Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990): Corporate Satire and Cartoon Anarchy

ByFabian Bullitt

1990 • Joe Dante • 1.85:1 • Jump to Gallery ↓

Gremlins 2: The New Batch, a sequel to Gremlins, adopts a drastically different tone from its predecessor. Director Joe Dante only agreed to return after receiving near-total creative freedom, enabling the film to become a self-parody of not only the original film, but Hollywood sequel culture in general. The story is set in a massive, high-tech New York skyscraper known as the Clamp Center. When Gizmo is accidentally exposed to water again, new Mogwai are born and eventually transform into Gremlins. The creatures soon escape throughout the building, unleashing escalating chaos across laboratories, offices and television studios.

The film replaces the small-town setting of the original with the sprawling corporate architecture of the Clamp Center. This vertical setting enables the Gremlins to spread through the building’s various functional zones, including research laboratories, television studios, food courts, and high-tech office spaces. This creates a series of visually varied set pieces.

Dante stages many sequences reminiscent of classic animated cartoons, such as those produced by Warner Bros’ Looney Tunes. Laboratory experiments introduce mutated Gremlins with exaggerated personalities and abilities, including the well-known ‘Brain Gremlin‘. These elements contribute to the film’s anarchic tone, combining elaborate creature effects, meta-cinematic jokes, and cartoon-style slapstick. The result is one of the most idiosyncratic studio sequels of the period.

Technical Specs:

  • The Story: When Gizmo is accidentally exposed to water again, chaos erupts inside a high-tech Manhattan skyscraper as a new horde of mischievous gremlins evolves (and mutates) into increasingly bizarre forms. Read my review of Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
  • Actors: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, John Glover, Robert Prosky, Robert Picardo, Christopher Lee, Haviland Morris, Howie Mandel (voice).
  • Director: Joe Dante
  • Year: 1990
  • Cinematographer: John Hora
  • Origin: American Cinema
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
  • Genre: Horror & Supernatural / Comedy & Satire
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