Grease 2

PLOT:

It is 1961, four years after the events of the first film took place, and a new academic year is just beginning at Rydell High School (Back To School Again). The Pink Ladies are now led by the insouciant Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer), who feels she has “outgrown” her relationship with the arrogant leader of the The T-Birds, Johnny Nogerelli (Adrian Zmed). A new arrival comes in the form of clean-cut English student Michael Carrington (Maxwell Caulfield), the cousin of Sandy Olsen (the character played by Olivia Newton-John in Grease). Michael quickly becomes obsessed with winning Stephanie, despite the gentle protestation of the sole remaining lead character from the first film, Frenchy (Didi Conn), who observes that she will never date him since he is not a T-Bird.

At the local bowling alley, a competitive game (Score Tonight) turns sour due to the animosity between Johnny and Stephanie. Johnny flirts with Stephanie’s friend and fellow Pink Lady, Paulette Rebchuck (Lorna Luft), to make Stephanie jealous, and she retaliates by kissing the next man who walks in the door, which happens to be Michael. Bemused by this unexpected kiss, Michael attempts to ask her out at an audition for the school talent show, but discovers that she has a very specific vision of her ideal man (Cool Rider). He realizes that he will only win her affection if he turns himself into a cool rider, and begins saving up for a motorcycle by selling completed homework assignments to the academically-challenged T-Birds and other lazy students. He buys the bike and spends all his spare time learning to ride it.

Following an unusual, largely interactive biology lesson (Reproduction) given by new substitute teacher Mr. Stuart (Tab Hunter), a gang of rival motorcyclists called the Cycle Lords (led by Balmudo) surprise the T-Birds at the bowling alley. Before the fight starts, a lone anonymous biker appears and defeats the enemy gang, performing impressive stunts and leaping over police cars to disappear into the night (Who’s That Guy?). Stephanie is instantly fascinated with the stranger. The following day at school, Michael attempts to tell Stephanie that he is the “Cool Rider” but becomes tongue-tied. In a short comic scene, one of the T-Birds, Louis DiMucci (Peter Frechette), attempts to trick his sweetheart Sharon (Maureen Teefy) into losing her virginity to him by taking her to Michael’s uncle’s fallout shelter and faking a nuclear explosion (Let’s Do It For Our Country), but the plan backfires and she runs off in horror.

Stephanie is surprised again by the Cool Rider while working at a gas station, and they enjoy a romantic twilight motorcycle ride. Just as Michael is about to reveal his identity, they are interrupted by the arrival of the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies; before Michael disappears, he tells Stephanie that he will see her at the talent show, in which the Pink Ladies are performing. Johnny, enraged by Stephanie’s new romance, threatens to fight the Cool Rider if he sees him with her again, and the group has an argument about who belongs to whom. The Pink Ladies exit haughtily, although this has little effect on the T-Birds’ innate self-confidence (Prowlin’). At school, Stephanie’s poor grades in English lead her to accept Michael’s offer of help with her essay on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but although she has warmed to him considerably, he still cannot reveal his double identity (Charade).

By this point, Stephanie has begun to realize that, despite his shy, bookworm outward appearence, Michael is a kind, good hearted guy who genuinely cares about her. She then slowly begins to discover that she has similar feelings for him, and starts to reciprocate his crush. These events are not lost on their mutual acquaintances, and Johnny, upon seeing them together in a discussion, demands that Stephanie quit the Pink Ladies for his “rep” and subtly threatens that the T-Birds will beat Michael if she refuses (“Don’t damage the rep we won’t damage new friends.”). Stephanie is visibly upset by this and consequently quits the Pink Ladies. Although still head over heels for the Cool Rider, interactions with Michael reveal that she has become smitten with him as well.

Outside the talent show, Stephanie and the Cool Rider meet, but are instantly ambushed by the T-Birds who pursue Michael in a motorcycle chase, with Stephanie and the Pink Ladies following in a car. They pursue him to a closed-off construction site which conceals a deadly drop, and the biker’s absence suggests that he has perished below, leaving Stephanie inconsolable. They return to the talent show to perform, but during the ladies’ number (A Girl For All Seasons), Stephanie is overcome and stops singing, sinking to the floor. Oblivious to the audience, she enters a dreamlike fantasy world where she is reunited with her mystery biker (Turn Back The Hands Of Time). As her reverie finishes, it appears she has been singing a solo; she is duly named winner of the contest, and crowned the queen of the upcoming luau, with Johnny hailed as her king.

The school year ends with the graduation luau (Rock-A-Hula Luau) during which Johnny and Stephanie engage in an intense argument while being carried onto the pool in a floating throne. The Cycle Lords appear and begin to destroy the celebration, but are stopped by the emergence of the Cool Rider, much to the surprise of Stephanie. After roundly defeating the Cycle Lords and leaping over the pool on his motorcycle, he finally reveals himself to all in attendance to be Michael. After the initial shock, Johnny offers him a T-Bird jacket and welcomes him into the gang, and Stephanie finally accepts that she can have “two for the price of one” – a cool rider and a Shakespeare. All of the couples pair off happily (We’ll Be Together).

REVIEW:

Grease was a huge hit, so of course it makes sense to make a sequel, right? Wrong! If ever filmmakers need any proof that sequels to films that don’t set them up don’t work, then they look no further than Grease 2. 

I don’t want to start off by bashing this thing’s head in. Actually, there are quite a few redeeming qualities, such as the fact that they brought back a couple of characters from the original, plus 3 of the teachers. This helps to maintain the continuity. The Pink Ladies and T-Birds are still around, even if they are different generations of the factions.

The music in this film is inconsistent. Some songs are catchy and memorable. The kind of stuff you expect in a musical, whereas others sound like someone wrote them in 5 minutes in order to meet a deadline. As I’ve said in previous reviews of musicals, not all the songs need to steal the show, or even be memorable, but it helps. However, when a good portion of the songs seem to be rushed on paper, then there is a problem.

The cast is by far the least impressive I’ve seen in an on-screen musical. Is it any wonder none of them went on to become big stars, except for Michelle Pfeiffer, and even her career didn’t take off apparently until the year after this was released when Scarface came out. Pfeifer and Maxwell Caulfield lack the chemistry that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John possessed in the first film. to me, they seemed like a couple of high school kids in a badly acted play.Both the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are moreso just glorifies extras with a few lines here and there. At least in the first film, they each had individual personalities, here they have said personalities, but they just seem to be there for the paycheck.

I made it a good portion of my life without seeing this atrocity of a film, and it is such a shame that I couldn’t have made it my entire life without seeing it. This is not a bad film per se, but it is far from being a good one. The music is below standard, the acting far below what you would expect from a Hollywood picture, and the only thing with mention is the fact that htis is the film debut of Michelle Pfeiffer. Still, if you’re a fan of musicals, you may like it. I didn’t, but you have to make your own decision.

3 out of 5 stars