Cocoon 2

source: Cocoon 2

I was fascinated by the original Cocoon movie which had a real novel theme and succeeded in making most of us think of the value of old age, the struggles, aspirations and what would happen "if only they could". It was touchy, endearing and with real after thoughts generated out of the theme of aging. But the return is nothing novel and nothing like the first. It is embarrassing at times. Jack is back with Kitty! Oh ma! We may have excused the innocence of the initial encounter but what is happening in this movie was from clumsy to simply unsophisticated. The pregnancy topic is a mediocre addition, there is an under developed story between the Grandpa and the grandson and overall, nothing really new happening we have not seen in or extrapolated from the first movie. The original cast of "oldies" stays more or less within character and if it was not for hem and actors like Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy, Fried Green Tomatoes, ...) I would have given an even worst grading. In short, the magic was gone and it would have been best not to make a sequel.

As other reviewers have noted, sequels rarely live up to the original. Such is the case with Cocoon the Return, but the film has so good in so many ways that the it truly deserves to be watched and enjoyed. I think the first film was so spectacular because of the character portrayed by Wilford Brimley. Early on in the film, the character discusses taking risks with another character. He says something to the effect, "I have not taken a risk in years. It's not the risks you take in life that you regret. It's the risks you don't take" Later on in the film, the same character is discussing the possibility of going into outer space with his wife to escape the end of their lives. During the discussion he says, "Well I'll tell ya, with the way nature's been cheating us, I don't mind cheating her a little." I think these two quotes capture the way the first film focuses what's important to people in life and the universal human desire to beat death. The second film deals with the issues of what is worth dying for and what is worth living for. The answer for both is love, and I think the film deals with these issues in tender and thoughtful ways. One way is the issue of self-sacrifice: Whether or not we will sacrifice our lives so the ones we love can live on. Another way involves choosing to accept the limits of mortality in return for spending some time with the one you love most rather than to live forever without them. Another way involves making hard choices for the love of your children. I think the film does an excellent job with the grandfather/grandson relationship. I think it is harder for teenagers to interact with their grandparents than when they are little kids. I think teens don't always know what to say even though the love for their grandparents never diminishes. I think it is equally hard to grandparents to ever fully articulate how much their grandchildren mean to them. This film really captures this issue and there is a scene centered around a baseball game that really captures a magic moment. If I ever have a grandchild who plays any kind of sport, I am going to attend every game I possibly can and break all other commitments to be there for him or her. I think the film only fails to live up to the first movie in two ways. The first is that the film fails to provide new discoveries for the viewers. Except for one modest supporting role, there are no new characters introduced into the story. The other way in which the film falls short is that the final adventure at the end is not suspenseful. Only the final choices made by the main characters give the viewer any sense of surprise. I think the best sequels are written so that they can be watched and fully engaged by viewers who did not see the original. Aliens, Superman II, the Empire Stikes Back, and Terminator II are a few good examples. The creators of Cocoon the Return forgot this golden rule and the film fell short of its full potential. Finally, at least one critic complained that viewers never learn about what the elderly characters experienced in outer space. The critic has a valid point, but I think the film wisely focused on the issue that, no matter what supernatural experiences the elderly characters shared for five years, they remained human beings who could never deny the mortality of their children or themselves.

Okay, I didn't listen to my better judgment and returned to this COCOON sequel. Ouch! To give you an idea of how wrongheaded this follow-up is, the opening ten minutes features a scene where an old man tries to commit suicide and it is played for laughs. So the old folks and the Anterians are back on earth. While the aliens try to save the cocoons with returning Steve Guttenberg, the old folks run around for a few days and find out they are old again on earth (but not before schooling some young punks on the basketball court). Everyone one from the original is back (lead alien Brian Dennehy only for a cameo though) with Courtney Cox the only major new addition as a young scientist who is studying one of the captured cocoons. The biggest problem with the film is it really has no reason to exist. Well, outside of making money of course. It is shot so blandly that it looks almost like a TV movie and the human drama, a major strength of the first film, is so un-subtle this time around. The film even ends with highlights from the first film over the end credits as if to say, "Hey, you remember the good time you had back then. Let's try and transfer some of that feeling over to this one." Yuck. Stick with the original film.

Obviously this sequel was made to capitalize on the popularity of Cocoon. We learn nothing of the old folks' "new" life on the distant planet. Think about that: here we have a sequel about people choosing life on Earth instead of immortality on a planet in a distant galaxy. Why would anyone make such a choice? Well, don't look for this film to answer any of the philosophical questions it purports to ask. This absurdity of a movie is a series of 60-second vignettes that all lead nowhere. If the original Cocoon was like two different movies (Team Ameche & Team Dennehy), this sequel comes across like 10 disjointed, extremely poorly written high school plays. In one scene, alien life is discovered in a St. Petersburg, Fla., laboratory. One might think such a development would rank among the biggest stories in world history. In this film, it isn't even the biggest story in the lab! That's where we see Courteney Cox donning a white doctors coat, "communicating" with the alien. And that's where we see my brain communicating to my right index finger: press "stop" switch on remote control.

