DVDFile

Wayne's World 2- It's the movie the MPAA calls "ribald" and "PG-13"!

Well, it's been a year since we first partied with that most excellent dude Wayne Campbell, and a few things have changed. He and Garth have moved out of their parents' homes and are now living in a closed down doll factory. They're still doing the Wayne's World cable access show, but Wayne feels an emptiness to his life that he can't explain - he wants to do something extraordinary with his life, but fears he'll just never get around to it. But then Doors crooner Jim Morrison visits him in his sleep one night, and tells him that he must put on a rock concert in Aurora, IL. This is to be the meaning of his life. Thus, Wayne begins his odyssey of self-discovery and so begins Wayne's World 2.

When 1992's Wayne's World defied expectations and became a box office phenomenon (to the tune of nearly $200 million worldwide) a sequel was a no-brainer. But while Wayne's World caught most offguard, Wayne's World 2 had the added baggage of high expectations weighing it down. Everything about the film is bigger and more elaborate, but little is better. While the first movie had a handful of interesting and inspired cameos and performances, Wayne's World 2 appears like some sort of roll-call of who was hot at the time, with the likes of Drew Barrymore, Kevin Pollack, Kim Basinger, Heather Locklear and Charlton Heston all making appearances.

And that might be Wayne's World 2's biggest fault. It just feels like a high-concept sequel through and through. The setups and jokes are more forced, with an undercurrent of desperation to outdo the original permeating the film. That's not to say that Wayne's World 2 isn't a funny or entertaining movie, as it most certainly is. It just suffers from a lack of spontaneity that made the first film so special. It has its share of classic and hilarious moments, such as a martial arts fight with Cassandra's father, a parody of The Graduate and a YMCA segment that is totally obvious but still hilarious. While Wayne's World 2 may suffer in comparison to the first film, you have to give it some credit. At least it is far funnier than any of those other "official" SNL movies to come down the pike in years.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

This is not quite as impressive a transfer as that for Wayne's World, but with a different director and cinematographer, picture inconsistencies with the original are bound to happen. Wayne's World 2 has a slightly grainier appearance than the original, though not distractingly so. Colors are generally well rendered and solid, although I did find just a few instances where colors seemed to bleed slightly. The black level is very good, but a few of the shots in the film lacked totally convincing shadow detail, appearing slightly heavy and plugged up instead. Detail is excellent overall, with some of the film's softer shots attributable to the original photography. I noticed no areas of concern regarding compression, but the transfer does have a slight amount of edge enhancement that was noticeable on occasion. While generally very good, the transfer for Wayne's World 2 falls somewhat short of excellence.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

Like the audio for the first film, Wayne's World 2's original two-channel surround soundtrack has been remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1 and also like the original, doesn't really differentiate itself from the original mix. Surround and directional effects are subtle with the music being the only element that really gets to stretch its legs in the mix. I did catch a few split surround effects, but for the most part the surrounds remain mono in character, although with a more spacious feel to them than is heard in the 2.0 mix. Dialog is distortion free and devoid of masking from music and effects, allowing the jokes to come through clearly. There's nothing wrong with the soundtrack, but it's a bit general in terms of fidelity and creativity. It's hard to find fault though with what is offered.

A 2.0 Dolby surround track is also included in English and French, with English subtitles and true English Closed Captioning.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Not content to let the first movie have all the fun, Paramount has granted Wayne's World 2 its own fair share of extras, starting with a new screen-specific audio commentary with director Stephen Surjik. Wayne's World 2 represents Surjik's feature film debut after a stint directing comedy inserts for the Kids In The Hall TV show, and this is his first commentary track. I found his comments to be more or less obvious and lacking the freakish energy that Penelope Spheeris provided for the first film. Surjik starts out strong, but it doesn't take long before he lapses into substantial gaps of silence. It would have been really nice to hear him discuss in detail the challenges in attempting a sequel, especially when it is your first feature film, but his comments are pretty straightforward and lacking in enthusiasm. Still, it's not a bad track and should be of interest for diehard fans of the film.

Also as with the DVD of the first film, Paramount has produced a new documentary, Extreme Close-Up: Wayne's World 2. At a shorter running time of only about fourteen-minutes, this one isn't quite as involving as the original, and left me thirsting for more. Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Tia Carrere, Lorne Michaels and Stephen Surjik all contribute new interviews about the making of the sequel, the pitfalls and their sincere attempts to make it better.

Unfortunately, neither the teaser trailer for Wayne's World 2, which spoofed the THX sound system, nor the final release trailer have been included. The Wayne's World 2 trailer can, however, be briefly glimpsed on the main menu during a clip spoofing those cable TV channel guide previews. It appears without music, however, indicating that perhaps music rights issues where the reason the full trailer doesn't appear on this disc?

Parting Thoughts

While I don't think Wayne's World 2 is as good a movie as the original, it certainly had big shoes to fill and did a fairly good job at it. The sequel delivers some big laughs, and I'd rather watch it a million times before subjecting myself to another viewing of A Night At The Roxbury! The DVD, like the movie, tries desperately to equal the original, and while it falls a bit short, it remains a fairly good disc in its own right.