This sequel to the mega-hit Grease was, by comparison, a disaster on release. With only a smattering of supporting cast returning, asking the newcomers Michelle Pfeiffer and Maxwell Caulfield, both making cinematic debuts, to carry the show was quite some task. Yet they are so likeable they probably could have managed it – if there’d been a respectable show to carry in the first place. But this garbled tosh about bowling alleys, mysterious motor-bike riders and a school talent contest doesn’t hang together. It’s more an excuse to hang a load of disparately themed songs together – a seduction in a nucleur bunker? a fashion romp through the seasons? – and hope for the best.
And yet, time has been kind to it. It’s a bona-fide cult classic and that’s because it so over-the-top packed with terribleness, wonderfully camp production numbers and the corniest dialogue – it actually ends up having a car crash fascination that makes it compellingly watchable. Even songs like Cool Rider and We’re Going To Bowl Tonight drum into your head so the words linger.
File under guilty pleasures and enjoy at your own risk.