Trancers II

• USA • 1991 • 88m •

• Directed by: Charles Band. • Starring: Tim Thomerson, Helen Hunt, Megan Ward, Biff Manard, Martine Beswick, Jeffrey Combs, Alyson Croft, Telma Hopkins, Art LaFleur, Barbara Crampton, Sonny Carl Davis, Richard Lynch, Rhino Michaels. • Music by: Phil Davies, Mark Ryder.

It is Los Angeles, 1991. Jack Deth has become accustomed to life with his new wife, Lena, in the six years since they singed Whistler. Hap Ashby, a former pitcher for the California Angels, had gotten his life out of the gutter and made quite a fortune investing, which he uses to finance his collection of fire trucks, among other things. But life is about to become a little more difficult for Jack and the gang. Whistler's brother, E.D. Wardo, has gome back in time and has started a trancer farm under the organization known as GreenWorld. GreenWorld strives to 'clean up the world', but in reality they are kidnapping homeless people and mental patients to become 'tranced'. And they're after Hap, the ancestor of a future Council Member. Jack's quite ready to singe a few trancers, but he isn't expecting his dead wife to show up. Through the power of technology, Alice has been saved from death and sent back to 1991 to help Jack and stop Wardo.

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3:04

Review:

Yes, admittedly it's just not as good as the first, very cool "Trancers" film, but then that's often to be expected of sequels. The basic ideas are still good, but this is quite plot heavy; the viewer really has to pay attention, and it's advised that they see "Trancers" # 1 before seeing this. It's also a little plodding, unlike the first "Trancers", and is short on action. There's still some humour to be found in the characters and the situations, and the gadgets are amusing like they were before.

Tim Thomerson is once again a total hoot as cynical Trancer hunter Jack Deth, who's adjusted to life in the 20th century with his wife Lena (Helen Hunt). Hap Ashby (Biff Manard) has cleaned up his act and also cleaned up in the stock market. However, soon their happy lives will be disrupted when Jacks' first wife Alice is sent back in time to occupy the body of a mental patient (Megan Ward) and Dr. Wardo (Richard Lynch), brother of original villain Whistler, is using an environmental movement as a cover for creating a Trancer army.

The real attraction is a wonderful collection of B movie actors; certainly the casting directors knew what they were doing. Lynch is of course a fantastic bad guy as always. Art La Fleur and Telma Hopkins return from the first film; La Fleurs' character McNulty is once again transported into the body of his female ancestor (Alyson Croft), who's now a teenager. Martine Beswicke and Jeffrey Combs play Lynchs' evil associates, Sonny Carl Davis is amiable asylum attendant Rabbit, Barbara Crampton has an all too brief role as a TV talk show host, and John Davis Chandler has a bit as a wino. Performances are decent but most of the actors have been better utilized in other projects.

The dialogue just doesn't have a whole lot of zip to it; although Thomersons' delivery is good, it's doubtful that fans will go around quoting "Trancers II". Producer director Charles Band seems to be going through the motions here, which is too bad. "Trancers" could and should have gotten a worthy sequel, but this is overall too muddled and lacking in energy to really soar.

Review by Scott LeBrun from the Internet Movie Database.

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