Lavalantula 2

For some reason they have Gutenberg start talking like some tough guy after the first few scenes...and the character sounds stupid. Really, it's a typical crappy SyFy movie with a few good puns but Gutenbergs character just ruins it.

We're watching its debut right now and it's bad. The first one was funnier but at least they didn't seem to try and "act"...you know what I mean...not taking it too seriously. Stupid conversations at inopportune times when they should be running or shooting something.

I think they're trying to pay productions costs with the commercials...they are insanely long and often.

Lavalantula was a lot of cheesy fun, unusual for SyFy original movie. This sequel is not as good as the first one as Colton West (Steve Guttenberg) returns this time as a heroic action star because of the events of the first film.

This time he is making a film in Miami and his stepdaughter Raya is sunbathing in Fort Lauderdale when lava spitting spiders spew out of the ground and attack the people of Florida.

Colton with the help of his former Police Academy actors goes to rescue his daughter and with the help of the military, led by Colonel Jester (Martin Kove) he has to kill the giant gargantulantula.

Because of the Miami setting there are a lot of references to Miami Vice and Scarface but you will also spot references to Crocodile Dundee, Deliverance, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Die Hard, Independence Day, Indiana Jones and a lots of other films that will keep movie geeks satisfied.

It is still an enjoyable cheesy film, still better than a lot of SyFy films but an element of a rushed sequel as well.

RELEASED TO TV IN 2016 and directed by Nick Simon, "2 Lava 2 Lantula" chronicles events in Fort Lauderdale and the Everglades when volcanic activity releases fire-breathing arachnids the size of people. Steve Guttenberg plays a B-movie actor who rises to the challenge of annihilating the creatures. Michele Weaver plays his stepdaughter and Michael Winslow his pardner. RJ Walker & Jimmy Bellinger are also on hand. There are a lot of familiar faces.

Like the previous film from 2015, this sequel is a fun, campy non-horror flick with the expected cartoony CGI. I'm glad they switched the location to Florida to shake things up (although it was apparently shot in Louisiana). Lorynn York is comely as Raya's friend, but not enough is done with her. It's entertaining to a point, but at the end of the day it's a forgettable throwaway flick.

THE FILM RUNS 83 minutes and was shot in Louisiana with obvious establishing shots of Florida. WRITERS: Neil Elman & Ashley O'Neil.

GRADE: C/C- (4.5/10)

2 Lava 2 Lantula! (2016)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Actor star Colton West (Steve Guttenberg) is on the set of his latest movie when his daughter is attacked by the giant lava spiders. West and Marty (Michael Winslow) must race there to try and save her as well as the rest of the world as these spiders are much bigger and much more damaging.

2 LAVA 2 LANTULA! just doesn't work. I will gladly admit that I enjoyed the first film as it was rather fun considering what it was. With that said, this sequel here is pretty darn lazy from start to finish and whatever entertainment the first picture had is certainly missing with this sequel. The biggestproblem is that the film really doesn't know what it wants to do. At times it's a straight monster movie and at other times they have it being so campy but these camp moments are more annoying than anything else.

Guttenberg was a lot of fun in the first movie but here they've got him over-acting so much that you can't help but not enjoy the performance. For some reason his line delivery is constantly changing as sometimes he speaks normal and other times he's way over the top with the macho guy routine. He does get to team up with POLICE ACADEMY co-stars Winslow and Marion Ramsey again so fans of that series will enjoy that.

The special effects are pretty much what you'd expect from a SyFy movie. The spiders here are mildly entertaining but there's no question that this sequel just feels rushed and it's rather annoying. It's really too bad because I enjoyed the first film but the spoofs and campy just doesn't work this time out.

Enjoyed the first 'Lavalantula' in a guilty pleasure sort of way. It was not what one calls great, but manages actually to be one of SyFy's best and more watchable films by quite some distance. Being someone who, like many, mostly hates SyFy with a passion, that's saying quite a bit. For the record, it's their compulsive badness and curiosity to see if they have the ability to make something decent once in a while keeps me watching.

'2 Lava 2 Lantula' is very much an inferior follow-up, with the problems far more evident. '2 Lava 2 Lantula' is not terrible by any stretch and like 'Lavalantula' is also one of SyFy's better and more watchable films, but 'Lavalantula' had more freshness, more fire and more bite, was more focused story-wise and didn't take silliness too far, definitely easier to take as a guilty pleasure.

Again, like 'Lavalantula', as far as SyFy movies go '2 Lava 2 Lantula' looks decent. Editing and photography is tighter than most SyFy movies, locations are colourful and atmospheric, the way the production is lit is less drab than usual. The creature special effects are more mixed, at some pretty they're not bad at all, at other times they're fake and over-obvious. That doesn't stop thankfully that the creatures themselves do have menace and personality, and the film again knows how to utilise them.

The music score is groovy and eerie, is careful not to overshadow the dialogue and is used appropriately. The direction shows confidence.

While there are worse script in SyFy films, the script is one of the weakest assets here and doesn't have as much above average quality as before. There are amusing moments and there are some neat references that will have film and sci-fi fans grinning, but it lacks snap and bite and tongue-in-cheek too often apart from some moments is replaced by campiness. Campiness that tends to grate and be overused rather than endear.

It does make the mistake that 'Lavalantula' managed somehow to avoid, at times it does try too hard to be stupid and the tone and target and audience aren't as clear. The creature attacks are fun and suspenseful still though, if again lacking the scare factor. The story is even more disjointed and over-stretched and due to lacking freshness also feels predictable and derivative.

Characters are not as annoying certainly as other characters in SyFy films, and there is some lively pacing. The acting is vastly inferior here, it was above average before, it was not good here. Especially Steve Guttenberg, whose uncomfortable-looking over-acting was painful to watch. The rest were nice to see, but they could have had more to do and they tend to be stale. Michael Winslow gives the best performance, he at least knows what kind of film he's in and doesn't take it seriously while also not falling on the wrong side of camp.

Overall, watchable but a fairly difficult one to rate and review. 5/10 Bethany Cox