Scanners II : La Nouvelle Génération

Nothing can match the brilliance of David Cronenberg's original Scanners, but this first sequel does a good job of coming close.

The plot is essentially the same. Nice guy scanner doesn't understand his powers, hones his abilities, and eventually enters into a scanning war with an evil scanner. Some details are changed here and there, such as the police chief who wants to use scanners to accomplish a radical new shift in local government, and the long lost sister of the nice guy scanner that enables the hero to "possess" a target as opposed to scan him to death.

Scanners 2, like the original, has a reputation for being terribly gory. In reality, there are only two scenes of true gore, (an exploding head, and a spurting tumor on the back of a criminal's neck) but plenty of people flung against walls from unseen mental forces. A few folks end up with deformed faces, but no blood. The final climactic battle is very toned down, and results only in a burned-out corpse shown briefly.

The plot does have some references to the protagonists from the original film, but it is not necessary to see the first movie before seeing this one.

Scanners 2 is about some guy who is hired to work for a police commissioner to only find out the commissioner is a corrupt butt rammer and wants to control the city. It may not have the complexity or the originality the original Scanners movie did but my God was this fun as hell. It is very action oriented with lots of great and well executed bloody violence featuring head popping and people being flung around. The story was coherent enough, the pacing was good and the acting was neat. Not as good as the original (nuuuh) but a worthy sequel regardless.

Although the first sequel does not have an intriguing and thought-provoking script like the original, it does improve in other areas. The movie is slickly made on a low budget, making it look better than the first. It's fast-paced, and the "scanner" sequences are well-staged and deliver a good amount of blood and guts.

'Scanners 2: The New Order' & 'Scanners 3: The Takeover' are more stand-alone interpretations of the themes and scenarios introduced by Cronenberg's 1981 classic than actual sequels. By all rights, it's no surprise that few have seen these; they are oozing with an early-1990's, straight-to-video feel but, as a couple, there is some genuine weight here and both films definitely have their merits.

First of all, what is a 'Scanner'? Well, we learn in the original film that in the 1950's a medication called ephemerol was tested on a large number of women to ease the discomfort of pregnancy. Much to the surprise of all involved, the drug caused a mutation in the infants; they were born with powers including (but not limited to) telekinesis, extrasensory perception, and the ability to read minds. Each film builds on these powers, reaching a fever-pitch of suspended disbelief by the third.

In 'Scanners 2: The New Order' we are introduced to David Kellum, a mild-mannered veterinary student who's scanning abilities are just surfacing – apparently the result of his moving away from the quiet countryside and to a volatile (and fantastically Canadian) city. He is approached by a research lab that is trying to find fresh Scanners who are not psychopaths; one of the side effects of the mutation is that it often drives those affected completely insane. David discovers that the corporation has a dubious ulterior motive and he uses his newly tuned scanning abilities to fight back.

During a sweeping crimewave, a war is fought for the streets.

I'm not going to obsess over how inferior this is to the original movie. As much as I love that one, I never thought that it needed sequels. So I think an argument could be made that this needed to justify that connection. And it is not up to the task. The writing is beyond convenient, with illogical decisions made, awkward dialogue where two people say things to each other that they already both know for the audience's benefit, and essentially all of the moral ambiguity that made the first one so compelling, completely gone. Cronenberg sought to explore how it might affect someone's life to be born with psychic powers. This was made by people who wanted heads to go boom.

If you have realistic expectations, this one can be fun. It is aggressively average, and as such could be significantly worse. Director Christian Duguay got a lot better after this, but even here, he manages to make the material work better than you might think. The actors portraying the villains really get into their roles and are fun to watch. The effects are good and spread out well.

This features bloody gory disturbing violence. I recommend this to people who wanted more after watching the first one. 5/10.