Lawnmower Man 2 - Jobe's War

Starring:Patrick Bergin, Matt Frewer, Austin O'Brien, Ely Pouget, Camille Cooper, Patrick LaBrecque, Crystal Celeste Grant, Sean Parhm, Mathew Valencia, Kevin Conway, Trever O'Brien, Richard Fancy, Ellis Williams, Castulo Guerra, Molly Shannon, Ralph Ahn, David Byrd (II), Stephanie Menuez, Nancy Chen, Amanda Hillwood
Director: Farhad Mann
Studio: New Line Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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With computer effects improving on a daily basis, a more visually dazzling Lawnmower Man sequel was inevitable. Ten minutes into Jobe's War (also known as Beyond Cyberspace) you know the CGI is vastly better, even if composite shots and model work aren't! The focus of the effects is still former simpleton Jobe, who's been rescued from the fireball explosions at the first film's end. In a Los Angeles of "the future," he's had both legs amputated, his head is shaved, and he's now played by Matt Frewer. The Virtual Light Institute has Jobe building a chip once designed by disgraced scientist Dr. Trace (Patrick Bergin). Like the original, this sequel is a great snapshot of the special-effects industry of its day. In 1996, the cyber city and bike ride (a homage to Tron) was as good as you got. --Paul Tonks

Description

The sequel to the box office hit The Lawnmower Man takes virtual reality to a new level as four teenagers and a scientist become locked in a power struggle to stop the world from plunging into eternal chaos.

Customer Reviews:

I Liked It.......2006-05-08

Dr. Bejamin Trace creates a brilliant device which allows unhindered access to all sources of electronic information: banks, hospitals, etc. When he questions their motives, the corporation that funded his research take him to court and claim the device as their own. Since Trace -- the only man who can make it work -- takes off to who-knows-where, the corporation pulls a crippled Jobe from the wreckage of the first movie and offer him a job.

Several years down the road, Jobe's secret work has lead to a future that's advanced on the surface, but hides a sad underbelly of poverty and unemployment. Jobe's nearly cracked the networking device, but needs to find Trace for the last crucial bits, so he contacts his old friend Pete, who's cruising the streets with a gang of homeless hackers. Pete's overjoyed that Jobe is alive and tracks the nomadic Trace down in a desert home free of modern convenience, only to learn that Jobe has plans of his own for the networking device. Plans that go far beyond the sharing or stealing of information.

First off, this film is cheap. It was made on a nonexistent budget and skipped out of the theaters before people even knew it existed. But, that aside, it works.

The sets and costumes brilliantly portray a Blade Runner-style future clearly divided between the haves and have-nots. The casting is perfect, from Patrick Bergan's portrayal of Trace as a man shoved around so long he finally ran away from the world, to Eli Pouget as Jobe's doctor who falls for her patient's seeming innocence. But the rowdy gang of kids steal the show. Heck, even Frewer, who I normally don't enjoy, does a decent job.

Farhad Mann deserves credit for a well constructed story with plenty of twists and turns that moves at a perfect pace. And more credit for bringing that script to life on such a meager budget.

There's really only two problems I have with the film.

First, Jobe doesn't gel with the original movie. Frewer's portrayal is of an anarchistic goof along the lines of Batman's Joker, whereas Fahey played him as a twisted Buddha who opperates on a mental level beyond those around him. The performance works, though, if you just approach it as a different character.

Secondly, the VR scenes with actors in front of blue screen suffer when compared to the dated but beautiful cgi of the original. They still look fairly good, superimposing the actors over sprawling cybernetic vistas, but I guess I just miss the gimmick from the first one.

I like this movie. I know many out there don't, but I do. It's a rare sequel that tries to take the story off in a new direction.

