2 Lava 2 Lantula (2016)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Steve Guttenberg, Michael Winslow, Michele Weaver
Directed by Nick Simon
They’re creepy, they’re crawly, they’re hotter than ever, and they’re back! For the love of all cheesy, ungodly sequels, those volcanically-spawned arachnids are once again on the loose in southern Florida (who knew), and it’s up to the Police Academy graduates to put the squash on them once and for all!
Wait a minute, is this yet another sequel in the line of those screwball recruits, or is this a Sharknado clone in disguise? A little bit of both, for all those keeping score, and while it doesn’t possess the sheer magnitude of its Selachimorphic cinematic relative (Syfy relation, specifically), it still manages to shove the laughs and goofiness down our throats. Now, whether or not you can retain the stuff in your stomachs is entirely up to you.
Steve Guttenberg returns as action star Colton West, who’s filming a buddy-cop movie with… who else? Michael Winslow reprising his role of Marty from the first film as well. When the distress call comes from West’s stepdaughter (Weaver) partying on the beach… hold on, where the hell was she in the first movie? Anyway, those damned fire-antulas… or blaze-antulas… or whatever the hell they are come a’calling and lay waste to the beach they lay legs upon in a hurry, and it’s up to Colton and the fellas to spring into action and freeze up these killer insects, courtesy of Marty’s constructed liquid nitrogen pseudo-rifles (the best way I could describe them).
Bolstered by a few new faces added to the mix, the small crew alongside Colton’s daughter struggle to survive the attack in the hopes she can be reunited with her stepdad. I typed up this review during the film’s August 6th premiere on Syfy, and I’m sure the majority of you all bypassed the sewage-spilling Olympic Games in Rio to check this one out. If so, let me know what you thought of the entertainment factor at hand, many minuses aside.
If you look the other way when the horrendous CGI or cheesy acting or completely inane thought processes take over, you’ll most likely never see a minute of the film; but if you’re into goofy humor, TONS of cinematic references (Jurassic Park, Scarface, and “Miami Vice,” just to name a few), and all-around creature film fun, then I can recommend this crazy production wholeheartedly to whoever is willing to invest a couple of hours on a Saturday night.
This makes a great “party film” and is meant to not be taken seriously for one solitary moment… I mean, when the “gargantulantula” makes her way on screen, all plausibility goes right out the window – not that it hadn’t taken the leap in the first movie, but I digress. Guttenberg is intently hokey and still to this day works like a charm partnering around with Winslow, and even Officer Hooks (Marion Ramsey) is in the mix for another go-round. All in all, everything adds up to a totally flaky flick, but it’s such a guilty pleasure to indulge in.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
