"They fear daylight, multiply underwater, turn ugly when fed after midnight... and they love New York!"

Billy and Kate are employed in the same high-tech building where Gizmo, the authentic mogwaï, is held captive. The Clamp Corporation had captured him when they took possession of boutique previously owned by Gizmo’s wise master. We are quickly put back into context. The rules of the game haven’t changed: water makes them reproduce, eating after midnight makes them monstrous and light kills them. Gizmo, once exposed to a small quantity of water reproduces once again. The newborns are even more malicious than the previous generation’s Gremlins. In the blink of an eye, they have eaten after midnight and therefore become monstrous creatures that take over the building, terrorizing the personnel and visitors.

The numerous gadgets in beta testing in this building had the habit of working pretty badly but problems grow tenfold when the little devils decide to sabotage both motors and electrical devices. They also have the time of their life playing with the scientific equipment, ingurgitating experimental chemical substances that alter their abilities and appearances. Basically, they turn into living gardens, bats, spiders, electrical current, femmes fatales, dictators and others.

If we don’t find a way to exterminate them before nightfall, they will invade the streets of New York.

These little monsters are such a powerful entity that the drastic change of setting in Gremlins 2 : The New Batch only slightly affects the original atmosphere. The makers of the film even found a way to subtly replace all of the first movie’s elements that couldn’t be brought over. The father’s defected gadgets are replaced by those located in the building, the murders by household appliances are substituted with murders by office equipment and the quiet village, by an introverted technological “city”. The only nostalgic element that is missing is Christmas time and the jingles that come with it.

The new generation of little devils is more interesting than the first. Whether it be under their mogwaï or mutant form, they are now clearly distinguishable and therefore they gain personality. The situation only intensifies when they start guzzling random potions and transforming into even more frightening freak-shows.

This sequel has a more pronounced tendency towards humor and especially parody, an aspect that has taken center stage. Their jokes aren’t always funny but coming from these faces with deformed eyes and mouths, they always manage to make us laugh.

The theme music returns, the Bill/Kate/Mogwaï trio is always as charming and narrative; humor is omnipresent. Gremlins 2: The New Batch doesn’t beat the original but is still an excellent piece of work. The only two aspects that aren’t up to par in this sequel are maturity and subtlety. However, the movie greatly compensates with action, jokes, special effect and turnarounds.