'Wayne's World' / 'Wayne's World 2' [Blu-ray]
(Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, et al / Blu ray / PG-13 / 2009 / Paramount)
Overview: The original party-down movies of their years these flicks feature rockin' tunes radical babes ... and your most excellent hosts Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar!
DVD Verdict: Long before the world ever heard of Austin Powers, Mike Myers was infusing pop culture with the catch phrases and wild doings of Wayne Campbell and hastening the move of multiple Saturday Night Live characters to the big screen over the course of succeeding years. Wayne and his trusty sidekick Garth raked up at the box office and left us with a classic comedy that will be making people laugh for years to come. Aside from all the Wayne-isms and Garth-isms, this movie changed forever the way we listen to a number of classic rock songs.
Okay, for those mysteriously not in the know, let's review! Wayne lives in his parents' basement, but it's okay because he and his buddy Garth have their very own public access show on their local cable station in Aurora, Illinois. Wayne thinks his dream of doing Wayne's World for a living (and thus escaping from the world of name tags and hair nets) has come true when he gets an offer to do the show on a Chicago TV station, but there's a certain matter with the fine print. Will Wayne sell out? Yeah. And monkeys might fly out of my butt.
Myers and Carvey take their SNL trademark routines as far as they can, going a little too far once or twice (as with the Scooby Doo and Mega-happy endings - although they did make possible the much-appreciated Tia Carrere bikini scene), and it's not hard to see why: Wayne's World was the most popular SNL skit for a good two to three years running. The film has a surprising number of familiar faces: besides the aforementioned Tia Carrere, you get Rob Lowe (fresh off a certain little infamous home movie), Brian Doyle-Murray, Ed O'Neill, Lara Flynn Boyle, Donna Dixon, and - making cameo appearances - Chris Farley, Meatloaf, and Alice Cooper. Of course, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey take center stage at all times. They satirize everything, from Grey Poupon commercials to the entertainment industry, to themselves.
There are a number of memorable scenes: the Bohemian Rhapsody bit as the guys cruise town in the Mirth-mobile, Garth's Foxy Lady dance number (many of us will never be able to listen to that classic Jimi Hendrix tune the same way again), all of the Dreamweaver moments, the Laverne & Shirley take-off trip to Milwaukee, Wayne's Marilyn Monroe impersonation, and others. Whether you knew it or not, you were exposed to Wayne's World lingo throughout the 90s, so if you haven't seen the movie, isn't it time you learn why you should have laughed at all those jokes you didn't understand way back then? [DJ]
In #2, Wayne and Garth have moved out of the parents basement and now have their own place across town, still doing their low budget local access TV show and still worshipping every rock musician out there. Wayne and his girlfriend Cassandra, from the first movie are still an item only now she has a manager trying to help her get her career started.
This time Wayne has been sent a message from the spirt of Jim Morrison, of the Doors who tells Wayne he must put on a concert in Aurora and find the meaning of his life. Wayne takes the message very seriously and even flies to London, England to find Del Preston who used to be friends with Jim way back when. Now our duo must deal with putting on their TV show, raising enough money for a permit to hold the show Wayne titles "Waynstock" and deal with Cassandra being taken away from him by her manager. Not to mention Wayne has to prove himself worthy with Cassandra's father and Garth has a close encounter with a beautiful woman, Honey Hornee' (Kim Bassinger) who takes an instant liking to him but may be up to more then just a one night stand.
Overall the movie is on par with the first one. All the funny one liners and sight gags and situations fly by us with the same familiarity that the first gave us. We jump right back into the universe we left a year ago and it's like we never left it. A classic mock Kung Fu fight between Wayne and Cassandra's father with dubbed English while they talk is a priceless moment. As well as Wayne, Garth and two friends dressed up in outfits that the Village People music group wore spying on Cassandra and her manager only to be spotted by them and having to perform as said group in a Male only bar.
The only thing holding this movie back is that it seems too familiar, like we did this all before. There is enough original in this to make you forget the first but too much was taken from the first to make it more like a differnet version of the same. It still holds it own though quite well. Many more stars this time around play bit parts like for instance Drew Barrymore, Jay Leno, Heather Locklear, Metalica and Rip Taylor having parts that are just randomly thrusted upon us. Some play themselves while others playing differnet parts. Of course we can't forget the late and great Chris Farley who I must admit seemed a bit out of place in the part they gave him, but always cool to see him any time.
While some of the jokes were recycled from the first movie, Ie) the alternate ending and the new guy stealing Wayne's girlfriend from him while Wayne gets jealous all the while.. there are some great new gags. I loved the moment towards the end when Wayne stops at a gas station for directions and some bad old actor is giving Wayne some sad story about the street he is looking for only for Wayne to say he wants a better actor for this part and they suddenly change the actor before our eyes to someone better. Some new jokes didn't work like Wayne and Garth being lifted on their backs at the concert they are at and after they are placed down a lot of weird items are being sent in the same mannor to the security guards.
That was probably one of those better on paper then it actually turned out to be moments that should have been left on the drawing board. It is also a bit dated, jokes that were funny in 1993 may seem a little silly now. For instance the Jurrasic Park moment but that's to be expected in these type of comedies. Usually popular pop culture of the time will be spoofed and if anything it brings back fun memories of yesteryear. [RL] These are both Widescreen Presentations (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the following Special Features:
'Wayne's World':
Audio Commentary by director Penelope Spheeris
"Extreme Close-up” Featurette (23 mins, SD)
Theatrical Trailer (HD)
'Wayne's World 2':
Audio Commentary by director Stephen Surjik
“Extreme Close-up” Featurette (14 mins, SD)
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