Critters 2: The Main Course

Much better than the subsequent films, but not nearly as good as the first. Settings, characters, nudity, and other important basics are pretty much the same as the surprisingly-good original. The movie? Well those furry devils aren't all gone and we get to see the main characters a few years later. Of course looking at it as an adult now I can saw the timeline wasn't very good - not enough time passed for the age of the characters involved or all that the back story claimed happened.

"Critters 2", however, drives the point home just in case you couldn't figure it out. The Critters now have more scenes involving "mischief" as they tear up restaurants in all sorts of silly ways, accompanied by sight gags, slapstick and plenty of cartoon sound effects. The Critters also develop the ability to speak broken English, too, only adding to their status as Gremlins clones. While "Critters" was far from a serious horror film, Critters 2 starts the series down a more humorous path that a lot of fans didn't exactly cotton to.

Overall rating: 6 out of 10.

Critters 2 is a solid sequel. It's not as good as the original but only by a smidge. Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers) got his feet wet with this horror sequel and like any good sequel should do it expands the mythology and introduces us to some new elements. Although it's not as scary as the first this one is way funnier. And by focusing more on the humor it looses just a bit of luster. Our ginger hero from the original returns to his hometown to visit his grandmother for Easter and the leftover eggs hatch. Suddenly the little horrors attack the town and the bounty hunters return this time with Charlie and a new addition Leigh who continuously takes new forms but spends most of it's time as a playmate centerfold. But the problem gets way bigger as there numbers increase and a mega critter ball is formed. The movie is so fun with insane practical effects and a crazy, playful vibe due to Garris's confident and creative direction. All in all a wild ride.

Budget: $4m Box Office: $3.8m

3.75/5

"CRITTERS 2: THE MAIN COURSE" (1988, Garris) is the direct sequel to "CRITTERS" (1986, Herek) and although it ramps up the Krite action it is too pastel-coloured and whimsical to outdo the original in dark humour and horror, despite Garris's aim to make it scarier than its predecessor.

The Krites, while more present and certainly more destructive, are not as well made as the original bunch that laid them. The damage they do, while farther reaching than in '86, is numbed by the nursery-wall colour scheme and rather weak score.

Good to see various cast members reprise their roles, great to see Krite puppets in droves, and a fun watch overall.

With the news of more aliens still on Earth, the bounty hunters set off to find the lone human they can trust to help them corral the beings before they spread throughout the town and become too much for them to handle.

This here turned out to be quite an exciting and enjoyable horror/comedy that has so much going for it that there's just no shortage of fun to be had here. The fact that this one decides to get the creatures out quite early with the discovery of the eggs and the town becoming aware of what's going on with his reappearance to their total dismay and a series of isolated attacks that clearly signal the creatures are back and ready to continue their rampage as before, only making the creatures as completely oblivious to the others around them makes for a rather fun time with the different attacks not being recognized until the mid-way point results in some nice fun. With the different tactics of trying to get the creatures under control still providing a lot of laughs as well, it makes for much more fun to be had when it plays off the previously established guidelines for the series as well as injecting a lot of clever and sometimes creepy points in this to add in a horror angle when all is said and done makes this one a lot more entertaining and enjoyable. There's enough gore in this to appeal to the more traditional horror fans with their attacks on the townspeople in the diner, the church and the final attack in the storage locker not only provide some fun moments throughout with their fun combination of mixing light-hearted action with some rather gruesome moments to add up to a bunch of fun times. While there's some flaws here in that the continuous jokes about the events in the first film are used to make it appear that he's just insane and should know better about spreading such information around get tiresome quite quickly, there's enough to like here that it's enough to overcome the few flaws.

Rated PG-13: Language, Violence and Nudity.

The Critters series consists of two first movies which are worth watching, and two last which are definitely _not_. Critters 2: The Main Course is certainly better as far as special effects go, but I'll be sentenced to eternal damnation if I know which one is better.

The action is still very lively, with necessary thrills and frills; the bounty hunters are back (you know Critters 3 failed because Ug&Lee were painfully absent and Charlie decked out); there's your average amount of mild gore and explosions. Brad seems to be blander than in the original, but his grandmother makes up for that.

The disadvantages of the film are pretty much few and far between. There's the usual mound of logical errors. The number of Crite eggs in the beginning is circa 12-20, mysteriously grows into some 50 when Brad's grandma purchases them, then, lo-and-behold, there's about a THOUSAND Crites in that giant rolling ball..... erm, on the cover that is. Charlie, however wearing state-of-the-art (no joke, I want one) leather space armor, HASN'T GOT A GUN. What's he supposed to do, choke the Critters with his flesh? Nobody ever thinks what species the [alien] eggs might belong to. Charlie and Brad are kinda overardorous over their meeting, since they barely knew each other in the original. And so on, and so forth. I'm not mentioning all, take a paper and pen and have some fun while watching.

Despite all this, I say this is a good choice for some people. I've read wayyyy too many coments in the style of "ohhh, this is SUCH crap I don't know why I've seen it...". Well, why did you? This is not a film that tries to be deep, this is pure entertainment for the youth, for the die-hard sf fans, and for the braindead. I liked it as a kid, I still like it (20 this June), and will show it to my kids for fun and enjoyment.

OVERALL ADVICE: you're a kid, you've got some spare time on your hands, watch it and have fun.