Short Circuit 2 (1988)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A lot of fun.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This movie isn't as good as the first Short Circuit movie but it is still very funny. Steve Gutenberg is gone but Fisher Stevens is still here with Michael McKean instead and they're both great.

Sure, as a sequel it's outlandish, over the top, and rather kiddified, but SHORT CIRCUIT 2 was one of my favourite films as a kid and it's a movie that more than holds up on viewing as an adult. What's most interesting about this film is Johnny Five's character arc; every - and I mean EVERY - human character in the film either uses him or manipulates him in some way, so watching him discover that inner darkness and self-awareness is quite enthralling.Inevitably the film is also sentimental and cheesy in places, not to mention dated, but I can forgive such grievances because overall it works. My only problems were that Johnny was too over the top and annoying in places and needed his voice toning down a bit. Other than that, this works very well. Fisher Stevens once again gives a high energy turn but it's Michael McKean who really shines as the street huckster who discovers his heart as the storyline progresses.The bank robbery storyline is told very well and naturally and there are some fine moments, especially the communication via calculator which I thought was a mildly genius idea. And of course this all leads to a memorable and surprisingly adult climax with one of the most brutal beatings I've ever seen in a movie (adult or otherwise) and a great revenge-fuelled climax. Sterling effects work, a fast pace, involved storyline, and lots of laughs make SHORT CIRCUIT 2 a highlight of the 1980s.

The worst part about this movie is the repeat performance of Fisher Stevens as "Ben Jahveri". His fake accent is atrocious and his "hairy" facial makeup makes him look like an East Indian Wolfman. (He's not even of that nationality.) A real dumb storyline: Ben is a down and out computer genius selling miniature battery operated toys based on the Johnny Five design. He meets up with Fred Ritter (Michael McKean) and they devise a way to sell hundreds of them to Simpson's (Sears of Canada) as a Christmas toy. So, they send for Johnny to assemble them. It's supposed to take place in NYC, but it sure looks like Toronto, Canada to me. (Look for the Canadian-spelled signs) There are two major bad guys: 1.The loan shark's goons that keep breaking up the factory. 2.Oscar Baldwin (badly played by Jack Weston) who plots to break into his bank's vault to steal priceless diamonds. It's actually better than it sounds, as Johnny Five is the main character of the movie, and his giant "Muppet-Like" persona and actions are amazing. So many plot holes I could drive a double-decker bus through them: 1.The Army would certainly notice the robot is still alive and reclaim him. 2.An artificial lifeform would not quality for U.S. citizenship. 3.The background for the ceremony doesn't look American at all. Often "thrown in" as a double feature DVD along with the original "Short Circuit", which I like much better. Kids will watch it for the robot alone and not even notice how silly the whole thing is.

Because he must be alive, because a robot could rationalize the fact that because Ally Sheedy and Steve Guttenberg would not be back for the sequel then there probably should be no sequel. Especially when the only returning character was a totally annoying character from the first film. No, Johnny-5 must be alive as he was promised a big paycheck to play in the sequel. So in the end you get a sequel that just is not very good, with a rather weak story and an annoying human lead character and an annoying robot lead character. You get Toronto I think it was posing as New York and you get a pointless movie all around with a really ludicrous ending. Still, I am sure kids during the day might have enjoyed it. Heck, as a kid I enjoyed the film "Heart beeps" and from what I understand that movie is rather bad too. The only things tying this film to the first one is the robot, the one dude from the first one, and a silly voice over from Ally Sheedy. Other than that it is like the first movie was never made. I mean did the military just forget about their top secret robots, granted they might have thought he was destroyed in the first movie, but he is supposedly wheeling all over New Toronto I mean York. Just a movie to try and capture the little magic there was in the first film. I think it rather failed.