Movie Review - It Came From Outer Space II

It Came From Outer Space II

1996 

Duchowny Dow Films

MCA Home Entertainment / Universal Studios Home Entertainment

5.5 / 10

It was Ray Bradbury's name that brought this movie to my attention.  Just before Christmas and before I started reviewing I had watched, and enjoyed, the original.  So there wasn't much choice but to view the sequel... even though it's not.  This is actually a brought-up-to-date remake.

However, even though it has Bradbury's name it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be.  That is probably due to him not having his screenplay filmed.  He actually had four screenplays for the movie and none of them was chosen, not for the original and not for this remake (Harry Essex scripted the original while Ken and Jim Wheat have written this one.)  I've not read the Bradbury versions, though being a fan I can honestly believe they might be better than what we received here.  Since he was still alive when this was filmed I would have asked him to update the script for the modern age.  Had there been issues with the original, his gained experience from 1953 to '96 should have been able to smooth them out.

That said, Ken and Jim Wheat don't do a bad job of bringing this film up to date.  However, they're not too good at characterisation or flow.  Though some of this could be down to the director Roger Duchowny.   What this needed was an injection of excitement and relatable characters.  Most of the people in the town are bleak and depressing; though this is believable, the way they are handled makes them more two-dimensional than possessing deep personalities and was a major cause of my boredom.  Even the likes of Elizabeth Pena, Dean Norris, and Mickey Jones who are good actors and had a few decent scene's still couldn't inject life into the dullness.

The other cause of my dissatisfaction is the slowness of the pace.  This could have been used to create atmosphere and draw the viewer in.  Sadly this wasn't the case and only added to the films dullness.

The special effects are okay for the period and there are some nice ideas though due to the slow pace and the way they were shown their impact is dulled and not fully utilised.  

This is one of those films I would recommend to only the die-hard sci-fi fans and lovers of the original film.  However, if you want to watch a decent film I'd say watch the original as it's much better on every count, especially if you've never seen it.  There's a reason it's a classic and this one is seldom heard of.