Cocoon was very...okay...for me despite it's eighties cult classic status. I certainly wasn't blown away by it so I didn't have a lot of expectations for it's sequel so maybe that helped but I thought Cocoon: The Return was even better than the original!! They took the best part of Cocoon which was the memorable and classic characters and made a film that solely focused on THEM and their lives and everything about them and very little on the whole alien aspect but enough that it still had that supernatural element and it was just brilliant. Bringing back the original cast, putting them back in the same situations with the same set of moral questions and it was just really fun. I didn't think Cocoon: The Return was nearly as campy or cheesy in dialog or even in the special effects. They didn't use nearly as many of the special effects and what they did use was much better done than the original. Director Daniel Petrie takes over from the far more known Ron Howard and does an excellent job. Petrie has mostly experience from doing TV Films which in a way is good because he's used to telling a story on a lower budget and instead he gets to tell a story with a bigger budget. He's talented to say the least having been nominated for twelve Directors Guild Awards and eight emmys and I give him great kudos for bringing these characters back to us again. Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Jack Gilford, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, and Gwen Verdon all return as the beloved seniors, most of whom return to visit their families after five years away on the other planet. They are all terrific and really bring their characters alive even more than they did in the original. They have such great chemistry together and their stories are just even more interesting. The film wouldn't be the same without them. Also returning is eighties star Steve Guttenberg who is used a little more sparingly in the sequel and he is even tolerable!! I found him a lot better this time around. Tahnee Welch returns as alien entity Kitty, and she's more of the leader this time around. Welch and Guttenberg are good together but they are both used very little and it works in the favor of the film. Welch is good in the role but comes across as a little robotic. In a rare turn of events the young actor Barret Oliver even returns to the film as Brimley's Grandson. Usually they replace a kid actor in future sequels. A pre-Friends Courteney Cox joins the cast in a relatively small but effective and emotional role and she does very well. The saddest part I thought of the cast was the lack of the amazing Brian Dennehy and imagine my delight when he returned for a small but very cool cameo in the end. For those who loved or even enjoyed the original Cocoon, you just can't help but love that they brought the original cast back for another go around because they really do focus on the great cast. They do add in the sub story about the Aliens wanting to save their friends still in the Ocean and then one of them is taking by an Oceanic research company and they have to help one of them escape...but it's just not the major focus of the film. There are some major plot turns and some really fun moments including the basketball game against the young jocks which I thought was just awesome. I mean I always suggest watching the original film because it is truly an eighties classic that is all about life and being young and turning things around but the sequel really closes a lot of gaps in the story and brings things full circle. It will leave you smiling. 8.5/10

This sequel was not needed, no one clamored for it, but the first one did quite well (76 million in 1985) so they just had to try to milk this franchise for another go. Though I hesitate to call this a franchise, more like a nice little first film and a very unneeded sequel that destroys everything in the first one. So the old gang is back to once again help their alien friends get those cocoons. What have they done in the time they have been gone you ask? Well do not ask, you get nothing about the aliens and their way of life. You do get to see that a one week trip back to earth makes them very cranky very quickly. You also get to find out on of them is pregnant, how wonderfully creepy. I mean seeing them act young and stuff in the first one was good and all, but this is a step or two to far. Then you have your very awkward scene of the girl that liked Steve Guttenberg in the first one not able to control herself in a crowded restaurant. So the highly advance race of aliens can not even control themselves in public? I mean she is not only acting very badly, she is exposing herself as an alien to a crowded room. Just a sequel that should not have been, I hate the ending with some of the elders staying to be with their daughter and grandson, then I guess they get to die and considering these aliens that live forever, most likely no god in this universe so they get to be worm food, but hey the grandson will have gotten to know his grandparents and attended their funeral. Such fun to be had here.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This movie got really bad reviews... but I think it's almost just as good as the first one! Sure... it hasn't got the BEST plot in the world... but the cute older people return! That's enough to make me watch it! (Note: Bit of a spoiler coming up here... but not TOO in depth) Wilford Brimley and Maureen Stapleton again do a fine job as they contemplate whether to stay with their beloved daughter and grandson, or to return to the planet of Antarea. Jack Gilford again shines... this time with Elaine Stritch! Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn give an especially moving performance as his leukemia returns... and she's hit by a car. (VERY depressing point in the movie... it'll bring tears to your eyes) And, saving the best for last, Gwen Verdon and Don Ameche... again, bringing a sparkle to their parts and doing a wonderful job! (I must say though... it's kind of weird that they made Bess pregnant.... considering Gwen was 63 and all at the time...) A definite must see... but only after you've seen the first!

*********WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS*************** At the end of the original 'Cocoon' the old folks left for everlasting life, true peace and security. So why return? Because sequels are a big business of course. A waste of time, talent and money. Perhaps it could have survived with a talented director, (hint: Ron Howard). Ranks with one of the worst sequels ever made.

Sad follow up to tender 1985 hit with Petrie dropping the ball as director, lacking Howard's polish and care for the material. Ameche and group return once again, but the magic is lost.