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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into preserved goods and firearms.” This piece of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, spectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. Yet, in a strange manner, it’s also pretty solid life advice. Truly, consider my perspective.

When things go bad, the worst thing you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Indeed, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same knowing, self-referential comic sensibility regarding the indistinct border separating everyday life and pure pandemonium. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and the older I get, it’s the message that strikes the deepest chord.

An Early Life Fixation

Of course, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an philosophical plane. As a child, we possessed merely a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve probably bought from an non-chain rental store and sporting snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films quickly proceeded inserting themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s original commonly garners all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. However, its successor rarely gets the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. With repetition, it ingrained itself in my psyche. If my parents noticed this obsession, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Rewards and Societal Easter Eggs

As I got older, new understandings enhanced multiple watches, heightening the enjoyment of watching small emerald creatures joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon future president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp has more heart than his actual-world equivalent.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was inspired by a actual “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world really ended. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film alternate cuts of a self-aware scene where Gremlins seize control of the very film you’re watching. A version for theaters, one for VHS and TV, each providing a grinning portion of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy ahead of its time.

A Persistent Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that captured my attention as a child, this subsurface richness held my interest as an adult. Eventually, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation informing me he made the movie with the specific aim of mocking those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This anarchic defiance and resolve to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I endured a sudden family bereavement earlier this year, I was surprised to find that, during my heightest mourning, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Maybe not. The comforting familiarity it furnished was needed to dilute my mind’s mourning mire – but the perspectives it had bestowed upon me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just are powerless over. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: embrace the chaos, put everything you’ve got into canned food and shotguns and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my feelgood film.