Little Bigfoot 2: The Journey Home Reviews

A little bigfoot goes a long way in this unwanted, unwarranted sequel. Meanie tycoon Cavendish (Steve Eastin) systematically destroys Indian artifacts he finds on his property in scenic Sasquatch Valley so the government won't repossess the land as sacred tribal ground; he also hunts the legendary hairy humanoids known as "Bigfoots"' roaming the forest. The searchers tranquilize a female creature, but her body falls off a cliff and disappears, leaving a "Little Bigfoot" (Joseph Griffo) unprotected. Meanwhile, a city family stops on adjacent parkland, led by dithery divorced insurance man Derby Ferris (Stephen Furst) spending quality time with son Brian (Taran Noah Smith) and daughter Shelly (Melody Clarke). Though Cavendish tries to spook the group with warnings of a "rabid" beast on the loose, when tiny Shelly meets Little Bigfoot in the forest, the girl immediately befriends the teddy-bear-like creature, and the children promise to protect L.B. against its pursuers. They hide the Sasquatch cub in their camper, and finally introduce Mr. Ferris to Little Bigfoot. The notion of saving the innocent creature turns dad from a wimp to a man of action, and he decoys hunters away while the youngsters take Little Bigfoot back to his woods. But hired Indian tracker Mingen (Mark Stephen Brien) is not so easily fooled, and he leads Cavendish to Little Bigfoot. Because Sasquatches are sacred animals, once Cavendish fires a knockout dart into the critter a native curse strikes him with pain, and he surrenders to lawmen ready to arrest him for his archaeological misdeeds. Wounded Little Bigfoot, tended by the kids and a repentant Mingen, recovers and reunites with his tribe. Like its predecessors (a loose series from the same production company that kicked off with BIGFOOT: THE UNFORGETTABLE ENCOUNTER in 1995), this went straight to video and cable markets. And like those forebears, this movie isn't very good. As the workaholic father too busy to bond with his offspring, Stephen Furst takes an overused cliche way over the top, and his whiny, effeminate characterization is grating beyond belief, while juvenile performers trade zingers and bathroom humor like wizened sitcom vets. One exception is appealing newcomer Melody Clarke, but her nonstop animal-rights dialogue, while in lockstep with the movie's tiresome eco-themes, makes her a little spooky, like a VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED waif gone militant-vegatarian. The rest of LITTLE BIGFOOT 2 offers few compensations. Art Camacho's direction avoids the the bombastic faux Steven Spielberg style of his LITTLE BIGFOOT (1996), but the one-note chase plot even more slavishly follows the template of Spielberg's E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL (1982), not to mention HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS (1987). No number of closeups of Little Bigfoot's animatronic, ping-pong-ball eyes can make this third-hand material fresh. As before, the feature carries a closing-credit dedication to "the Supreme Being." Divine intervention does come to mind, if only as the one agency able to save the poor viewer from lousy sequels.