If you haven't seen the original Cronenberg "The Fly", then chances are that you might actually find some enjoyment in "The Fly II", if you take it as a stand-alone movie.

However, for us that have watched and enjoy the 1986 movie, then "The Fly II" is nothing more than a shameless attempt to cash in on the success of the first movie. And it is so blatantly a copy of the first movie, that they hardly even bothered with changing anything in the storyline.

"The Fly II" follows the exact same formula that the first movie did; except this time it is the son of Seth Brundle, who has inherited the fly DNA cells from his father. But other than that, it is essentially just a scene by scene copy of the first movie. And it is this that make the movie such a drag to sit through.

On the plus side, then "The Fly II" does have some very young and inexperienced Eric Stoltz and Daphne Zuniga in the lead roles, which makes it somewhat bearable to sit through this rip-off of the first movie.

The effects in "The Fly II", however, definitely had a notch upward compared to the first movie. Which is a natural evolution, of course, since there were three years in between the movies. And the special effects team in "The Fly II" do deserve most of the credit for making the movie watchable.

"The Fly II" is not a movie that was necessary to add to the former movie, because it offers nothing to the particular story and universe established here, aside from it being the son of Seth Brundle this time around.

All in all, a less than mediocre movie that is salvaged primarily because of good effects.

Very enjoyable sequel, but it can't match the original. The effects for the most part are top notch, and the story is engaging, however it does get a little silly near the end, and the fly effects were pretty bad, overall, though, this is a really fun sequel with 2 great leads.It was rather intense at times, and often quite creepy, but some of the stalking scenes, were too long,and i wish John Getz, had more screen time, overall though, this was a very enjoyable sequel. The Direction is pretty good. Chris Walas, does a pretty good job here, with cool camera angles, some cool tricks, however he is no David Cronenberg, and it did get a bit long in tooth near the end, but the pace was excellent for the most part, and he did a solid job overall. There is TONS of gore just like the 1st. We get some very gory surgery scenes, nasty child birth, bitten off fingers, lots of acid spray, TONS AND TONS of slime, TONS and TONS of weird gore that's hard to explain, bloody corpse, big puddle of blood, ripped off face, acid spray to the hand, a head gets crushed (very gory)and more!. The Acting is very good. Eric Stoltz, does an excellent job here, he is very likable, had good chemistry with Daphne Zuniga, and was perfect for the lead. Daphne Zuniga, is very pretty, and does very well here,and had good chemistry with Eric Stoltz!. Lee Richardson,is excellent here, he was mysterious, and his character was unpredictable i liked him. John Getz is excellent reprises his small role here, and i wish he had more screen time. Overall i highly recommend this sequel!. ***1/2 out of 5

The 1986 film 'The Fly', itself a remake of the very good 1958 film with Vincent Price, is one of David Cronenberg's best films and not just one of the best remakes out there it is also to me one of the rare cases of the remake being superior to the original. 'The Fly' though is a brilliant film though too on its own, to the extent that one cannot believe or tell that it is a remake and calling it one is almost insulting considering the generally fairly dubious reputation of remakes.

Had heard a lot of bad things about 'The Fly II', nothing but from close friends and family and a little more mixed with trusted IMDb members, and was really not looking forward to seeing it and prepared myself to dislike it intensely. Decided to anyway for curiosity's sake. Finally seeing it, am going to be one of those people who didn't think 'The Fly II' was that awful and that it had its moments, so did not dislike it as intensely as feared. Also do not consider it a good film at all and there was absolutely no real need for it, if there was a list for pointless sequels 'The Fly II' would be on it. It has very little of what made the 1986 film as brilliant as it was. Just to say when saying about it not being a good film at all that is both as a sequel and as an overall film.

Always try to see the good in the average or less films, and there are moments here. Eric Stoltz does a good job in carrying the film and allowing one to root for him. John Getz has a few amusing moments that come too far and between and gives the film's most energetic performance.

Did think that the mutated dog bit was touching and the special effects and overall look of 'The Fly II' are impressive.

Sadly also thought that there was an over-reliance on the effects and especially on the gore and it made the mistake of over-shadowing most of everything else. Meaning that the spirit is lost. The subtlety is completely missing as one is bombarded with the gore and horror. The horror fails in being particularly scary or suspenseful, and became increasingly predictable and schlocky. Apart from one moment, there is very little of an emotional connection and it was that that set the first 'The Fly' apart from most horrors. There is nothing memorable or special about the music, with the part that is most remembered being the country song and that is because it is so toe-curlingly bad.

From start to finish, with the last twenty minutes being where 'The Fly II' finally too late shows a little spark, the story is a big problem. Structurally it's more incomplete sketches than a coherent narrative when there actually is signs of a story, which is scant. Even more off is the pacing, with 'The Fly II' being severely lacking in momentum. For instance taking forever to get going and with a severely underveloped romantic subplot that badly slows the film down and is easily fast-forwardable. The characters are similarly flimsy, especially Veronica, the script is as soggy as out of date lettuce and Chris Walas should have stuck to effects because tonally his direction is all over the map, at some points too restrained at other points heavy-handed.

Altogether, below average but not that awful. Was expecting far worse considering the reputation. 4/10