnny Five"! Can you imagine what will happen when Johnny realizes that he's in a big city (No one has told that to him...he was put in a box to be transferred from Montana to where Ben is located...because they know how curious and crazy for input he is) and then goes out exploring just about everywhere?

Johnny talks a lot more like a human than he used to, but people still treat him like a ridiculous-looking machine, they don't know he is alive, and they are not willing to believe it. As Johnny Five helps Ben and his partner Fred Ritter (Michael McKean), we can see Johnny is very intelligent, cheerful, full of life and loves to help. And then, Oscar Baldwin (Jack Weston), a man who's about to steal some really valuable jewelry, notices Johnny's being naive, enthusiastic about helping people and his abilities. He and two other thieves proceed to cheat and use Johnny Five. But Johnny will go chasing them soon after he's aware of what has happened. The movie is dramatic, breath-taking, dynamic and heart-warming.

Interestingly, the endings of the original and of the sequel are quite opposite in some way, but they are both happy ones. Tim Blaney, as the voice of Johnny Five, successfully brought the character to life. Michael McKean as Fred, a smart, a little bit greedy salesman, who basically is not a bad guy. He played so beautifully that he made Fred become a very charming guy!

I want to thank the creators, the entire cast and the crew for this extraordinary work. Also, the soundtrack is great. Johnny Five is so charismatic, When you watch this film you will fall in love with this remarkable life form immediately!

This movie takes the robot Johnny 5 on a magical whirlwind tour of New York. He meets up with his friend and creator Ben Jahrvi they have fun, and Ben falls for an uptown girl. Johnny 5 comes to the aide of his friend and rescues the bank from a heist that he helped! Sounds like a lot to pack into the film but Steve does a great job of getting everything it needs to be into the small amount of time that this film takes up in our small meaningless lives. If you haven't seen this movie, I suggest you rent it. Forget the blockbuster's and just rent this down to home comical romp through the lives or Ben and Johnny 5, I guarantee you will not regret it.