Fly 2
Most sequels to classic films almost always know in general that they have a tough act to follow which in the end usually comes down to the exact execution of said sequel in terms of its quality. Case in point is this 1989 release which tasked itself as being an all purpose follow up to David Cronenbergâs amazing 1986 classic The Fly (itself a remake), a gory, gooey and yet still introspective and nihilistic masterpiece that not only fulfilled the usual Cronenberg requirements of covering the horrors of bodily transformation and mutation, but also featured a brilliant, soulful, Oscar worthy performance by Jeff Goldblum as the doomed scientist who comes oh so close to perfecting the invention of the century only to fall short when his genes are fused with that of a fly leading to a transformation that at first seems to give him amazing superhuman abilities until he realizes that in a short period of time he will not even be human anymore and most likely killed off for being âdifferentâ. Along the way he romanced a reporter played by Geena Davis, screwing her well after the genetic changes were underway and impregnating her with child which is where we arrive at the opening scene of this movie. Davis declined to come back for the opening birth scene (where her character dies on the delivery room table) and was replaced by a lookalike actress instead (although years later Davis tried to develop an âalternate realityâ sequel to be called Flies where her character would have played a mother trying to raise several genetic mutants spawned by her relationship with the Goldblum character). The child that is born (inside a large larvae pouch) is named Martin and is quickly adopted by the billionaire industrialist Bartok (Lee Richardson) who most notably had been mentioned by name in the first movie as being the one who had been financing all of Goldblumâs experiments with the telepod. But here, he serves as an all purpose villain albeit with fascinating shades of grey throughout, since Martin was born with a genetic disorder (which he is falsely told is the same as his late fatherâs condition) that causes him to age rapidly so that by the time he is 5 years old he has already grown to manhood and is played by Eric Stoltz. Expecting Stoltz in the lead role to put on anywhere near an acting tour de force as Goldblum did is obviously asking a bit much, but then again expecting the film itself to reach the same creative highs as Cronenberg (who turned down the chance to return as director) did with his original piece of work is also asking a lot, so knowing that the only area that they could top the first movie in was in gore and special makeup effects, they actually went and hired in (promoted so to speak) the first filmâs makeup artist Chris Walas to sit in the directorâs chair here, successfully overseeing what has to be some of the most gruesome scenes in cinema history as a result, not only putting this film up high on the list of the goriest of all time, but also one that given the time period it was made in (late 1980s) somehow got past The MPAA with merely an R rating and on into theaters in widespread distribution with some theatres actually choosing to have a nurse on site just in case anybody became dreadfully sick from watching such a movie. In one particular scene though, the effects actually managed to cross the line into one of heartfelt pathos (particularly if youâre an animal lover) even as the scene itself and its effectiveness was a result of a brilliantly realized animatronic creation. But even more upsetting and nauseating than that is a bit where a bad guy security guard gets a faceful of fly vomit acid, melting his face off but leaving him still barely alive and breathing for a short period after that which brings up the rarely asked question, when is a bad guy getting whatâs coming to him a little bit TOO much than what he really deserves (i.e. a fate worse than death for merely being an asshole)? That brings us back to Richardsonâs billionaire Bartok and his relationship with Stoltzâs Martin Brundle. On the surface it seems that due to his rare genetic condition, Martin must be monitored under a microscope at all times and rightfully so for his own good while Bartok plays the role of adoptive daddy figure who in some ways really does care about him (keeping in mind that Bartok is not in any way responsible for either his fatherâs death nor his own condition). In addition, when Martin has grown to adulthood (at 5 years of age) and has been recognized as a prodigy genius (who never sleeps) who is smarter than all of the other scientists at the facility put together, Bartok offers him what seems to be the chance of a lifetime: to continue his late fatherâs work on the telepods which would not only make teleportation a reality, but gene splicing as well. Now while Bartok would appear to be a kindly type helping one with a unfortunate fate have a better life, there is one major problem: Stoltzâs Martin Brundle has indeed inherited his fatherâs condition of having mutant DNA (born naturally with it as opposed to a telepod malfunction) and it turns out that in time he will undergo the same transformation that his father did into a giant mutated human fly. Whatâs worse is that Bartok and his people have been aware of it since day one and are actually anticipating it in the hopes that they can study Martin as if he is really the next step in modern human evolution. This almost seems to cancel out the priority of getting Seth Brundleâs telepods to work (if Martinâs a literal monster, then scientific achievement probably wouldnât be a priority) but it appears that the Bartok character wants to have it both ways even if the well being of Martin himself was never actually all that important to him. To this end when Martin on one of his all night research binges manages to meet and hook up with a pretty office drone (Daphne Zuniga) working the graveyard shift, Bartok pretty much has the entire relationship (including the sex) documented on video through hidden cameras (with one of the security guard henchmen sneeringly admitting to having enjoyed the footage). As a result, it is Zuniga who winds up becoming Martinâs best friend and only person whom he can trust as he escapes Bartokâs clutches and the two go on a road trip to visit Stathis Borans (John Getz, the only actor returning from the first movie), the unlucky jilted boyfriend of Martinâs mother who watched her die in childbirth after Goldblum had previously melted off his hand and his foot, now a bitter drunk living in a spacious mansion who at first tries to turn Stoltz and Zuniga away before relenting and telling them some valuable information about what Goldblum had been up to in an awkwardly written but nonetheless well acted scene. Of course, if Martin had been able to cure himself without undergoing the metamorphosis, then this would really be a Fly sequel in name only, so once the transformation goes down (with Martin entering into a comfortable little cocoon for the final stages) do we get the big monster attack scenes around the Bartok compound with the aforementioned face melting as well as a long overdue vengeance against the genetic scientists working for Bartok who had been around him his whole life yet still treated him with contempt as if he were a piece of shit even while he was a child (with one of them having even purposely broken off a hypodermic needle while in his arm just to teach him a lesson) all while being thrilled to have had him as a research subject to conduct experiments on and possibly score a Nobel Prize off of it in stark contrast to Bartok himself who at least is shown displaying some empathy to poor Martin. The most remarkable thing here is that even without Goldblumâs bravado acting and the significant increase in gruesome gore and carnage, the film still retains that stark nihilism of Cronenbergâs original, albeit with an expanded cast (the first film was really just a 3 character piece) and even more amazingly, the successful pulling off of a happy ending that also serves as a healthy slice of irony. The soul searching tragedy of Goldblumâs Seth Brundle has now become a no holds barred monster movie that in many ways is a fun, gory romp (except for that emotional scene with the animal) and more importantly, makes no attempt to copy the actual story of the first film nor the style of telling it, using Stoltzâs Martin Brundle as a mere placeholder for the remarkable FX creation that he becomes which makes this entry a fine companion piece to what came before itâŚ
9/10