Writer: Stephen McPherson, Elizabeth Bradley (Screenplay) David Saperstein (Characters)
Starring: Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Courteney Cox, Hume Cronyn, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg
Plot: The old age pensioners that left at the end of the first film come back to earth to visit their relatives. Will they all decide to go back to the planet where no-one grows old, or will they be tempted to stay back on earth?
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Forced Sequel
Story: Cocoon: The Return starts as the residents who left in the first film return, Art (Ameche), Ben (Brimley) and Joe (Cronyn) get to reunite with old friends and family that believed they had died, but the aliens are back for their own reasons, to rescue the cocoons that they left at the bottom of the ocean that has been disturbed following an earthquake.
As the for resident spend their time on Earth they start to fall back into old ways be it sickness or mentoring roles being left with the question of whether they want to stay or not. The aliens must find a way to rescue one of their own that has been found by scientists led by Sara (Cox).
Thoughts on Cocoon: The Return
Characters – Art, Ben and Joe all return to Earth where they get to meet old friends and family, Joe gets caught up in needing to battle his old illness, Ben wants to help his grandson who is struggling with growing up and Art finds his wife pregnant at her age. The three get to look at the life they have missed for the last 5 years and need to make the decision whether to stay or not. Sara is one of the scientists which discovers the cocoons and works with the alien inside even though the rest of the government want to take him away. We do have plenty of other characters in this film but they do seem to take away any focus on enough characters.
Performance – The performances do feel like a step back from the first film, the older actors do seem to have a lot of fun with their roles.
Story – The story does feel like a forced sequel, it brings the aliens back to Earth to rescue the ones they left behind with the elderly characters getting to look at the life they left behind. It does go against what we learnt in the first film with the elderly characters now facing the same question of can they stay or not because of what they missed. The alien side of things does fall into every single one we have seen, the government finds one and what to learn more about it now.
Mystery/Sci-Fi – The mystery side of this film comes from the idea of the aliens returning and what the humans will do with the ones they have discovered.
Settings – The settings do feel the same which is fine but we do have the additional inclusion of the science base working on things.
Special Effects – The effects here do feel like a step back too where we clearly see any addition used in the film.
Scene of the Movie – Basketball.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The fact it makes no sense transporting the cocoons after the first film made a point that they couldn’t.
Final Thoughts – This is a very forced sequel that doesn’t accept the points it made in the first film, the effects are weaker and the performances are just not on the same level.
Overall: Disappoint sequel that was forced.
Rating