Director: Patricia Birch

Grease 2 revolves around the students of Rydell High and is set two years after the original. There is no Sandy or Danny this time round. Instead, we are introduced to Sandy’s English cousin Michael Carrington (Maxwell Caulfield - who’s only other claim to fame is that he is married to Juliet Mills from the soap opera “Passions”).

It is not long before Michael falls for Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer, in one of her first film roles) but true love doesn’t run smoothly. Stephanie is a member of the “Pink Ladies”. This means that she can only date one of the “T Birds”. Johnny Nogerelli (Adrian Zmed),a T Bird, still holds a candle for Stephanie even though she seems to have out grown him over the school break. Paulette (Lorna Luft - Judy Garland’s daughter) has a thing for Johnny and she is desperately trying to make him forget all about Stephanie. Paulette is a Marilyn Monroe wannabe and dresses accordingly.

Stephanie tells Michael that her ideal man is a “Cool Rider” (in song of course) and so he earns enough money to buy himself a motorcycle to try to impress her. Stephanie quickly falls for a Mystery Man who comes out of nowhere one night at the Bowl - a - Rama on his bike. Guess what, it’s Michael. Will Stephanie still love him when she finds out who he is? All will be revealed at the Rydell High Talent Show and Hawaiian inspired finale.

Many of the original actors from Grease reprise their roles, including Eve Arden as Principal McGee, Dody Goodman as Blanche and Didi Conn as Frenchie. Most of the other actors are relatively unknown. ONJ’s ex husband, Matt Lattanzi, has a minor role in the movie as well.

The songs from Grease 2 are not as well known as “Greased Lightning”, “Summer Nights” and “You’re The One That I Want” but just as catchy in my opinion. After numerous sittings it won’t be long before you are word perfect on tunes such as “Cool Rider”, “Back to School, “Girl For All Seasons” and my favourite “Reproduction”. However, somebody should have insisted that Maxwell Caulfield stick to acting after his dreadful rendition of “Charade”. I head for the earplugs at that point.

Grease 2, like the original, is a musical and so if you don’t like the actors bursting into song then this is not the movie for you. When this movie was originally released in 1982 it received quite bad reviews by most and didn’t do well at the Box Office. It was always going to be compared to Grease, which was one of the most successful movies of the 1970’s, and a movie that has surely achieved cult status by now.

Grease 2 should have been judged on its own merits. This movie is corny at times and has moments where the acting it downright awful but overall it is entertaining and bound to have everybody’s feet tapping on occasions. I must admit it, I love Grease 2 and I would encourage anybody who has a love of musicals to give it a go. There is also the odd smutty line to keep the teenagers happy.

Running Time 115 minutes

THE EXTRAS

There are no extras to speak of other than Scene Selection and Audio Options (You can hear Grease 2 in German, English, Spanish, French and Italian). Sub titles are also available in many other languages as well.

CONCLUSION

Grease 2 is the sequel to Grease and is set 2 years later. The plot revolves around the Pink Ladies and the T Birds and a newcomer to Rydell High, Sandy’s cousin Michael. Michael falls madly in love with Stephanie (a Pink Lady) but she can only date members of the T Birds. Johnny, the leader of the T Birds, is also in love with Stephanie but she has out grown him over the school break. Can Michael win the heart of the girl he loves by becoming the “Cool Rider” she dreams about?

Grease 2 is a musical so expect the actors to break into songs, dancing and the odd corny line. It is aimed purely at the teenagers so there is plenty of sexual innuendo too. While not as popular as it’s predecessor, it is still entertaining and has many songs to get your toes tapping.