Wayneâs World 2
Looking back, itâs easy to see the basic appeal of the Wayneâs World movies in that they were comedies about two (obviously) adult males who had simply refused to grow up (and not in the Michael Jackson / Peter Pan kind of way). They and their friends would spend their lives tooling around through haphazard mishmash storylines littered with random pop culture references and spoofs, hanging out in various bars and restaurants (although Wayne and Garth were never shown drinking) and lots and lots of great rock music (with excellent soundtrack selections to prove it). They were the quintessential example of the notion that you can not only refuse to accept responsibility, but still have a great life in doing so. It was a fantasy perhaps, but one which brought a real charge and relatability to the characters. After the smashing success of the original, a sequel was ordered into production almost immediately with principal photography starting only six months prior to its 1993 release! This time, Mike Myers appeared to finally get the situation he wanted for filming as original director Penelope Spheeris was happily replaced for allegedly interfering with his vision for the concept by journeyman Stephen Surjik, whom one presumes was willing to defer to Myers on having final say over the filming (as was always believed to be the situation with Jay Roach on the Austin Powers films). That would prove to not be the case though, as once again Myers would clash with his director onset and turn it into a stormy shoot, made even worse by a reported falling out during filming between Myers and Dana Carvey himself, a state of affairs which was said to have pretty much ended the series and any chance whatsoever for any future sequels. It was a shame that the franchise would stop at Part 2, as (unlike Powers which clearly dragged on for too long) the potential was there to have kept the whole thing going for at least 2 or 3 more films without running out of gas, due mostly to the abundance of usuable rock music and various movie spoofs that could have been utilized. Alas, this was the end of the road for Wayne and Garth, but at least a couple of the concepts can be considered ballsy in their own way (Myers reportedly wanted Federico Fellini to direct, but was not taken too seriously). Most notably is the idea of having Wayne (in his dreams) find himself in the desert to have a face to face conversation with none other than Jim Morrison (played by Michael Nickles, whom despite being a guy who spent some time as a professional Morrison impersonator, is not really all that convincing when compared to Val Kilmer) along with his half naked Indian friend who tells Wayne that his real purpose in life is to stage a massive concert in his hometown of Aurora, Illinois and that âif you book the bands, then they will comeâ. Of course even though itâs obvious that the Morrison angle here was more a direct parody of Oliver Stoneâs seminal tribute / biographical drama about The Doors than Morrison himself, the Morrison estate (controlled by the family of his late girlfriend Pamela Courson) didnât find it so amusing and slapped the filmmakers with a lawsuit that was quickly settled out of court. Morrison also tells Wayne to seek out the greatest roadie who ever lived (British character actor Ralph Brown) and bring him into town so that he can run the actual concert itself and all the technical difficulties that come with it. As the legendary roadie, Brown is actually allowed a couple of legitimate opportunities to steal the movie outright, including telling the same story over and over again or forgetting other anecdotes entirely (like when talking about Woodstock) after too many years of the partying life on the road. On the personal front, we learn that Wayne is still involved with his Asian rock singer girlfriend (Tia Carrere, thankfully toning down many of her smug, smarmy characteristics from the first film and playing the character as a more normal, laid back type rather than as some untouchable goddess who had somehow lowered herself to date a guy like Wayne) whose new manager handling her career has intentions of both getting her to drop her old band for not being all that good to begin with AND in dropping Wayne as well so that him and her can be married instead. The interesting thing about the casting here was that after successfully spoofing his own sleazy narcissist image in the first film, Rob Lowe was offered this similar role from the first film even though he would actually be playing a different character (maybe on the idea that all sleazebag types who try to move in on Wayneâs girlfriend look just like him) and turned it down, deciding that doing so would âconfuse the audienceâ (although it didnât stop Chris Farley from playing a different role in each movie). Who we got instead in the part was Christopher Walken, certainly not a lightweight acting wise but also noticeably playing it very toned down from his usual self so as not to distract the viewer from the antics of the main stars. As for Carvey as Garth (after grumbling to Myers that he didnât have enough to do), the decision was made to give him a major romance / sex subplot involving Kim Basinger (playing it up here as a pure sex kitten and made to look just as gorgeous) as Honey Hornee, whom Garth meets at the laundromat and begins a torrid sexual relationship with (his first) and the Basinger subplot was considered to be just so absurd and funny that it was even played up in the movieâs advertising. The plot here is noticeably more focused than it was the first time around, staying on point with the whole rock concert / losing girlfriend threads while still having a whole heck of a lot of extracurricular activity going around as well, including the presence of Aerosmith playing at a concert that the main characters attend at the beginning of the film and of course the various surprise cameos that came to be a tradition of sorts for the series (although Ed OâNeill returning as the slightly crazed donut shop manager is sadly given very little to do here after his scene stealing bits in Part 1). Everyone from Rip Taylor to Heather Locklear to Kevin Pollack to Ted McGinley to Harry Shearer to Olivia DâAbo to Drew Barrymore put in an appearance here with the funniest bits being the hysterical flashlight âLeprechaunâ routine that Wayne and Garth do on their show (yes, they still do the cable access show but now itâs from their loft in an abandoned factory rather than from Wayneâs parentsâ basement) thatâs just funny in ways that canât be described and of course the inevitable meeting between Wayne and his girlfriendâs father (Asian character acting legend James Hong) that turns into an all out martial arts battle complete with bad dubbing and physically impossible fighting moves. Still, the film seems to run out of steam a bit as it approaches the home stretch, with Brownâs crazed super roadie seeming to be all played out as far as they can take him and Carveyâs Garth seeming to not contribute all that much after the Basinger subplot runs its course, but then Myers hits upon pure genius with maybe the single greatest elaborate movie spoof ever conceived in a comedy, that being of Mike Nicholsâ The Graduate which plays out as not only being a brilliant homage in its own right, but also features enough comedic touches (that most fans of the original film would appreciate) to clearly distinguish it as being an awesome parody of that filmâs climactic scene while still retaining some of the originalâs power as well, making us laugh as well as remember just how great the older film has always been. Best of all, it allows us to squeeze in one more surprise cameo as well, and (given how itâs set up) it may very well amount to being the best cameo in the history of movies (which is no small feat). In fact, given just how strongly the movie ends, it not only proves that there was still enough gas in the tank of this franchise to have continued (whereas in comparison Powers should have ended with Part 2 since that movie barely passed muster enough to be considered good), but given how many of the parts that didnât work (i.e. Jim Morrison) can almost be forgiven is because these films would clearly continue to be entertaining given the almost freeform style of the filmmaking. But alas, Wayne and Garth would be no more even as these films managed to evoke both an era and a state of mind where just not giving a fuck became a virtue rather than a burdenâŚ
8/10