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Wayne's World 2


Reviewed by: Rachel Hughes
Genre: Comedy
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: Dolby 5.1 Surround
Language: English
Subtitle: English
Length: 1hr 34 min
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 7-10-01
Studio: Paramount
Commentary: Featuring Director Stephen Surjik
Documentaries: None
Featurettes: Extreme Close-Up
Filmography/Biography: None
Interviews: None
Trailers/TV Spots: Yes
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: None
Music Video: None
Other: None
Cast and Crew: Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Christopher Walken, Tia Carrere, Ralph Brown and Kim Basinger
Screenplay by: Mike Myers, Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner
Produced by: Lorne Michaels
Directed By: Stephen Surjik
Music: Carter Burwell
The Review: Oh the dilemma of sequels. Sequels come about for two main reasons. First the story had always intended to be a multi-part movie a la Star Wars, or second, the original movie made a lot of money and people wanted to capitalize on it. The latter is the case with Wayne's World 2. Wayne's World originated as a skit on Saturday Night Live performed by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. The first movie sneaked in under the radar and was a surprise hit. It was a wonderful extension of the SNL skits and made a lot more money then anyone expected. Its success brought us two things. First a passable sequel and second a stream of horrendous movies based on SNL skits. Luckily Wayne's World 2 is still better than any of the recent SNL movies. With that said "Wayne's World 2" still falls under the sequel curse of not being as good as the original. In the second movie, a year has passed since the first one. Wayne and Garth have moved out their parents houses and perform their show from their new digs, an abandoned doll head factory. Wayne is still dating Cassandra, and Cassandra is working on producing a record with the surprisingly funny yet smarmy Bobby (Walken). However Wayne has found no purpose in life until Jim Morrison and a naked Indian appear to him in a dream and tell him to put on a rock concert. "If you book them, they will come." The rest of the movie is the story of Wayne trying to put on the show, sorting out his relationship with Cassandra, and dealing with Garth's blossoming romances. While the movie has some great moments and wonderful performances and cameos, there are many replayed jokes from the first film that just aren't as funny the second time around. The humor seems more staged and forced than the first as well. Another thing working against the movie is that people suddenly had high expectations for the film. They knew how funny it could be, and when it wasn't they cried bad movie. The is unfair, because when viewed on its' own, this is a wonderfully entertaining movie.
Image and Sound The image, like the picture, is not as well done as the original. While it is an acceptable transfer, it could be better. There are many times in the film where the colors seemed especially subdued. This is especially noticeable during the "communist party" scene. It felt like we were watching the action through sunglasses. The outdoor shots, on the other hand, were all wonderfully lit and captured on the disc. There are a few examples of grain on the film, but it isn't overly noticeable. Details in black and shadows were inconsistent where some shots looked great, and others not. The sound though is much better. The sound has been remixed from the original 2.0 to the 5.1 mix. However since the movie is dialogue driven there isn't much difference. It does sound more natural in the 5.1, but the extra speakers are rarely used for sound effects. The main place you notice the sounds is during the two main band performances by Aerosmith. There is one at the beginning and one at the end. These sections give your stereo something to do.
The Extras While the back of the package doesn't let on that there are a lot of extras here, there are some gems worth looking for. When the menu is displayed it looks like your standard television guide channel. It tells you what is on the different stations on the bottom and runs advertisements at the top. The original trailer, sans music, runs on the top half in between the ads. There are also ads for the weather, cable access commercials, Roddie Training Camp, Club Schwing, and Mr. Wong's Martial Art School. Along with Wayne's World 2 you can access clips for "Solid Gold Workout," "I Love Lucy," and the Elvis movie "Fun in Acapulco." Besides these items and the commentary the only other extra is a 14-min featurette entitled "Extreme Close-Up." This features most of the main cast, though Christopher Walken is missing. They talk about their inspiration for the movie, favorite scenes and what it was like working with everyone. There is also a small section where they talk about all the cameos.
Commentary This commentary features director Stephen Surjik. This is his first feature film having previously worked with Lorne Michaels on Kids In The Hall. He talks sporadically through the film. Sadly his comments are not that interesting. He briefly talks about difficulty of filming. He does spend some time talking about how to manipulate comedy audiences though use of lighting and temperature. There is also a bit about how modern audiences have extremely short attention spans and so he had to cut all the scenes down to be as short as possible. Personally I found this to be a bit insulting. He goes on about the glory of Kim Basinger, and how perfect she looks. Other than some small nuggets of information this is an extremely dry commentary. There is no interest or enthusiasm about the film evident. In fact most of his topics revolves around himself. I recommend this commentary only for die-hard fans.
Final Words: If you can find this DVD at a good price then snap it up. It is still an enjoyable film to watch. If you have to choose between one and two, then definitely stick with one. The commentary by Surjik doesn't add anything to the value of the film. You actually tend to tune him out and listen to the film. It would have been great to have Myers and Carvey do a commentary together. We can only dream. To recap this is an entertaining movie and worth watching. The lack of great extras makes this a rental, but should be purchased at a good price!


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 July 21, 2001