GREMLINS 2 - THE NEW BATCH

STARRING: Zach Gallighan, Phoebe Cates, John Glover, Robert Prosky, Robert Picardo, Christopher Lee

1990, 105 Minutes, Directed by: Joe Dante

Description: Billy Peltzer and Kate Beringer move to New York City and meet up with their Mogwai friend, Gizmo, when a series of accidents creates a new generation of diverse gremlins. Billy, Kate, and Gizmo must once again use all their experience to prevent another catastrophe. — Amazon.com

This film suffers from the Last Action Hero school of self-conscious film-making. Most of the film consists of post-modern shenanigans in which the audience is made aware of the fact that they are watching a movie and a bunch of in-jokes, which effectiveness depends on whether you have seen the first Gremlins film and actually remember it.

How can one take a movie serious that doesn't take itself serious? The problem is that we don't need Hollywood to do that for us - or are audiences really as thick as they make us out to be?