Just one year after the original "Wayne's World" movie became a surprise hit, Mike Myers & Dana Carvey returned as Wayne & Garth for another cinematic adventure. Although generally regarded as being inferior to the first movie, "Wayne's World 2" nevertheless features several memorable scenes.
However, I think that the main problem with the movie is that these scenes are sprinkled throughout a story that just plain isn't that interesting. After having a dream where he speaks to Jim Morrison about doing something with his life, Wayne goes about organizing a music festival. As you might expect, he quickly finds himself in over his head.
This is a decent enough premise but the actual "Wayne's World" TV show gets almost totally ignored, so this needn't have been a "Wayne's World" movie to begin with. Although the story was supposed to illustrate character growth, the fact is that Wayne & Garth don't actually do a whole lot to make the festival a success. Apart from this, the Wayne & Cassandra romantic subplot mostly seems like a rehash of what we saw already in the first movie.
I'm probably being a bit harsh on the screenplay, though. As I said before, there are several memorable scenes which are brought to life by a pretty good cast. Particularly notable is Ralph Brown as British roadie Del Preston. Other memorable moments are provided by the likes of James Hong, Kim Basinger, Harry Shearer & Drew Barrymore. Christopher Walken is also here in a prominent supporting role but, unfortunately, I find his character to be pretty colourless.
Behind the camera, Penelope Spheeris didn't return as director due to clashing with Myers the first time around but "Kids in the Hall" alumni Stephen Surjik did a respectable job in her place. Of course, being "Wayne's World", music plays an important role in the movie. Overall, the soundtrack is probably better this time, even though there's nothing as iconic as the uses of "Bohemian Rhapsody" & "Dream Weaver" from the first movie.
Ultimately, "Wayne's World 2" mostly avoids feeling like a retread but it seems to me that it works better in individual scenes than on the whole. It still makes for an enjoyable hour and a half but it's missing the indefinable spark that made the original stand out.
However, I think that the main problem with the movie is that these scenes are sprinkled throughout a story that just plain isn't that interesting. After having a dream where he speaks to Jim Morrison about doing something with his life, Wayne goes about organizing a music festival. As you might expect, he quickly finds himself in over his head.
This is a decent enough premise but the actual "Wayne's World" TV show gets almost totally ignored, so this needn't have been a "Wayne's World" movie to begin with. Although the story was supposed to illustrate character growth, the fact is that Wayne & Garth don't actually do a whole lot to make the festival a success. Apart from this, the Wayne & Cassandra romantic subplot mostly seems like a rehash of what we saw already in the first movie.
I'm probably being a bit harsh on the screenplay, though. As I said before, there are several memorable scenes which are brought to life by a pretty good cast. Particularly notable is Ralph Brown as British roadie Del Preston. Other memorable moments are provided by the likes of James Hong, Kim Basinger, Harry Shearer & Drew Barrymore. Christopher Walken is also here in a prominent supporting role but, unfortunately, I find his character to be pretty colourless.
Behind the camera, Penelope Spheeris didn't return as director due to clashing with Myers the first time around but "Kids in the Hall" alumni Stephen Surjik did a respectable job in her place. Of course, being "Wayne's World", music plays an important role in the movie. Overall, the soundtrack is probably better this time, even though there's nothing as iconic as the uses of "Bohemian Rhapsody" & "Dream Weaver" from the first movie.
Ultimately, "Wayne's World 2" mostly avoids feeling like a retread but it seems to me that it works better in individual scenes than on the whole. It still makes for an enjoyable hour and a half but it's missing the indefinable spark that made the original stand out.