Review: Grease 2

Surely the obligatory sequel to what has to be a top contender for the “worst ’70s blockbuster” crown must carry some weight as a camp classic.

Grease 2
Photo: Paramount Pictures

Surely you remember Grease, don’t you? It was that annoying pile of shit those annoying high school girls who liked My Little Ponies and who asked you for dates all the time used to fawn over and karaoke to. Surely the obligatory sequel to what has to be a top contender for the “worst ’70s blockbuster” crown must carry some weight as a camp classic. Surely anyone’s hatred for the 1978 original should translate into begrudging relief that the 1982 update simply isn’t the first Grease. Unfortunately, it isn’t. The sequel to Grease is not much more than a remake, wherein every minute detail is nothing more than an attempt to pilfer the magic of the first film. This time, it’s the Pink Lady Stephanie (Michelle Pfeiffer) who plays it cool around the Aussie Michael (Maxwell Caufield), while head T-Bird Johnny (the so-not-a-greaser Adrian Zmed) wallows in self-pity for losing Stephanie’s love. Ostensibly there’s dramatic tension to be gleaned from this timeless storyline, but director Patricia Birch and screenwriter Ken Finkleman do their best to bulldoze over it with endlessly tiresome production numbers in bowling alleys, luaus, and talent shows. Hell, why bother writing character-developing situations when cheap archetypes and haphazard slapstick do the work for you? Perhaps sensing that Grease 2 wasn’t going to be sending the masses into the same sort of nostalgic tizzy the original did, someone made the decision to recruit camp queen Tab Hunter to play a sex-ed teacher and lead a rambunctious little horn-dog number called “Reproduction.” As far as ’50s-styled cornball tributes to heavy-petting go, Grease 2 has got nothing on Prince’s “Jack U Off.”

Score: 
 Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caufield, Adrian Zmed, Lorna Luft, Didi Cohn, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Dody Goodman, Tab Hunter, Connie Stevens  Director: Patricia Birch  Screenwriter: Ken Finkleman  Distributor: Paramount Pictures  Running Time: 114 min  Rating: PG  Year: 1982  Buy: Video, Soundtrack

Eric Henderson

Eric Henderson is the web content manager for WCCO-TV. His writing has also appeared in City Pages.

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