Movie Info
Movie Name: The Fly II
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Genre(s): Horror/B-Movie
Release Date(s): February 10, 1989
MPAA Rating: R
He’s a good dog!
The child of Seth Brundle and Veronica Quaife is now part of an experiment. Aging quickly and succumbing to his father’s fate, Martin (Eric Stoltz) is living science community under the assumption that the scientists are trying to save his life. With the project’s owner Anton Bartok (Lee Richardson) pretending to be his substitute father, the scientists are waiting for the Brundlefly to come out of Martin. When Martin learns that the scientists don’t have his best interests in mind, he decides to solve his father’s transportation pod problem before he is killed. With the help of his girlfriend Beth (Daphne Zuniga), Martin is in a race against time to save himself.
Directed by Chris Walas, The Fly II picks up where The Fly ended in 1986. The movie was met with mostly negative reviews and was seen by many as a way to cash in on the success of Cronenberg’s The Fly, but without The Fly’s smart writing or social commentary.
I’m going to need some ointment
The Fly II is a horror film. The first Fly you could argue is more science-fiction with a message, but you’d be hard pressed to say that about The Fly II. With the creepy Brundle-Fly returning, the last third of the movie becomes a monster movie. There doesn’t seem to be much scientific basis (though Martin’s saving grace is the same solution from the first Fly). The interesting aspect of A.I.D.S. as a backdrop for the story is lost.
As a horror film, The Fly II is a bit dull. The build-up for the monster has very few jumps and scares. For being a genius, Stoltz’s character is pretty dense to think that he is living independently of the organization. The only early jumps are provided by Stoltz’s dog which was mutated by the transportation process…once the Brundlefly appears, it goes for more gore than jumps with heads melting and exploding (literally).
My dental bill is huge!
The effects for The Fly II are still quite strong. You don’t get the cool rotting of Martin’s body like Seth’s body, but the end result Brundlefly looks cool. Smartly, the Brundle-Fly is kind of in the shadows, but I never understood if the Brundlefly is such an evolution, why it is sluggish when actually moving around. The Brundlefly might be cool…the mutated dog and the monster-man however…ugh.
The Fly II is tolerable though not scary enough or science-fictiony enough, and Stoltz is quite good. With the only returning actor being John Getz as the hammy Stathis Borans, the movie is already quite a downgrade. Fortunately, The Fly II marked the end of the Fly line and hopefully this will be left alone in a world where remake are king.
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