Why Is Grease 2 So Criminally Underrated
A few nights ago, I found myself aimlessly channel surfing, despite having a TV box full of recordings, none of which I fancied at that moment. I suppose there is such a thing as too much choice, as out of the hundreds of channels, I couldn’t find anything to watch. That was until I noticed that in 20 minutes, a film would be starting that I knew I’d seen a few times before, but it seemed to be the best option. That’s the great thing about a musical, some actually get better the more you watch them, as you already know the songs. If you’re like me and find it hard to not spontaneously burst into song, then you’ll also love a good musical. Especially when you know the songs.
And that’s exactly what this is! A good musical!
Now, we all know that sequels rarely gain the popularity that the original does, and I’m not for one minute suggesting that this film is better than its predecessor, but the fact that the first film in more well known and still enjoys stage performances now doesn’t in any way invalidate the second film.
The film I’m talking about is the strangely divisive Grease 2, which personally I love! But you very rarely hear people talk about it and never hear the songs played. I’ve got a theory that the reason it’s so criminally underrated is because of people instantly writing off sequels in some way, just for the sake of it. Well, if that’s the case, I can tell you – you’re missing out!
It’s exactly what you want from a good musical – easy watching, pleasantly uplifting, just the right amount of cheese (which is a lot – There’s never too much where musicals are concerned!) slightly predictable storylines, it’s got it all. But most importantly, it’s got some brilliant music in it that often gets forgotten.
Now, it’s best known to movie trivia fans as Michelle Pfeiffer’s first lead movie role, but it could have been rather different if their first choice of casting had said yes. The part nearly went to Blondie’s Debbie Harry, but she turned it down stating she thought she was too old to play a high schooler. I’m almost sad about that, as I can totally imagine her belting out Cool Rider. I mean, Michelle did a great job of it, but I’d just love to hear Debbie have a crack at it, as it seems right up her street. If you haven’t heard it, it’s my favourite song in the film. There’s even a story about one of the Pink Ladies nearly being played by Cher! Imagine this alternate universe where Cher and Debbie Harry starred in a musical together! It’d be like all our gay Christmasses coming at once! Sorry, I’m all excited at the thought of that – and if you pictured me flapping my arms around in excitement, you’d be absolutely correct!
The only thing I wouldn’t allow them to change in this hypothetical alternate universe is the presence of a young Maxwell Caulfield, which might be one of the best things about this film. Slight tenuous link to the original, he plays Sandy’s British cousin who comes to Rydell High and is met by Frenchie from the original, which is a nice (ish) touch to keep it linked to the original (saving it from being a copy rather than a sequel). The school principal also returns and adds some comic relief, but back to Max. Oh, Max. I’m sorry, but if you haven’t seen this then you won’t understand, but sweet Jesus, he just makes my heart flutter in every scene – especially those where he’s wearing miraculously skintight leathers and straddling a bike. (Insert cheap ‘straddling’ joke here). See, if I didn’t already know I was into men, then Maxwell Caulfield in this movie would certainly have let me know. I can only imagine he’s the early eighties version of seeing Chris O’Donnell in his latex Robin suit in Batman and Robin, or Ryan Phillippe’s naked behind in Cruel Intentions were to late 90s queerlings. And yes, all three of those examples still make me quiver after all these years!
But really though, a musical featuring motorcycle stunts? Why on earth isn’t this more of a thing? It sounds like something you’d see in Vegas, but might be just crazy enough to work! A stage show produced correctly could be absolutely incredible, but this film just isn’t given the credit it deserves!Fair enough, it’s not the greatest movie ever, but it’s still a really enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. It’s completely frivolous, toe tappingly fabulous and even contains a song where the class sings about reproduction using just about every clean euphemism you can think of (just where DOES the pollen go?). It’s just… fun! Which is presumably why we watch movies. We really just want to have fun!
So, I’ll just chalk it up to being one of my ‘guilty pleasure’ films, but after just a couple of days since my last viewing, I’m already ready to watch it again. And, as I sit here listening to the soundtrack as I write, I’ve pretty much made the decision that one of the first songs I’m putting in my next gig when all this waiting is over is Cool Rider. Now, If only pubs would let me bring a motorcycle in to straddle…
Stay Safe, Stay Sane, Stay Vidalicious x
