Wayne’s World 2 (1993)
Good movies based on Saturday Night Live sketches are rare. Like turning a short story into a 1000 page novel, the entire nature of the work has to change.
The few successful SNL movies are based on strong characters, like Jake and Elwood Blues, or Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, and not awkward situations like androgynous people looking for restrooms, or two losers trying to pick up women.
I loved Wayne’s World (1992), but this film attempts an unprecedented feat, a successful sequel to an SNL film. It has a few highlights, including an inspired vision of Jim Morrison as a desert shaman, but it’s too disjointed and derivative. Wayne struggling in his relationship with Cassandra, three endings, and bowing in reference to a beloved 80s rocker were the tricks from the last film. You can trot out the same jokes and beats on SNL, where a skit only has to be funny for five minutes, but you can’t do it for ninety minutes, no way!