The Sandlot 2

There are quite a lot of negative reviews here about the Sandlot 2. Honestly, i don't think it's as bad as many claim. It's not a GREAT movie, but it's not bad. The problem is that it's supposed to be a sequel, yet it retreads every single theme from the first movie. If this were the only Sandlot film made, it would probably be considered much better.

Unfortunately, they try to play it as a sequel. The story continually drops little reminders along the way that this is a new story (such as the addition of girls to the grou and a romance), but every theme and story arc from the first film is repeated, some with almost verbatim dialogue.

Here are a few among the many, many retreads:

1. The dorky kid (also named Smalls) who doesn't play baseball, but is eventually accepted by the initially exclusive neighborhood kids.

2. Smalls sends something sailing over the wall into the dog lot, where it must be retrieved from the mean dog's clutches.

3. Devising silly schemes to retrieve said item.

4. Knocking down said wall in a big hellabaloo.

5. Nearly every character copied almost verbatim, only with new names and actors. (i.e., the fat kid, the two brothers, the black kid, the cool leader, the dorky non-athlete, etc)

6. Big chase scene with dog and the neighborhood "cool kid."

I could go on and on and on with the direct rips from the first film. But because there IS so much from the first film here, it makes it somewhat enjoyable. No, it doesn't quite have the magic of the original, but it's still enjoyable...so long as you accept it as a REMAKE, and not a SEQUEL. If you are thinking sequel, you will probably hate it.

This is not a sequel to Sandlot.. It's a HORRIBLE remake.. the scenes are almost exactly the same but cheesier.. blech.. I can't believe they tried to murder the original. Shame on whoever made this.

This dvd may be good for fans of the original movie only because of the Special Feature "Sandlot Kids: Then and Now" which has interviews and behind the scenes shots of the original films cast.
For a better follow up story to "The Sandlot" I'd recommend the recently released "Sandlot 3 Heading Home".

Usually when a sequel is made it goes out of its way to be different than the original, even if the original was a classic film. This one, despite trying to be everything that the original Sandlot was, fails miserably.

First of all, there is no real personality to the characters like there was in the first one. This might just be the acting, the script, or a combination of both. There is no sense of camaraderie between the characters in comparsion to the original Sandlot. The stupidity of some scenes don't fall into the "fun" category that we might excuse in a kid's movie. Instead, this movie's production seemed rushed and out to profit from the first film. We see this with so many of the same scenes and conflicts from the first film: the battle for the sandlot, the insults being thrown between the two rival teams, hitting the ball over the fence and having to retrieve it, the legend, etc. If there is one difference, it is that it is supposed to be 10 years later, and there are 3 girls on the team.

Sometimes you can forgive a movie for being unoriginal and poor. But, not this one.

The average 2 star rating given to this film is about right on I'd say.

My 5 and 8 year old loved the first sandlot and so I ventured to buy this one. They love it! I was very impressed. It is a clean family movie that I feel comfortable letting them watch. They watched it over and over again. I think you will be very pleased.