Grease 2 (1982)

Number Rolled: 9

Movie Name/Year: Grease 2 (1982)

Genre: Music

Length: 114 minutes

Rating: PG

Director: Patricia Birch

Writer: Ken Finkleman

Actors: Maxwell Caulfield, Michelle Pfeiffer, Lorna Luft, Maureen Teefy, Alison Price, Pamela Adlon, Adrian Zmed, Peter Drechette, Christopher McDonald, Leif Green, Didi Conn, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Dody Goodman, Tab Hunter, Dick Patterson, Connie Stevens, Eddie Deezen

Everyone has heard of, or seen, or worshiped, Grease. The one where John Travolta plays Danny Zuko, the leader of a motorcycle gang, the T-birds and Olivia Newton-John plays all around good girl, Sandy Olsen. Sandy is taken in as a kind of mascot to the Pink Ladies and together they turn her into a vinyl-cat-suit-clad bad-girl in order to win over Danny’s heart. Musical hijinx ensues.

What else could one expect Grease 2 to be about? Michelle Pfeiffer plays Stephanie Zinone, a member of the Pink Ladies, who’s looking for a “cool rider.” Enter Maxwell Caulfield playing the nerdy British exchange student, Michael Carrington, who’s taken with her from day one and has to fight to be recognized as a member of the T-birds by teaching himself how to be “cool” and ride a motorcycle.

Do I sound like a broken record yet?

What did we expect? You can’t take one of the single most popular musicals to date, make a sequel and expect it to be better than the first. Not going to happen. I don’t like that they tried. They copied the story, swapped which gender was the geek and attempted to redo Grease.

That being said, if you take it on its own merit and not as a sequel, it’s not bad. It’s campy and funny and the actors do well enough. However, it’s all mediocre stuff, until you add in the soundtrack. I have to admit, “Cool Rider,” is one of my favorite songs from the movie. I haven’t seen it in maybe five years, but I can still sing every words of that song along with the music.

If you watch it, keep in mind, the story is exactly what you expect it to be. Watch it for the music.

Overall Opinion – 3/5