The Fly II (1989)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

Chris Walas

Writers (WGA):

George Langelaan (characters)
Mick Garris (story)

Release Date:

10 February 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Like father, like son.

Plot:

Seth Brundle was a renowned scientist whose warped experiments with teleportation transformed him into a man/fly hybrid called BrundleFly...

Plot Keywords:

Teleportation | Girlfriend | Cocoon | Botched Teleportation | Chloroform

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Eric Stoltz	...	Martin Brundle
Daphne Zuniga	...	Beth Logan
Lee Richardson	...	Anton Bartok
John Getz	...	Stathis Borans
Frank C. Turner	...	Shepard
Ann Marie Lee	...	Dr. Jainway
Gary Chalk	...	Scorby
Saffron Henderson	...	Veronica 'Ronnie' Quaife
Harley Cross	...	Martin Brundle - 10 years old
Matthew Moore	...	Martin Brundle - 4 years old
Rob Roy	...	Wiley
Andrew Rhodes	...	Hargis
Pat Bermel	...	Mackenzie
William S. Taylor	...	Dr. Trimble
Jerry Wasserman	...	Simms

Also Known As:

The Fly 2 (USA) (DVD box title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1989) (cut) | Finland:K-18 (1989) (cut) | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) | Italy:VM18 | Finland:K-18 (2006) (uncut DVD version) | South Korea:15 (2006) (DVD rating) | Australia:M | France:-12 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Brooksfilms

Trivia:

John Getz (as Stathis Borans) is the only actor reprising a role from the original The Fly (1986).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When MartinFly throws Dr. Shepard's body, you can see a thick black string pulling it.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Veronica Quaife (on videotape): Oh, my God! There's something wrong! I can feel it!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in When Darkness Came: The Making of 'The Mist' (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

LOCK, STOCK AND TEARDROPS

Fly II: Cruise Control

I caught this movie on cable last night; this is one of those films where the memory of having seen it years ago is better than the actual film.

The production design is actually quite good, surprising when, upon closer inspection, they apparently only built one set (the lab), and the rest of the scenes-- all brief ones-- were shot at cheap locations, such as Beth's houseboat, Martin's condo, and such. The acting is decent, considering the lack of any character at all (especially braindead Beth). Eric Stoltz and Daphne Zuniga actually put some effort forth here, which is nice, considering this was probably little more than a paycheck for both.

The problem is the script. First-time director Chris Walas does well with what he was handed-- probably in pieces, from four different screenwriters-- but I got the feeling that a coherent, dramatic story arc was chopped down to a lightning-paced 111 minutes. It seems like entire scenes are missing-- or else they were never written. The bare bones I watched were perhaps merely excuses to link together special effects and make-up from Walas's FX company.

In that sense, it's kinda like a porno film. No one cares about the plot, the just wanna see the "money shot." And this one has a few-- they spent all their money on a) mutant dog ($100), b) Unlucky Security Guard #2 ($1000), c) fly cocoon ($50), and d) Alterna-Stoltz (priceless). This explains why, with the exception of Unlucky Security Guard #2, the deaths are not nearly graphic enough, and thus unsatisfying... considering how great a length the "story"-tellers go to make us hate everyone in the film who ISN'T Martin or Beth (or Borans).

The film is shot well, considering how few locations are used, though several directing mistakes jumped out, not necessarily worthy of the "goofs" section. For example, note how when Beth enters the lab, never having been there before.... at the end of scene, she somehow knows the exact command to type into the computer to open the doors on the OTHER SIDE of the room. How does she expect to find her way back to her desk? (which is apparently down the hall, less than 100 feet away... just like everything else in this building, which, by the way, we never see from the outside)

More proof there's another hour of this movie that's either on a cutting room floor somewhere, or just never got filmed. Pity the entire movie couldn't fulfill the promise of the single, memorable final shot, as the credits appear.

5/10, cuz it's half a film.