Growing up son of the Fly not a buzz

Press, 26 June 1989, Page 5

Growing up son of the Fly not a buzz

THE FLY II Directed by Chris Walas Story by Mick Garris The answer is out to that perennial question: Where do flies go in winter? The Midcity, of course, dressed as mutant half-humans in “The Fly II.”

In fact, the leading creature, and the film itself, should have been entitled “Son of the Fly,” for that is what it is all about.

Followers of Fly-lore know that at the end of David Cronenberg’s 1986 version, the girlfriend of the tragic scientist, Seth Brundle, was pregnant. The big question was, would it be Seth’s child or

that of the fly genes in his system? In “The Fly II,” that question is answered early, leaving the rest of the film open for the development of Martin Brundle into a seemingly normal young man, only starting to develop fly characteristics when he reaches puberty — at the age of five. Martin (Eric Stoltz) is being brought up in the clinical environment of Bartok Industries- under the watchful eye of the ruthless industrialist, Anton Bartok (Lee Richardson), who owns Seth Brundle’s invention — the teleportation pods, which caused all the problems in

the first film. Martin shows some unusual characteristics, such as a photographic memory and never needing to sleep, and has accepted that he is little more than a specimen for study. Also a brilliant scientist, he devotes his life to solving the mysteries of his father’s device, trying to get it into working order to allow the teleportation of living creatures. The topological problem of turning a ball inside out is simple compared to what happens to a dog when it suffers the same fate in the process of teleportation. But Martin finds time to fall in love with Beth

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Logan (Daphne Zuniga), an attractive and intelligent computer programmer, who for the first time gives him a real desire to live. As Martin’s insect genes gradually begin to take control, however, he finds himself in a fierce battle to retain his humanity.

Possessed of great strength and fuelled by anger and feelings of betrayal, he finally seeks revenge on those who choose to keep him entrapped. Rarely can a sequel equal or better the original, and “Fly II” faces the additional handicap of being a follow-up to a film which was a remake of another — the original 1958 version of “The Fly.” In that one, Vincent Price plays a scientist who becomes involved in an experiment in matter transmission which results in a mix-up of his molecules with those of a common housefly — the result is the transference of heads between the man and the fly. Cronenberg's “Fly” took this one step further, involving a mix-up of genes and complete transformation as the unfortunate scientist was helplessly transformed into a grotesque mutant. And it was a lot of grisly fun too, as Seth shed his skin, ears

and eyes, to the horror of his girlfriend — and the audience.

This time, the changes are somewhat similar, but have lost their original shock effect. One even wonders if such a metamorphosis might actually be more effective done as it was in Franz Kafka’s story, in which the unhappy fellow just woke up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant bug. “Fly II” is the first feature film directed by Chris Walas, winner of the 1987 Academy Award for best makeup for his work in “The Fly.” His innovative makeup work can also be seen in "Raiders of the Lost Ark” and "Gremlins,” but when it comes to directing, he lacks the dark vision of Cronenberg, who will be best remembered for the exploding head in “Scanners.”

Cronenberg set most of the action, with only a few participants, in a huge loft, where Seth built

his teleportation pods. The room was huge, dark and sinister, capable of suggesting many hidden things in its shadowed recesses. "Fly II,” unfortunately, has a big cast, a much more complicated plot, and is set in large, glistening, antiseptic laboratories, in which a real fly could never hope to last more than a few minutes.

The giant fly itself does not even look very much like one, lacking multifaceted eyes or even a hint of wings. Its plodding feet look like those of the giant robot in “Robocop,” which may be no coincidence since Stephen Dupuis, the special makeup effects artist in that film also worked on "Fly II.” Let us stop quibbling: The Dolby sound is among the best I have heard and the action scenes are great. If “Fly II” did not have to follow in its father’s footsteps, it may have been recognised as a good little horror film in its own right.