I don't know what compelling reason there was to make this movie in the first place. If it was trying to cash in on the success of the 1984 original (and the 1987 sequel, to a lesser extent), Fox would have put it in theatres. Then again, maybe that was the original idea. This wouldn't be the first film to simply go direct to TV and video when they studio decided not to waste time with a theatrical release.
The movie itself just isn't very funny. It's a rehash of the events in the first movie, but doesn't have the raunchy edge of that film, nor does it have the peculiar but undeniable heart that actually gave the original some emotional punch. Comparing the scene at the pep rally there and the finale here in court is kind of comparing a small diamond to a big piece of broken glass.
The new nerds also aren't very interesting, and Gregg Binkley tries hard but doesn't have the weird watchable quality that Robert Carradine does. If you'll look closely the credits list "Chi" in the cast; that's Chi McBride, playing Malcolm Pennington III, and giving almost no indication that he'd emerge as a terrific actor (and certainly none that he'd be the breakthrough star on BOSTON PUBLIC, playing Steven Harper).
One thing that sort of caught my attention was the way the nerds here kept making implicit references to other minority groups. When Lewis refuses to help his cousin and other persecuted nerds, he's labeled "a self-hating nerd." Another character says they need "as many nerds in power as they can get." And when a character admits at the film's end that he's a secret nerd, he says "It feels great to come out of the closet!" The point seems to be that being a nerd is like being black, gay, Jewish, female, from another country, what have you. It's a strange point.
The film has another actor play Gilbert near the end, as Anthony Edwards followed up on his very brief role in the 2nd movie by not appearing here at all. He didn't appear in part 4 either, and III came out a few years before he broke through on ER. Didn't like seeing someone else play his role, but it fit this misshapen, boring film.
There is one great line here. When Lewis and wife Betty ask the local college DJ to broadcast in the name of nerd freedom, the DJ stands up and says, "There's no greater friend to the nerd, than the American DJ. If we weren't all nerds ourselves, we'd all be on television." It's such a good line that it overlooks that most college radio stations have so little listening range that the DJ might be the only person who gets the message.
