Meatballs: Part II

WuchakMay 2023

3.5

**_Silly sequel delivers the goods_** Two competing camps on a lake in SoCal go through the challenges of a typical summer, except this year there’s an extraterrestrial visitation. Richard Mulligan is on hand as the director of Camp Sasquatch. “Meatballs Part II” (1984) is all-out comedy compared to the first movie, which was a relatively realistic summer camp flick with some amusing bits. This one throws in an ET-like character along with a lot of goofiness and camp, particularly the ‘general’ of the military camp (Hamilton Camp). Petite Tammy Taylor stands out on the feminine front as Nancy, along with voluptuous Misty Rowe (Fanny) and Kim Richards (Cheryl) with her glorious long hair. The flick is superior to the first one in this department. On the other side of the spectrum, John Mengatti is effective as the Chachi-like Flash. While there’s some sex-oriented humor, which is to be expected given the milieu, it doesn’t go overboard into tastelessness like the next sequel. There are some excesses that I could do without (e.g. the implications of John Larroquette’s character and Flash’s boxing outfit) but, other than that, the movie provides practically everything you’d want for a fun summer camp flick. The film runs 1 hours, 27 minutes, and at Veluzat Motion Picture Ranch, Saugus, California, which is north of Santa Clarita, both in the high country north of Los Angeles. GRADE: B/B-