“Grease is still the word,” claims the extremely lame slogan. Couldn’t they have come up with a new one?
Grease 2 is ridiculed as being a turkey, but if you approach it with low expectations and forget about the original masterpiece it’s actually a fairly enjoyable teen musical. It’s now 1961 and Rydell High School is opening for a new term. The T-Birds and the Pink Ladies are still the top gangs of boys and girls within the school caste system, albeit with entirely different members. English newcomer Michael (Maxwell Caulfield) falls for Samantha (Michelle Pfeiffer), but she tells him she’s only interested in cool biker types. To woo her, he then becomes one – keeping his true identity secret – and she doesn’t realise that the greaser hunk she’s attracted to is the same sensitive academic who helped her with her Hamlet essay...
There are lots of things wrong with this film. The chronology feels odd (the term flashes past within 90 minutes) and the script doesn’t sparkle. Musically and lyrically, the songs simply aren’t in the same league as those in the 1978 original and there’s a harshness and lack of warmth about them. One kicks off during a biology lesson, with the whole class singing about reproduction. Another takes place in a nuclear bunker, with the guy urging the girl he’s trying to seduce that they “do it for America”. In fact, there’s a lot about nuclear fears and John F. Kennedy – a political context that was absent but not missed last time around.
A handful of the actors from the first film reprise their roles. Didi Conn returns as Frenchy (but isn’t given a role), Eve Arden is once again Principal McGee, while Sid Caesar is still the sports coach, and so on. But it badly lacks the charisma of a John Travolta or a Stockard Channing. There simply isn’t anyone with real star quality.
For all its faults, there are plenty of plus points. Patricia Birch’s choreography is dynamic, as it was in the first film. The story is possibly more credible because it doesn’t end with a fairground ride taking off into space. There are some laughs. Michelle Pfeiffer is easy to like in the main role, even though she’s clearly no Olivia Newton-John. And trashy teen dramas full of youthful exuberance are always fun if you are in the mood.
Grease 2 is ridiculed as being a turkey, but if you approach it with low expectations and forget about the original masterpiece it’s actually a fairly enjoyable teen musical. It’s now 1961 and Rydell High School is opening for a new term. The T-Birds and the Pink Ladies are still the top gangs of boys and girls within the school caste system, albeit with entirely different members. English newcomer Michael (Maxwell Caulfield) falls for Samantha (Michelle Pfeiffer), but she tells him she’s only interested in cool biker types. To woo her, he then becomes one – keeping his true identity secret – and she doesn’t realise that the greaser hunk she’s attracted to is the same sensitive academic who helped her with her Hamlet essay...
There are lots of things wrong with this film. The chronology feels odd (the term flashes past within 90 minutes) and the script doesn’t sparkle. Musically and lyrically, the songs simply aren’t in the same league as those in the 1978 original and there’s a harshness and lack of warmth about them. One kicks off during a biology lesson, with the whole class singing about reproduction. Another takes place in a nuclear bunker, with the guy urging the girl he’s trying to seduce that they “do it for America”. In fact, there’s a lot about nuclear fears and John F. Kennedy – a political context that was absent but not missed last time around.
A handful of the actors from the first film reprise their roles. Didi Conn returns as Frenchy (but isn’t given a role), Eve Arden is once again Principal McGee, while Sid Caesar is still the sports coach, and so on. But it badly lacks the charisma of a John Travolta or a Stockard Channing. There simply isn’t anyone with real star quality.
For all its faults, there are plenty of plus points. Patricia Birch’s choreography is dynamic, as it was in the first film. The story is possibly more credible because it doesn’t end with a fairground ride taking off into space. There are some laughs. Michelle Pfeiffer is easy to like in the main role, even though she’s clearly no Olivia Newton-John. And trashy teen dramas full of youthful exuberance are always fun if you are in the mood.
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