![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/w/waynesworld2.jpg)
Wayne's World 2
What's a boy to do when his local cable-access show has become a big hit, his babe-a-licious girlfriend is cutting a demo record, and his shy friend has finally found a sweetheart? Well, if he's Wayne Campbell, he risks it all on the vague advice of a long-dead rock star and decides to put on a huge concert in his hometown of Aurora, Ill., not realizing that it's who you are that matters — not what you do. (Oh, and he makes time for a kung fu fight with his girlfriend's father, too.) When the curtain rises on Wayne's World 2, it's been a year since metal-head/TV host Wayne (Mike Myers), his friend Garth (Dana Carvey), and his girlfriend Cassandra (Tia Carrere) outsmarted a sleazy TV exec and found their happy ending in the first film. At a loss for what to do with himself while Cassandra works on her first album with menacing record producer Bobby (Christopher Walken), Wayne decides to produce "Waynestock" after meeting the Doors' Jim Morrison (not to mention a mysterious, nearly naked Native American) in a dream — and almost loses his gal as a result. Meanwhile, Garth falls for the lovely Honey Hornée (Kim Basinger) in a series of hilariously bumbling scenes. Wayne's World 2 is funny, but it doesn't stray very far from the (admittedly successful) formula of the first film: self-aware humor + pop culture references + Mike Myers = laughs. By the time Wayne has to choose between romance and putting on his big show, the sequel has logged a longer list of cameo appearances than a Muppet movie (from Heather Locklear to Charlton Heston) and mocked/paid homage to everything from the Village People to The Graduate. So it's fun, and a great way to kill an hour and a half, but it's not really anything we haven't seen before. Paramount's DVD presentation of Wayne's World 2 is almost identical to the first WW disc (both are available separately or in a set). The anamorphic transfer (1.85:1) is solid, and audio is available in Dolby Digital 5.1 or Dolby 2.0 Surround. The disc also features the clever cable-listings menu screen (with more great clips from shows like "I Love Lucy" and "Solid Gold Workout"), a full-length director's commentary track, and an "Extreme Close-Up" featurette. Offering 14 minutes of interviews with the film's key personnel — including producer Lorne Michaels, director Stephen Surjik, Carvey, Carrere, and Myers (whose rounder face looks decidedly Shrek-like) — the brand-new "Extreme Close-Up" includes some good anecdotes about the making of the movie (for example, Carvey confides he felt "dumpling-esque" around the beautiful Basinger). All in all, not quite "excellent," but definitely far from hurl-worthy. Keep-case.
—Betsy Bozdech
