I have had the same argument many times in my life, and I'm always asked the same shocking question; how can you like Grease 2 better than Grease? I never found the intrigue with the original Grease film. Recently I watched Grease 2 again and my wife commented how horrible she thinks it is compared to Grease. So I figured it was time to build a defensive case for my enjoyment of Grease 2. In this entry I will examine three aspects of both Grease films; music, supporting characters, and main characters/plot. I will prove that Grease 2 is almost as good, if not better, than Grease.
With both films being musicals it's hard to not first comment on the musical numbers. Grease had such classics as 'Summer Lovin', 'You're the One That I Want', and 'Grease Lightning.' They are catchy tunes and I've sang them a time or two myself, but the Grease 2 songs are just as catchy, and I feel more relatable; because most of them have to do about sex. In 'Do It For Our Country' Louis is trying to get his girlfriend to sleep with him, while she thinks they're going to join the army. 'Reproduction' shows how kids in science class dirty up any talk about any species reproducing. It's pretty much what hap pend in my high school experience, except no one sang or danced; unfortunately. Now I'll admit there are a few bad songs in Grease 2 such as 'Charades', but are you telling me that 'Sandy' helped make the Grease soundtrack complete?
Of course the songs can only be heightened by the characters and situations that they are sang in. The T-Birds and Pink Ladies that appear in both films had their merits. If you look at the main T-Birds, Kenickie and Johnny, both were true leaders of their pack, but had their faults. They both wanted to appear more cooler than they actually were, and so did Danny, but more on that soon. Both characters struggled with girl issues. Kenickie thought he knocked up Rizzo and Johnny was afraid of Paulette's sexual confidence because of his own short comings. Looking at the Pink Ladies both Rizzo and Paulette struggled with their men and identity by trying to be honest with themselves. The rest of the T-Birds and Pink Ladies were just comical background noise which didn't add too much to either film's plot.
Speaking of plot, we come to the real meat of the issue. The reason I actually prefer Grease 2 over Grease; the main characters. In Grease, Sandy is the sweet new girl from across the sea who falls for the nice boy, Danny. But when Sandy is reunited with Danny he isn't the boy she remembered. Danny is so busy trying to keep up the cool image he wants everyone to see him as that he treats Sandy like trash. He's what Red Forman and I would call a dumb ass!
In Grease 2 Michael is the sweet new guy from across the sea (and Sandy's cousin) who is smitten by the rebellious Pink Lady, Stephanie. In the song, 'Cool Rider', Stephanie tells Michael what she wants in a guy, so he becomes this Batman-Esq, motorcycle hero, who Stephanie falls for. But also, at the same time, Stephanie is actually beginning to like Bruce Wayne, I mean Michael. Now I know where Joel Schumacher got his Batman Forever love story from.
At the end of Grease Danny and Sandy both try to completely change who they are just to be with the other person. Does that seem right to you, because it doesn't to me. Meanwhile, in Grease 2, Stephanie finds out the two guys she's falling for just happen to be the same person, and she doesn't even have to buy a whole new wardrobe to get her guy! To me Grease sends a message to young minds that if you want to be with someone you have to completely give up who you are to get your high school crush. Yeah, yeah, I know, "and we'll always....be together," but come on, it's a high school crush. At least Stephanie will still have her dignity when her man splits because Stephanie never compromised who she was.
I don't know if I've made my point, pissed you off, or just made myself seem like a crazy person, but their is a message in everything we do and everything we watch, and I feel like Grease 2 has the better message. That message helps make the movie more likeable and the songs more singable for me. Plus, Olivia Newton-John went on to do Xanadu while Michelle Pfeiffer went on to be Catwoman in Batman Returns. Who won that category of Best Career Choices. The Defense Rests!
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