Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace * (1995, Patrick Bergin, Matt Frewer, Austin O’Brien) – Classic Movie Review 13,161

Farhad Mann’s 1995 New Line Cinema sci-fi horror movie sequel film Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace stars Patrick Bergin, Matt Frewer and only returning cast member Austin O’Brien.

Writer/ director Farhad Mann’s 1995 New Line Cinema sci-fi horror movie sequel film Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace stars Patrick Bergin, Matt Frewer and Austin O’Brien.

Matt Frewer takes over from Jeff Fahey in the 1992 movie The Lawnmower Man as ‘mentally retarded’ lawnmower man, the simple gardener-turned-superkiller Jobe Smith, who has rebooted himself and is now out for his revenge, in a schlocky, expected sequel to the 1992 hit. Patrick Bergin is top-billed in the thankless part of Dr Benjamin Trace. Only Austin O’Brien (as Peter Parkette) returns from the original.

The movie is largely unexciting and quite poor in all departments, and it is even more of a simple-minded, cheap, low-quality Fifties B-movie this time. Even the visual effects and cinematography fail to impress.

It takes place six years after the story in the first movie, conveniently ignoring parts of the story.

The producers allegedly edited Mann’s film to appeal more to teenage boys.

The Lawnmower Man was New Line Cinema’s highest grossing cinema release of 1992 but this one grossed only $2.4 million at the box office on a cost of $15 million.

It premiered in China in October 1995 at the Shanghai International Film Festival and was released in the US on January 12, 1996 and in the UK on March 29, 1996.

The original is still held in some slight esteem, but this one vanished without Trace. Oh no, wait a minute, there it is on Film Four in October 2024.

Patrick Bergin’s character of Dr Benjamin Trace had to be created to replace Pierce Brosnan’s Dr Lawrence Angelo as Brosnan was too busy to return because of GoldenEye, while original director Brett Leonard was busy directing Virtuosity.

Alternate title: Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe’s War.

The cast are Patrick Bergin as Dr. Benjamin Trace, Matt Frewer as Jobe Smith, Austin O’Brien as Peter Parkette, Ely Pouget as Dr Cori Platt, Kevin Conway as Jonathan Walker, Camille Cooper as Jennifer, Patrick LaBrecque as Shawn, Crystal Celeste Grant as Jade, Sean P Young as Travis, Mathew Valencia as Homeless Kid, Trever O’Brien as Young Peter Parkette, Richard Fancy as Senator Greenspan, Ellis Williams as Chief of Security, Castulo Guerra as Guillermo, and Molly Shannon as Homeless Lady.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,161

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