Season 2 of Stranger Things dips again into that 1980’s
Nostalgia. I refer to it as The Goonies
and ET with a mix of Stephen King. I
just finished up with the Season the other night and felt that it was a satisfying
second season – but not an amazing second season. I’ve avoided articles and
reviews to skip spoilers, so this is my opinions
To mix things up and do something a little different I
thought I’d do my quick little review in the form of asking questions.
Question 1. Could Steven
from Stranger Things be Negan from the Walking Dead and the Upside Down be responsible
for the Zombie Virus?
Probably not –but I couldn’t resist with the whole bat thing. Steven’s character has continued his turn
from heel at the beginning of Season One to Han Solo like hero in Season
2.
Question 2. Why
does Eleven turn to the Darkside so easily?
Eleven is way to eager to turn to the dark side when she
meets her “sister” Number 8. I get that she is on a journey of discovery –but
her turn to willingly using her power for evil was disturbing and then she
turned good again just as quickly and Batman forgave Superman for having a mom
with the same name.
Question 3. What is
your favorite 80’s movie reference either intentional or non-intentional?
My personal favorite was the will they won’t they scene between
Mike’s Sister and Will’s Brother. It
was clearly designed to mimic the scene between Indiana Jones and Willie Scott
in Temple of Doom. “I’m a conceited ape”
I also felt like the gang that 8 runs around with reminded me of the punk
rockers from Return of the Living Dead. Of
course, it still very much had the look and feel of Goonies and ET with a
little Gremlins thrown in with the Dart character. The scene where Dustin finds they discarded
skin from when the creature grew was straight out of Gremlins once the little
bastards hatched
Question 4. What was
your favorite 80’s song used in the film?
The series starts off with a Devo and Oingo Boingo reference---it was
like it was selected specifically for me.
My friend pointed out that he
thought it was too lazy of the show to select popular hits like Whip It from
Devo. The should have dug a little
deeper and found less common songs. I
sort of agree to a degree –but then they dropped an Oliva Newton John song “Twist
of Fate” in at the dance sequence in the last episode which was great.
Question 5. What did
you think of the monster?
The shadow monster was an interesting concept and much
better than the Demi-Gorgon from Season 1 which was a disappointing creature. Unfortunately, instead of coming up with some
more new creatures they doubled down on the “ Demi-dogs” so they could have
some Jurassic Park Velociraptor type scenes.
I wish they could have come up with some new creatures.
Listen to our Movie Podcast here
For All Disney/Pixar/Marvel and Star Wars Reviews
go to my Disney Page. Including a review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2