2 Lava 2 Lantula!

Lavalantula was a lot of cheesy fun, unusual for SyFy original movie. This sequel is not as good as the first one as Colton West (Steve Guttenberg) returns this time as a heroic action star because of the events of the first film.

This time he is making a film in Miami and his stepdaughter Raya is sunbathing in Fort Lauderdale when lava spitting spiders spew out of the ground and attack the people of Florida.

Colton with the help of his former Police Academy actors goes to rescue his daughter and with the help of the military, led by Colonel Jester (Martin Kove) he has to kill the giant gargantulantula.

Because of the Miami setting there are a lot of references to Miami Vice and Scarface but you will also spot references to Crocodile Dundee, Deliverance, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Die Hard, Independence Day, Indiana Jones and a lots of other films that will keep movie geeks satisfied.

It is still an enjoyable cheesy film, still better than a lot of SyFy films but an element of a rushed sequel as well.

The first Lavalantula (2015) was a surprisingly entertaining movie especially as it had the same vibe as the Sharknado franchise. Another blend of two things (Lava and Tarantulas) and starring three of the original stars of the 1980's Police Academy movies I had a lot of fun with it.

I was surprised to see a sequel created, even more so when I realised all the cast would be reprising their roles and was eager for more flamey spiders.

Though not bad it didn't live up to my expectations and in a way felt like a rushed sequel cashing in on the current popularity of these cheesy scyfy original movies.

For a start Guttenbergs character has gone from endearing to deeply annoying and that hurt the film, the amount of movie references packed into the film as well looked desperate and was sorely not needed.

Overall 2 Lava 2 Lantula is a definite watch for fans of the first but if this is the direction these movies will go then best stop here.

The Good:

Still do like me some flamey spiders

One particularly horrific death scene

Martin Kove is excellent as always

The Bad:

Guttenberg is deeply annoying this time round

Things I learnt from this movie:

Actors are apparently trained to fly grade A military helicopters for roles

4hrs of training is still fresh in a persons mind 25yrs later

Somewhere through the years Marion Ramsey forgot how to act

I thoroughly enjoyed the first movie. It was everything you would want out of a SyFy Channel monster movie. It was campy, the special effects were entertaining, and the acting wasn't so bad that it was distracting. It was like they were all in on the joke with us so we could all laugh together. Steve Guttenberg shined as an earnest, troubled action hero, passed his prime. As another reviewer put it, he was endearing. Incredibly endearing.

This sequel, unfortunately, lost all of the charm of its predecessor. I don't know whose idea it was to make Guttenberg try to act like a poor man's Vin Diesel, but it was a lot. The constant gravelly speaking voice punctuated by the unnecessary growls in between got to be annoying after the first 10 minutes. Although I have to admit, I did chuckle when he growled (Fast and the Furious style), "I don't have friends, I have family."

It had the same premise as the first movie. Lavalantulas are attacking and Colton West and his Police Academy costars are off to save Colton's family. The spiders were bigger and just as hard to pronounce. They packed in a TON of movie references. I noticed Crocodile Dundee, Miami Vice, Independence Day, Cocoon, Jurassic Park, and of course 2 Fast 2 Furious. I'm sure I missed more.

I think it could have worked if they hadn't made Steve Guttenberg's character so unlikable. They changed his character too much and it negatively affected the overall feel of the movie.

For some reason they have Gutenberg start talking like some tough guy after the first few scenes...and the character sounds stupid. Really, it's a typical crappy SyFy movie with a few good puns but Gutenbergs character just ruins it.

We're watching its debut right now and it's bad. The first one was funnier but at least they didn't seem to try and "act"...you know what I mean...not taking it too seriously. Stupid conversations at inopportune times when they should be running or shooting something.

I think they're trying to pay productions costs with the commercials...they are insanely long and often.

They should have stopped with the first movie, because that was actually a good, wholesome movie.

But as it usually goes with sequels, then so was also the case with "2 Lava 2 Lantula!" "2 Lava 2 Lantula!" was nowhere near the same level of entertainment and movie experience as the 2015 "Lavalantula" turned out to be. Why? Well, perhaps because it just lacked a proper storyline, but mostly because of Steve Guttenbergs performance in this sequel. I mean, he really surprised with his performance in the first movie, but then pulled up something else entirely for the sequel. His performance was wooden, rigid and he delivered all of his lines as if he was struggling with indigestion or something.

The effects in "2 Lava 2 Lantula!" were good and did live up to the effects from the first movie. Sure there were moments here and there with the occasional questionable effect, but in overall then the CGI and special effects team managed to deliver their craft with a good result. The spiders looked good and realistic most of the time, aside from the garganlavalantula, which turned out quite poor.

And the weapons in the movie was a major step back for the movie, especially the two freeze weapons that Steve Guttenberg and Michael Winslow were equipped with. What was up with this? First of all, they were way too oversized, and then they were also just too far out there.

It was good, though, to have some of the original cast from the first movie to return to the sequel, albeit not all of the performances were living up to what we saw in the 2015 "Lavalantula" movie.

There were a couple of spoofs on other movies and TV shows to be seen throughout the course of "2 Lava 2 Lantula!". Personally then I found the one on the "Miami Vice" TV show to be the most funny.

I was more than surprised and entertained with the first movie, but I must admit that I found "2 Lava 2 Lantula!" to be less than mediocre. And as such, then it scores a meager four out of ten stars from me.