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Wayne's World 2
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
The creators of the original "Wayne's World" picture saw the success of the first film and obviously thought there was enough material to duplicate the success of the first outing. Unfortunately, attempting to duplicate the success of the first film had them essentially replicating it, although the sequel isn't without a few inspired gags.
A year has passed since the original picture and Wayne (Mike Meyers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) have moved out of their parent's houses and into an abandoned doll factory. The show has become a complete success and continues on, but Wayne decides that there's got to be more in life. One night, he's inspired by a dream where he walks across the desert to meet with Jim Morrison. He's to put on a rock concert in his hometown of Aurora, Illinois and bring in some of the biggest rock acts out there. So, with the help of trusty sidekick Garth, the two go about what looks to be the impossible.
Meanwhile, Wayne has reason to be jealous yet again as he finds himself in competition with slimeball record producer Bobby (Christopher Walken) for the affections of Cassandra (Tia Carerre). Not only that, Wayne has to prove himself to Cassandra's father - in one of the movie's best sequences, the two face off in a battle much like a Hong Kong action film. Garth even finds himself a girlfriend in Honey Hornee (Kim Basinger), but are her intentions what they seem to be?
Meyers' screenplay does find a few laughs here and there, and a few cute cameos such as one mid-way through from Drew Barrymore liven the picture and provide the occasional burst of energy, but overall it just doesn't click. Penelope Spheeris seemed to be able to know how to direct comedy better than replacement Stephen Surjik, who had some previous experience directing episodes of "Kids In The Hall", but hadn't done any feature film comedies - or any actual films at all, for that matter, prior to "Wayne's World 2". Original cinematographer Theo Van De Sande also doesn't return, replaced by Francis Kenny ("She's All That"), who isn't as successful making "Wayne's World" visually interesting. One of the few returning members is editor Malcolm Campbell, who also worked on "Ace Ventura".
Overall, "Wayne's World 2" isn't the worst way to spend an afternoon, but it does have some elements lifted from the original and the jokes are a little more few and far between.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although "Wayne's World 2" isn't quite the suprising success in terms of video quality that the first film was, Paramount has still done a really superb job for the sequel, as well. The movie is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and looks well-rendered, with only a few minor problems along the way. Sharpness and detail are often terrific, except for a couple of scenes throughout the movie that displayed a touch of softness. Depth to the image often was pleasing, although not too exceptional.
Unlike the original, a few noticeable print flaws do pop up. Certainly nothing major, but there's a couple of marks and speckles here and there. A scene or two also seemed lightly grainy. A tiny trace or two of pixelation and edge enhancement are noticed, but these problems definitely aren't distracting. Again, colors looked splendid, appearing well-saturated and bold, not looking smeared or otherwise problematic. Flesh tones also were natural and accurate, as well. Certainly a fine transfer from Paramount, but not quite as strong as the first.
SOUND: "Wayne's World 2" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, as was the original. Similarly...similar to the original, the audio mainly sticks to the comedy formula, with dialogue being the focus. If not for the occasional gag that uses the sound well and the rock music that is included throughout the movie, there really wouldn't be anything for the surrounds to do. As for the gags, there's a funny example early on as about 32 minutes into the movie Wayne asks Cassandra if she's having an affair with the Walken character ("How do these things get started?. One guy tells two friends, then they tell two more.") and Wayne's voice enters the front main speakers then goes into the surrounds as he continues the tale.
Audio quality sounded fine again, as the music came through warmly and richly, with nice bass. Dialogue also sounded clear and natural, as well. A nice soundtrack; not terribly active, but it handles the music very well.
MENUS:: Paramount has provided some fun animated menus; they're enjoyable, but the animation is a little slow at times. After a little clip where the menu "changes channels", you're lead to a menu that looks like the "cable preview" station where you get a list of the schedule. As it scrolls up, you get the options. Choose a sub-menu and it scrolls down. The only part of the menu that's a bit of a problem is that the scrolling is a little bit slow.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary by Stephen Surjik, who provides some interesting discussion of the behind-the-scenes stories involved in the making of this sequel and how the director went about adding his own "touches" to the "Wayne's World" saga. Yet, there's also a few odd comments that seemed rather obvious. About 20 minutes into the movie, he states, "I really enjoy working with actors, you know? Working with actors is good." Fascinating stuff, and actually, it's probably a requirement for most directors to, you know, sort of be into working with actors. Overall, it's not a bad commentary, but there's a few small spaces of silence here and there as well as some moments where the director goes off track, but fans of the film might be interested in checking the track out.
Extreme Close Up: Wayne's World 2: This is a shorter 14 minute "making-of" documentary featuring interviews with Carvey, Meyers, Lorne Michaels and others involved with the productions and the choices made in taking the "Wayne's World" story one step further. Interesting insights and, like the documentary included with the first one, definitely isn't "promotional" in nature.
Final Thoughts: "Wayne's World 2" isn't the worst way to get a few laughs during a Sunday afternoon, but it just can't match the level of humor that the first one reaches. Paramount still turns in fine work here, offering solid audio/video quality and some good supplements. A rental, unless you're a fan of the picture, and if so, many will likely be satisfied with what the studio has provided.
