Film Review: Short Circuit 2 (1988)

Rules of 1980s Hollywood looked very simple. Every big budget film that had box office success was supposed to get a sequel as soon as possible. That thing happened with 1986 science fiction comedy Short Circuit, which received its sequel Short Circuit 2, directed by Kenneth Johnson, two years later.

Unlike previous film, main character here is Benjamin Jahveri (played by Fisher Stevens), Indian engineer who used to build sophisticated robots for military-connected company. These days he sells street toy robots on the streets of big city before his creations are spotted by Sandy Banatoni (played by Cynthia Gibb), executive for toy company. She makes a large order, forcing Ben to partner with Fred Ritter (played by Michael McKean), street con artist who helps him lease an old warehouse that would serve as makeshift factory. Ben receives further assistance in form of No. 5 a.k.a. Johnny Five (voiced by Tim Blaney), a robot he had created and who became sentient. He comes to factory to help with production, but Ben’s plans are threatened by gang of criminals who wants to use warehouse as a cover to dig tunnel to nearby bank and steal valuable diamond collection.

Unlike most 1980s sequels, Short Circuit 2 gives impression that their authors tried to do something differently. It, however, doesn’t look to be by design. Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy, main stars of the former film, refused to repeat their roles, forcing scriptwriters Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson to make Benjamin (who somehow changed his surname to “Jahveri” from “Jabituya”) into protagonist. If you disregard controversy over white American actor playing South Asian character and all cultural appropriation and racial stereotypes that come with it, Stevens again did an excellent job and manages to carry much of the film. He is aided by somewhat underused McKean, likeable Cynthia Gibb and veteran character actor Jack Weston in stereotypical role of villain. The main non-human character, Johnny Five, is improved in technical sense and film features decent special effects. However, television veteran Kenneth Johnson as director isn’t in the same league with John Badham who did the previous film. He does decent job, putting Toronto locations to good use, but apparently doesn’t mind for some of the script problems. While Short Circuit 2 has plenty of humour, its content is intended mainly for the youngest of audience, which would probably appreciate silliness related to the concept of adorable sentient robot. Johnson, on the other hand, has serious problem with the pace, making the film almost two hours long, which could be rather challenging for the young children. Near the end humour is replaced with pathos and even some violence that might be disturbing for young audience. Only the predictable happy end saves the general impression, but few would be surprised to find that Short Circuit 3 never got made.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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