Wayne and Garth get a sequel with Wayne’s World 2. New to 4K UHD from Kino Lorber.
The Film
Wayne’s World 2 could never live up to the pop culture explosion that was the original. Thirty years later the sequel that was a disappointment is a quaint fun follow up. More than anything it appears that Mike Myers learned lessons from this sequel to put forth on the Austin Powers series (also the germination of that film here with some of the 60s influence of the film). Mostly the film misses the punk rock comedic punch and narrative cohesiveness of original director Penelope Spheeris vision.
It’s been a year since the events of Wayne’s World. Wayne (Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) have matured, a tiny bit, and have moved out of their parents’ basements to an apartment/TV Studio/Abandon Doll Factory. Wayne is still going out with Cassandra (Tia Carrere). Garth has entered puberty. The show is still a success. Cassandra is in the middle of recording her new album with mega producer Bobby Cahn (Chirstopher Walken) – who Wayne knows, oh yes, knows has the hots for Cassandra. Fearing this, not heeding Cassandra’s words of assurance, Wayne concocts a concert (on the fly) called Waynestock of all the great rock bands of the current era (Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Van Halen to name of few). That plan may be more fate than simple blustery ego as Wayne has visions of Jim Morrison (complete with Oliver Stone vision quest indigenous figure) who becomes his spirit guide to completing this concert. Can Wayne, Garth and company get the concert together and save Wayne and Cassandra’s relationship? Only Morrison knows for sure.
What made Wayne’s World so much of a delight and now a classic is that its story of arrested development and wrestling back creative control of your art from cooperate masters who don’t understand it is masterfully done with a beautiful punk rock tone by Penelope Spheeris. It’s an extension of her work on her wonderful documentary series The Decline of Western Civilization (specifically The Metal Years). Spheeris always made everything feel like a sort of living document both a rock version of Alfie and a documentary ala her Decline films. The result being a wonderfully shabby but narratively fulfilling comedy.
As with the first, the sequel is a product of its director Stephen Surjik and his work in sketch comedy (The Ben Stiller Show and Kids in the Hall). The film never feels like a cohesive narrative whole. Wayne’s World 2 is it is a collection of gags and cameos without a real story line. Yes, there is the Cassandra relationship, but it is literally a carbon copy of the original film’s storyline just with a new bad guy (cut out Rob Lowe, insert Chris Walken). The Waynestock of it all seems secondary to comedy which wasn’t the case with the original. Yes, that is partially Myers and fellow screenwriters Bonnie and Terry Turner issue because of their script. Surjik leans so hard into the gags and set pieces so hard it feels like a collection of sketches rather than a movie.
The gags, cameos, and set pieces taken separately are fun and amusing most work successfully (some more than others). Any film with a Chris Farley cameo (with a wig no less) is always welcome. As obvious as it is the Jurassic Park bit is done with a great amount of style and flair. Drew Barrymore’s Bjergen Kjergen is the kind of mouthy word play that Myer’s excels at. Kim Bassinger works so well with Dana Carvey it shocking the two never found another project to work together one. Aerosmith’s cameo is appropriately rocking. The Robert Smigel and Bob Odenkirk is so great for comedy nerds that it takes a second to realize is Smigel and Odenkirk. We probably shouldn’t talk about the YMCA or the Kung Fu or Sammy Davis Jr… though I do keep wondering how the hell they got Charlton “Chuck” Heston.
Taken on its own terms Wayne’s World 2 is a lot of fun. Compared against the Classic that is the original and the sequel comes up short.
The Transfer
Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is a marvelous representation of the film. The transfer is razor sharp that’s representative of the film’s 35mm origins. The image is clean and free of any dirt, specs or scratches. One has never thought of Wayne’s World 2 as a particularly visual film, but this transfer definitely does give it a luster and beauty not seen before in other home video iterations. The Dolby Vision HDR master only enhances the look of the film leveling it up the picture – look at the dream sequences set in the Arizona desert for proof. Kino continues to release truly revelatory transfers for Paramount Pictures films like this, Black Sheep, and The General’s Daughter.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
- Audio commentary with Director Stephen Surjik
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
- Audio commentary with Director Stephen Surjik
- Extreme Close-Up: Featurette (14:06)
- US TV Spots
- UK TV Spots
- Theatrical Trailer
The archival Audio commentary with Director Stephen Surjik begins with how he approached the film which was a sequel by bringing what he felt was his own visual style. Some of the other details include his work in live stage tours and how that informed the Areosmith concert scene; a scary anecdote about an extra; shooting in the Arizona desert and how taxing of a shoot it was; a discussion of the feud between Carvey and Meyers that was to have happened during the production of the sequel; the short film that he first directed that got him noticed and was shown at Cannes – lessons learned from that; the pragmatic advice to younger filmmakers making their first studio feature film; the test screening process – both at the time and currently; the importance of the test screening process for a comedy; working with Kim Basinger; how they approached the shooting of the comedy and improvision; a discussion of Wayne’s apartment and the reasons why the set was built so large; the cameo of James Hong; a discussion of comedy and use of specific lenses for comedic affect; a discussion of the psychological effects of lighting, temperature, et. al. on comedy and people’s mood; watching the film opening day in NYC; and much more. Surjik provides an interesting commentary track though there are long stretches of silences throughout.
Extreme Close-Up: Featurette (14:06) – is an archival featurette discussing the making of the sequel. The featurette discussing how the film was set up; bringing on a new director Kids in the Hall alumni director Stephen Surjik; the idea of the sequel of Wayne putting on a concert ala Woodstock; the various comedic bits/set pieces and where they came from; how they got the various cameo appearances; and more. Interviews with star/writer Mike Meyers, producer Lorne Michaels, director Stephen Surjik, stars Dana Carvey, and Tia Carrere.
US TV Spots (3:04) – 6 TV US Spots
UK TV Spots (0:51) – 2 UK TV Spots
Teaser Trailer (1:22) – the clever use of the THX sound logo for teaser is still a classic.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Wayne’s World (2:08); Wayne’s World 2 (2:17); Billy Madison (2:00); Black Sheep (2:21); Kingpin (1:28); CB4 (2:31)
The Final Thought
Kino continues its top spot as purveyor of truly wonderful 4K UHD Editions. Recommended.