The creators of the original "Wayne's World" picture saw the success of the first film and obviously thought there was enough material to duplicate the success of the first outing. Unfortunately, attempting to duplicate the success of the first film had them essentially replicating it, although the sequel isn't without a few inspired gags.
A year has passed since the original picture and Wayne (Mike Meyers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) have moved out of their parent's houses and into an abandoned doll factory. The show has become a complete success and continues on, but Wayne decides that there's got to be more in life. One night, he's inspired by a dream where he walks across the desert to meet with Jim Morrison. He's to put on a rock concert in his hometown of Aurora, Illinois and bring in some of the biggest rock acts out there. So, with the help of trusty sidekick Garth, the two go about what looks to be the impossible.
Meanwhile, Wayne has reason to be jealous yet again as he finds himself in competition with slimeball record producer Bobby (Christopher Walken) for the affections of Cassandra (Tia Carerre). Not only that, Wayne has to prove himself to Cassandra's father - in one of the movie's best sequences, the two face off in a battle much like a Hong Kong action film. Garth even finds himself a girlfriend in Honey Hornee (Kim Basinger), but are her intentions what they seem to be?
Meyers' screenplay does find a few laughs here and there, and a few cute cameos such as one mid-way through from Drew Barrymore liven the picture and provide the occasional burst of energy, but overall it just doesn't click. Penelope Spheeris seemed to be able to know how to direct comedy better than replacement Stephen Surjik, who had some previous experience directing episodes of "Kids In The Hall", but hadn't done any feature film comedies - or any actual films at all, for that matter, prior to "Wayne's World 2". Original cinematographer Theo Van De Sande also doesn't return, replaced by Francis Kenny ("She's All That"), who isn't as successful making "Wayne's World" visually interesting. One of the few returning members is editor Malcolm Campbell, who also worked on "Ace Ventura".
Overall, "Wayne's World 2" isn't the worst way to spend an afternoon, but it does have some elements lifted from the original and the jokes are a little more few and far between.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although "Wayne's World 2" isn't quite the suprising success in terms of video quality that the first film was, Paramount has still done a really superb job for the sequel, as well. The movie is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and looks well-rendered, with only a few minor problems along the way. Sharpness and detail are often terrific, except for a couple of scenes throughout the movie that displayed a touch of softness. Depth to the image often was pleasing, although not too exceptional.
Unlike the original, a few noticeable print flaws do pop up. Certainly nothing major, but there's a couple of marks and speckles here and there. A scene or two also seemed lightly grainy. A tiny trace or two of pixelation and edge enhancement are noticed, but these problems definitely aren't distracting. Again, colors looked splendid, appearing well-saturated and bold, not looking smeared or otherwise problematic. Flesh tones also were natural and accurate, as well. Certainly a fine transfer from Paramount, but not quite as strong as the first.
SOUND: "Wayne's World 2" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, as was the original. Similarly...similar to the original, the audio mainly sticks to the comedy formula, with dialogue being the focus. If not for the occasional gag that uses the sound well and the rock music that is included throughout the movie, there really wouldn't be anything for the surrounds to do. As for the gags, there's a funny example early on as about 32 minutes into the movie Wayne asks Cassandra if she's having an affair with the Walken character ("How do these things get started?. One guy tells two friends, then they tell two more.") and Wayne's voice enters the front main speakers then goes into the surrounds as he continues the tale.
Audio quality sounded fine again, as the music came through warmly and richly, with nice bass. Dialogue also sounded clear and natural, as well. A nice soundtrack; not terribly active, but it handles the music very well.
MENUS:: Paramount has provided some fun animated menus; they're enjoyable, but the animation is a little slow at times. After a little clip where the menu "changes channels", you're lead to a menu that looks like the "cable preview" station where you get a list of the schedule. As it scrolls up, you get the options. Choose a sub-menu and it scrolls down. The only part of the menu that's a bit of a problem is that the scrolling is a little bit slow.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary by Stephen Surjik, who provides some interesting discussion of the behind-the-scenes stories involved in the making of this sequel and how the director went about adding his own "touches" to the "Wayne's World" saga. Yet, there's also a few odd comments that seemed rather obvious. About 20 minutes into the movie, he states, "I really enjoy working with actors, you know? Working with actors is good." Fascinating stuff, and actually, it's probably a requirement for most directors to, you know, sort of be into working with actors. Overall, it's not a bad commentary, but there's a few small spaces of silence here and there as well as some moments where the director goes off track, but fans of the film might be interested in checking the track out.
Extreme Close Up: Wayne's World 2: This is a shorter 14 minute "making-of" documentary featuring interviews with Carvey, Meyers, Lorne Michaels and others involved with the productions and the choices made in taking the "Wayne's World" story one step further. Interesting insights and, like the documentary included with the first one, definitely isn't "promotional" in nature.
Final Thoughts: "Wayne's World 2" isn't the worst way to get a few laughs during a Sunday afternoon, but it just can't match the level of humor that the first one reaches. Paramount still turns in fine work here, offering solid audio/video quality and some good supplements. A rental, unless you're a fan of the picture, and if so, many will likely be satisfied with what the studio has provided.
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