It’s no secret that I really enjoyed the original Wayne’s World, it was an instant classic some 20 years ago, and is still my favorite Saturday Night Live film. But let’s face it, with the exception of Terminator 2 it’s extremely difficult to find a sequel that can eclipse the original. While Wayne’s World was never a masterpiece the bar isn’t set extremely high to overlap, ultimately all we could hope for is some more of the same without being exactly the same. Surprisingly released just a year after the original Wayne’s World quickly wanted to capitalize on the success of the original, while it didn’t draw as much attention in the box office, how does it sit in our minds?
Film
Wayne’s World 2 deals with much of the same issues as the first film, love interests (even a moment for Garth), music, friendship, and random situations. This time Wayne has moved out of his parent’s basement and now shares a loft with Garth where life has been proceeding as usual. That is until Wayne has a dream in which a “weird naked Indian” introduces him to Jim Morrison whom tells him that it is his destiny to organize a huge concert much like Woodstock. While the group deals with the challenges of putting on a concert of epic proportions they must all deal with personal issues, and along the way there are tons of pop culture references and classic moments.
It is hard for me to admit that Wayne’s World 2 fell quite a ways short of the original, but let us face it, it just wasn’t the same. For reasons unexplained it just didn’t reach the same level, perhaps because we already had a certain level of expectations in our minds. But as much as it wasn’t Wayne’s World 1, I defy you to dislike this movie. There is just something in the characters and their completely random and humors situations that I just can’t turn away from. This film is for the music and movie lovers in all of us, and let’s face it the inclusion of Christopher Walken is always a sure way to make a movie awesome.
As the first film was known for its list of cameo appearances, Wayne’s World 2 did well to include some hilarious moments from stars like Rip Taylor, Kevin Pollak, Ed O’Neill, Tim Meadows, Ted McGinley, Jay Leno, Drew Barrymore, and Kim Basinger. But what really pushed this movie into classic status for me was including Chris Farley into the cast with a roll that wasn’t exactly his best, but still vintage Farley. Frankly anything he’s in, even if for a brief movie becomes instantly hilarious for me.
In the end, Wayne’s World 2 was exactly as it states, a sequel which always tend to remain in the shadow of its predecessor. But nonetheless still a great movie, and a good laugh for everyone whether -it’s the 100th time you’ve seen it or the first.
Video
Presented in 1080p 1.78:1 aspect ratio and encoded in MPEG-4, Wayne’s World 2 disappoints as it doesn’t match the transfer previously found in the first Wayne’s World. The various backdrops should have been a good opportunity to take advantage of the high def transfer, unfortunately they look very unimpressive. Detail and color intensity are lackluster at best and there are even a few instances of artifacting in dark shots.
Not all is lost however; detail is more impressive in up close shots. From Garths stylish blond hair to facial pours on Christopher Walken’s face, everything here is presented clearly and realistically. Colors intensity on the whole is average, as most scenes can look washed out and really lack the vibrancy the first film had.
Although this looks better than the DVD I was left disappointed as it did not match the quality of the first movie.
Audio
Paramount has included a 5.1 TrueHD track with Wayne’s World 2 and like the first film there are plenty of instances where your entire system will be used. From an Aerosmith concert to the final Waynestock concert, the sub and rear channels get an impressive workout.
Dialogue is spot on with an accurate but balanced sounding presentation. Wayne’s and Garth’s catch phrases sound great here and are often accompanied by great sounding background or music effects.
Audio wise Wayne’s World 2 sounds great and does provide a noticeable upgrade over the track found on the DVD.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary – Commentary with Director Stephen Surjik
- Extreme Close Up – A 14 minute retrospective with the cast and crew of Wayne’s World 2. Both Myers and Carvey believe the sequel is better than the first and while I disagree it is nice to hear them give their reasons.
Final Thoughts
While Wayne’s World 2 isn’t quite Wayne’s World the laughs are most definitely still there and the overall style and demeanor as well. The film itself definitely doesn’t fall into the horrible sequel category and if you have yet to see the second installment, what are you waiting for? I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that if you liked the first film that you pick this one up on Blu-ray as well. You can’t have one without the other. As far as the overall presentation goes, the films come out very similarly, but unfortunately some of the video quality is lost in transition for Wayne’s World 2. The audio is above average but once again the special features are rather disappointing, even more so this time around in fact. But at the end of the day I’m still going to give the nod on Wayne’s World 2 and suggest picking up the pair of discs in hi def.