So horrible it's insulting.............2005-06-29

...I truly enjoyed the first Lawnmower Man film, it was imaginative and had a plot that really drew you into the movie, and the ending left your spine tingling (the birth-cry of Jobe, all the phones in the world ringing...), so you can imagine how I was excited to watch the sequel in '96...
If you've seen this film, you can also imagine my disappointment, as what could have been a truly great film was turned into the most worthless garbage sequel ever produced!
It has almost nothing to do with the original film, and all of a sudden, we are living in the "world of the future" which featured the kid from the first Lawnmower Man film, who is only a few years older - how'd that happen?
I thought sequels had hit a new low with the gosh-awful Highlander 2 (planet Geist, anyone?), but Lawnmower Man 2 has truly surpassed it by leaps and bounds.
Not only the worst movie ever made, but as the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons would say, "Worst. Sequel. Ever.".

How to Make a Sequel.......2005-04-29

After you've successfully made a movie that combined thriller and horror elements with state of the art (for that time) special effects, you should make a sequel to your film. Why? To prove that you've hired the most incompetent producers in showbuisiness. Here's how:

Step one: Forget everything that made your original story so appealing and instead rip-off 'Total Recall' and 'Super Mario Brothers'. Yes. Super. Mario. Brothers. The. Movie.

Step 2: Forget logical casting choices and choose someone to fill in the lead that should NEVER fill in the lead. How about Max Headroom, for instance? But this time, make him look like a cross between Gandhi and Jim Carrey's Riddler.

Step 3: Forget logic altogether. Set your story in the distant future even though your original story was set in the present, then cast the same child actor that was in the first movie as the same character, who's obviously only three years older now.

Step 4: Practically ELIMINATE the special effects that literally made your story so interesting in the first place, and limit CGI to crappy backgrounds, so that way people will be able to notice your failures in scripting, story and acting even more.

Once you've accomplished these four steps, you've created a sequel worthy to be called crap. Congratulations!

MAX HEADROOM'S REVENGE.......2005-04-13

Matt Frewer who plays Jobe in this lamebrained sequel got his start on the trendsetting ABC TV series, MAX HEADROOM. While critically acclaimed, the series died a quick death; this must be Frewer's revenge. He takes over the role initiated by Jeff Fahey in the original, and there are times when his manic performance almost makes it work, but overall, I think I would have preferred Fahey back in the role. In the original, at the end of the film, Fahey's body had pretty much disintegrated and we assumed he achieved his goal given the telephone ending. However, the sequel opens with Jobe's body being found in the rubble. Since we've moved into the age of teen oriented movies, the film gives us a ragtag squad of computer geeks, headed up by Austin O'Brien, the only original cast member who returns in his role of a now more mature Peter. Still don't understand how Peter could consider Jobe a friend, after what he did in the first movie, and this penchant to make Jobe more a victim undermines the success of this film. Overworked Patrick Bergin, who has never impressed me with any of his performances, has no action hero presence; Ely Pouget (who portrayed Maggie Evans in NBC'S disastrous Dark Shadows remake) is the only performer who seems to occupy her character. The saving grace is the wonderful special effects which continued to elevate this film as it did the original. You might consider watching the two movies together and they might make the storyline more cohesive? There are worse films out there.

For you "so bad, it's good" entertainment seekers.......2004-02-06

Script: a convoluted mess, Directing: pitiful even for a neophyte, Special FX: Overly dated, Acting: Ranges from bad to wooden... I could go on, but if you're into "so bad, it's good" entertainment, like myself, you'll find this to be pretty enjoyable. The film begins with Jobe being rescued from the blast at the end of part one, then it cuts to the future where the latest advances in virtual reality help rehabilitate his mind and body. After the doctors learn of his brilliance, he is ordered by Walker, a shady businessman, to build a chip that allows people to escape the diseased/crime-ridden real world and live in a cyberspace eden under his rule. Jobe gets ticked off when he finds out Walker wants to take him out and get all the credit for the project, so HE decides to take over the world instead. Then there is this burnt out Mel Gibson-looking scientist and some teenage cyberpunks who don't want neither of them taking over the world and try to stop them both. Believe it or not, I had more fun laughing at this box office bomb than sitting through more recent sci-fi blockbusters like the Matrix sequels. Don't take it seriously and you'll have a good time.

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