Caddyshack 2 is a study in god awful sequels. Along with Blues Brothers 2000 and Beverly Hills Cop III, CS2 is in the trinity of terrible sequels to 80's comedy classics.
The basic plot of CS2 is the same as the first: a vaguely ethnic new-money guy crashes the WASP-y Bushwood Country Club. There are subplots about a groundskeeper and a gopher and young people learning to stand on principle, and it all climaxes in a golf match. But the original Caddyshack felt like a raunchy celebrity roast; the sequel feels like a lame afterschool special.
CS2 was rated PG while the original was rated R. This highlights sequel kiss-of-death # 1: the studio wanted it to appeal to a wider audience (read: something for the kiddies).
No part of the first Caddyshack is for kids; even the Gopher is more like a good acid trip (does anyone else see that dancing gopher?) – than a family friendly puppet. CS promoted sex and drugs and a contempt for authority. That's because it was directed and headlined by comedians who also promoted sex and drugs and a general contempt for authority.
But the studio wanted a family accessible sequel since the PG rating is generally seen in Hollywood as better for box office returns.
And so there are literally Looney Toons cartoon characters in Caddy Shack 2. Instead of Rodney Dangerfield's hilariously profane Al Czervik, we get a cornball Jackie Mason as a developer-with-a-heart-of-gold. Instead of the class warfare middle finger of Caddyshack, CS2 brings a saccharine "Up-With-People" message about self-acceptance. Bill Murray's brilliant comedic menace as the burned out Carl the Groundskeeper, is replaced by a grating Dan Aykroyd. Aykroyd is best as the straight man (Elwood Blues on SNL, Joe Friday, Louis Winthorp ). When he goes for zany like he does in CS2 he is like the unhip but well-meaning uncle at a family gathering who likes to do funny voices for the tots but then uses the same shtick when coming over to talk to the adults.
CS2's second sequel kiss-of-death is the lazy attempt to recycle the original film. Even though Chevy Chase was the only original cast member to return, CS2 limply retreads most of Caddyshack's other character types. Robert Stack is no Ted Knight and Jonathan Silverman is too bland to fill Michael O'Keefe's shoes in the Danny Noonan role.
Coming back as Ty Webb, Chase's one stab at edginess in CS2 is a bizarre and unnecessary scene in which he chases off a table full of attractive women in the club's lounge by propositioning each of them with silly euphemisms for sex. The joke falls woefully flat and is out of character with the charming Ty of the original.
The third sequel kiss-of-death plaguing CS2 is its troubled development history. Harold Ramis, who co-wrote and directed the original, was reluctantly coerced into scripting a sequel. Rodney Dangerfield initially pushed hard for a sequel, but later pulled out over creative differences with the studio. Ramis also dropped out and urged the studio to let the sequel die. Instead the studio brought in other writers and director Allan Arkush who had more experience with TV than big screen filmmaking, (which may explain why CS2 feels like a made-for-TV project). Other than Chase, none of the original cast wanted anything to do with the sequel. Lawsuits popped up over the use of characters and unfulfilled contracts. All indications were that CS2 was a project that should have been terminated in early development but, as is the case with many Hollywood disasters, the suits saw dollar signs and ignored the warnings of the creatives.
Caddyshack 2 is simply unacceptable. It's only redeeming value is as a cautionary tale for future filmmakers and studio execs about how to kill a comedy classic's name by attaching an abominable sequel to it.
The basic plot of CS2 is the same as the first: a vaguely ethnic new-money guy crashes the WASP-y Bushwood Country Club. There are subplots about a groundskeeper and a gopher and young people learning to stand on principle, and it all climaxes in a golf match. But the original Caddyshack felt like a raunchy celebrity roast; the sequel feels like a lame afterschool special.
CS2 was rated PG while the original was rated R. This highlights sequel kiss-of-death # 1: the studio wanted it to appeal to a wider audience (read: something for the kiddies).
No part of the first Caddyshack is for kids; even the Gopher is more like a good acid trip (does anyone else see that dancing gopher?) – than a family friendly puppet. CS promoted sex and drugs and a contempt for authority. That's because it was directed and headlined by comedians who also promoted sex and drugs and a general contempt for authority.
But the studio wanted a family accessible sequel since the PG rating is generally seen in Hollywood as better for box office returns.
And so there are literally Looney Toons cartoon characters in Caddy Shack 2. Instead of Rodney Dangerfield's hilariously profane Al Czervik, we get a cornball Jackie Mason as a developer-with-a-heart-of-gold. Instead of the class warfare middle finger of Caddyshack, CS2 brings a saccharine "Up-With-People" message about self-acceptance. Bill Murray's brilliant comedic menace as the burned out Carl the Groundskeeper, is replaced by a grating Dan Aykroyd. Aykroyd is best as the straight man (Elwood Blues on SNL, Joe Friday, Louis Winthorp ). When he goes for zany like he does in CS2 he is like the unhip but well-meaning uncle at a family gathering who likes to do funny voices for the tots but then uses the same shtick when coming over to talk to the adults.
CS2's second sequel kiss-of-death is the lazy attempt to recycle the original film. Even though Chevy Chase was the only original cast member to return, CS2 limply retreads most of Caddyshack's other character types. Robert Stack is no Ted Knight and Jonathan Silverman is too bland to fill Michael O'Keefe's shoes in the Danny Noonan role.
Coming back as Ty Webb, Chase's one stab at edginess in CS2 is a bizarre and unnecessary scene in which he chases off a table full of attractive women in the club's lounge by propositioning each of them with silly euphemisms for sex. The joke falls woefully flat and is out of character with the charming Ty of the original.
The third sequel kiss-of-death plaguing CS2 is its troubled development history. Harold Ramis, who co-wrote and directed the original, was reluctantly coerced into scripting a sequel. Rodney Dangerfield initially pushed hard for a sequel, but later pulled out over creative differences with the studio. Ramis also dropped out and urged the studio to let the sequel die. Instead the studio brought in other writers and director Allan Arkush who had more experience with TV than big screen filmmaking, (which may explain why CS2 feels like a made-for-TV project). Other than Chase, none of the original cast wanted anything to do with the sequel. Lawsuits popped up over the use of characters and unfulfilled contracts. All indications were that CS2 was a project that should have been terminated in early development but, as is the case with many Hollywood disasters, the suits saw dollar signs and ignored the warnings of the creatives.
Caddyshack 2 is simply unacceptable. It's only redeeming value is as a cautionary tale for future filmmakers and studio execs about how to kill a comedy classic's name by attaching an abominable sequel to it.