Child's Play 2 Review

Child’s Play 2 review.

Sorry Jack…Chucky’s back. As you can see from the poster below…this was actually the tagline for Child’s Play 2. There is no one named Jack in the film. What is in the film is a pretty nonstop thrill ride that seeks to extend the second half of Child’s Play into a full movie. It worked.

Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.

Child’s Play 2

Directed by John Lafia

Written by Don Mancini

Starring Alex Vincent, Jenny Agutter, Christine Elise, Grave Zabriskie and Brad Dourif

Child’s Play 2 Review

Child’s Play 2 takes a “why don’t they make the entire plane out of the black box” approach. If you liked the second half of the original movie…you’re going to love this one. The first Child’s Play spends half of the movie establishing the world and the characters before letting Chucky loose on screen. Child’s Play 2 jumps us right into the fun.

The toy company that produces the Good Guy dolls gets a hold of Chucky’s remains from the end of the first movie. They rebuild him with fresh parts because that’s something you would do. Given his do-over, Chucky tracks down Andy (Alex Vincent) to try and possess him and escape his doll prison. Andy is staying with a foster family. His mother is under psychological evaluation because no one believes her wild story of a living killer doll. Go figure.

Child’s Play 2 has the exact same plot as the original movie. Chucky needs to put his soul into Andy. This isn’t a complaint…it’s just interesting how they have no interest in changing the story. They change the setting at least. It would have really been something if it was just the doll coming after the same boy and his mother again.

Speaking of his mother…man do the police do her dirty. The first movie ends with Chris Sarandon’s cop believing her and his partner discovering the truth. The sequel begins by telling us the police decided to keep that to themselves. I get it…it’s insane. They’ll be placed on leave immediately and likely never be brought back. But they actively set up a child to be torn from his mother for the crime of telling the truth.

The change up does the movie good, however. Andy is now without his security and without the one person who believes him. It also provides expendable characters to be Chucky fodder. Andy gains one ally in foster sister Kyle (Christine Elise). Kyle is a rebellious teen who gravitates to Andy because she can empathize with his situation. It makes their relationship deeper than a simple “I believe you” convenience.

Chucky is in top form from the start of Child’s Play 2. He doesn’t feel the need to play possum for 4o minutes this time around. Chucky slices his way to Andy and once again attempts his voodoo chant to take over his body. Brad Dourif is at his best. Then again, when isn’t he?

Of course, since this series has continued for decades without Charles Lee Ray possessing Andy’s body…I suppose you already know that he fails again. This time he fails even more spectacularly. The climax of the movie takes place at the Good Guy doll factory. If Chucky hated being burned, decapitated and shot through the heart last time…he really must have hated this.

Over the course of Andy and Kyle’s battle with Chucky we see the doll get his hand ripped off, legs amputated after being mutilated with doll parts, covered in hot plastic and finally exploding his head with an air hose. I’d say there’s no coming back from that but there are five more movies and a tv series.

There are also some good kills here. One notable sequence involves Chucky slashing a technician attempting to fix a machine in the factory. The technician ends up on the receiving end of the doll eyeball insertion device. Hey…at least he fixed the machine. Nothing Chucky does to others tops what happens to him in the end, however. This was a proper movie monster take down.

The acting is as good as you need it to be. Casting great supporting actors like Grace Zabriskie (Twin Peaks) and Jenny Agutter (An American Werewolf in London) gets you a long way. Christine Elise is great as Kyle. It’s a shame her character won’t be revisited for almost three decades. Alex Vincent is still a perfect Andy. The truth is, from here on out these movies really are the Chucky show and the rest of the cast is there for background.

Scare Value

Child’s Play 2 is just pure fun. This isn’t much of a surprise since the second half of the first one is so entertaining, and Part 2 seeks to recreate it. It succeeds fully. Comparing the first movie to this one is an apples and oranges deal. I think 2 is more fun. But 1 had to walk so that Part 2 could run. Our Child’s Play vs Child’s Play 2 review? They’re both great.

4/5