Child’s Play 2 (John Lafia, 1990)

Following the events of the first film, Andy (Alex Vincent) has been placed in foster care. On his own, he is struggling to acclimatise to his new surroundings. 

When a familiar doll starts to reappear, Andy realises his troubles are only about to get worse...

One thing I'll give the sequel credit for. It is not that fussed about agonising over how to bring Chucky back.

Within the first few minutes, he has been re-assembled, escaped and is back on Andy’s tail.

Directed by the original film’s co-writer John Lafia, the film has a larger scope, and the characters also feel broader.

Child’s Play had a specificity and a grounded sense of scale - Child’s Play 2 leans more toward archetypes.

To its credit, the film tries to progress from the aftershocks of its predecessor: while Andy's mother was institutionalised, the company behind the Good Guy dolls are dealing with the bad press of Chucky's rampage.

The adults are more cartoonish, antagonistic toward our young hero (Beth Grant is pure venom as Andy’s teacher), and completely oblivious to the threat he tries to warn them about.

In this respect, the film feels more like a traditional slasher - setting up a series of characters unlikeable enough that viewers will cheer on their demise.

While it feels a little-more cookie-cutter in its general ensemble, the strongest dynamic in the movie returns to the idea of non-nuclear families, and the way in which gender roles are not fixed, but malleable and fluid. 

Once again the movie centres the bond between Andy and an older woman, in this case, Kyle (Christine Elise), a foster kid who looks out for him. Costumed to appear slightly androgynous, the character gets a little more flesh than the other characters, but her relationship with Andy feels like a dry run for the increasingly complicated relationship and gender dynamics of the latter sequels.

Plot-wise, the film is a reprise of its predecessor - Chucky still wants to transfer his soul into Andy’s body. He tries. He fails.

 

This is a film where the pleasures come from the way it expands the canvas: The third act in the toy factory is fun. 

It is in this set-piece that the film leans into the particulars of Chucky's transformation: There is more of a sense of body horror as Chucky has to contend with the vulnerabilities of his toy body as it slowly turns to something more organic and human.

Not a patch on the original, but as a programmer sequel, Child’s Play 2 is a fun time.

Related

Child’s Play

If you are new to this blog, I also co-host a podcast on James Bond, The James Bond Cocktail Hour. 

You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you enjoy something I wrote, and want to support my writing, here’s a link for tips!