Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise

I remember when this sequel first came out.  The original movie really struck a chord with me and many of my friends, due to its theme of nerd persecution and redemption.  Boy, did that ever strike home.

So I was naturally eager to watch this sequel.  Mind you, my tastes have become a lot more conservative since then.  I was a callow high school student when the first movie came out, and a college teen when the sequel hit the theatres.  I responded to these movies the way many other teenagers would have--with great gusto.  Now, as a more conservative adult, I shake my head in dismay at much of the content of these movies. 

Today, I'd like to offer some brief commentary on this film (and its predecessor, albeit in passing).  I don't know what compels me to say these things, except perhaps a desire to get these thoughts written down somewhere.

It's no secret that the movie was childish, insipid and just plain insulting to one's intelligence.  It wasn't particularly funny, either.  It was a disappointment, both criticall and in the box office.

On the other hand, it was redeemed by the presence of the lovely Ms. Courtney Thorne-Smith. She had appeared in other movies previously, but I'm guessing that this is the first one in which she played any sort of leading role.

I mentioned that the first movie was quite entertaining, despite its objectionable content.  (I personally think that a quality film could have still been made, even if all the sexual humor and drug references had been stripped out.  Some would say that this would have made it less appealing to its target audience of high schoolers and college kids. Maybe so; however, given the resurgent popularity of clean yet popular films in the 1990s, I can't help but wonder if a more sanitized movie could have done well anyway.  But I digress.)

The nudity, sexual humor and other objectionable content was toned down in the second movie.  Unfortunately, so was the humor and the storyline. 

In part, that's because much of the humor did center around the objectionable stuff, but that's not the whole story.  After all, even the nerd angst was lacking, and that's a theme that isn't dependent on drug references or sexual situations.  Ultimately, the entire movie just seemed uninspired--perhaps the result of trying too hard to duplicate the earlier film's formula.

Now, I can't end these musings without commenting further on Ms. Courtney Thorne-Smith.   She brought a certain wholesome, sunny appeal to the character she played--who was, appropriately enough, named "Sunny."  After watching this film, I knew that this gal's radiant looks would carry her far, and they certainly did.  She pretty much helped salvage this movie, as far as I'm concerned.