शॉर्ट सर्किट 2

As much as I enjoyed the first movie, I had a feeling that getting the second one on DVD would be a mistake. I should have gone with my gut feeling. On the cover, it says that Siskel and Ebert have uttered that this may possibly be better than the first one. I really doubt that - someone please give me the reference if I'm mistaken. The problem is, as with Crocodile Dundee 2 and numerous other sequels, the purpose and originality of the first movie is the development of the characters. The quirks, social ineptitude, surprising qualities, cultural clashes, are what make the movie worthwhile and even enjoyable to watch. With a revenue success, far too often a sequel will appear. Again and again, it becomes clear that when you apply the lovable characters from the first movie to some formulaic plot in the sequel, it fails. It not only fails, it becomes painful to watch, going from one cliché to the next. Funnily enough, the kids seem to like it...

In this second installment of Short Circuit, Johnny Five is sent to New York to help his creator Ben Javari(Fisher Stevens), run his new toy business, which is lagging behind in production. Number Five decides while he's at it to check out the city and runs afoul of everyone, including the police and greedy banker Oscar Baldwin(Jack Weston), who has stolen a collection of valuable international jewels. When Number Five is smashed to near death by Baldwin and his gang, he decides to get his revenge. Can Number Five survive a leaking main battery and very little backup power long enough to outsmart Oscar and recover the jewels before he dies? Give this a rent and find out.

Number Five is back! This time he goes to New York City to help his co-creator Ben Jahrvi (Fisher Stevens) making toys-tiny robots that look just like Five. And he has named himself "Johnny Five"! Can you imagine what will happen when Johnny realizes that he's in a big city (No one has told that to him...he was put in a box to be transferred from Montana to where Ben is located...because they know how curious and crazy for input he is) and then goes out exploring just about everywhere?

Johnny talks a lot more like a human than he used to, but people still treat him like a ridiculous-looking machine, they don't know he is alive, and they are not willing to believe it. As Johnny Five helps Ben and his partner Fred Ritter (Michael McKean), we can see Johnny is very intelligent, cheerful, full of life and loves to help. And then, Oscar Baldwin (Jack Weston), a man who's about to steal some really valuable jewelry, notices Johnny's being naive, enthusiastic about helping people and his abilities. He and two other thieves proceed to cheat and use Johnny Five. But Johnny will go chasing them soon after he's aware of what has happened. The movie is dramatic, breath-taking, dynamic and heart-warming.

Interestingly, the endings of the original and of the sequel are quite opposite in some way, but they are both happy ones. Tim Blaney, as the voice of Johnny Five, successfully brought the character to life. Michael McKean as Fred, a smart, a little bit greedy salesman, who basically is not a bad guy. He played so beautifully that he made Fred become a very charming guy!

I want to thank the creators, the entire cast and the crew for this extraordinary work. Also, the soundtrack is great. Johnny Five is so charismatic, When you watch this film you will fall in love with this remarkable life form immediately!

I remember heading to the video store with my parents as a child and managed to convince them to rent Short Circut 2 for more. I loveed it so much my parents would make me promise to not beg them to rent it (for the 5th time) before they would let me in the store. Life went on and I forgot about the movie until I was helping a friend filter through his closet for stuff and found an older TV recording of the movie. I borrowed it and watch, and then logged on IMBD, only to discover it was released on DVD just a week earlier and immediatly ordered it. I can't remember the last time I was so happy.

This movie will always be one of my favorites. Johnny Five is just so charming and likeable. The soundtrack gets is great and fits the mode just right, choosing to forgo most of the pop music for mood music. Even the opening scene music still isn't that far off from from todays standards (I could imagine it in a film today unlike most of the other 80's soundtracks). Anyway, it actually jerked a tear when Johnny got all beat up :( I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys movies that deal with emotions, relationships, and the most charismatic robot ever. When I become rich, I want a full replica of him. For anyone who dosen't like this movie, well, I suppose you are entitled to your own opinion.. even if it is wrong.

Jonny Five's back... is this a good thing? Actually, yes. The good news is that Fisher Stevens' character, Ben Jahrvi, is the star of this movie and has a lot more attention. In the first movie, he was overshadowed by Steve Guttenberg. Also, the music score is cool too. The bad news is that this movie could have been better. Jonny Five talks more like a human now but that is not necessarily a bad thing. If you've never seen Short Circuit or Short Circuit 2 then please watch you may like it. If you've seen Short Circuit and despised it, then don't watch this.