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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into preserved goods and firearms.” This nugget of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, talking, spectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s nothing more than an financial suggestion from one monster to another. But, oddly enough, 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. Actually, the majority of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (arguably his best) possess the same sly, self-aware comic sensibility regarding the hazy boundary separating the mundane and absolute bedlam. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and as I age, it’s the message that echoes the loudest.

A Youthful Fixation

Understandably, my fondness for this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. Growing up, we only had a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box likely purchased from an non-chain rental store and sporting snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films did not delay inserting themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. Henceforth, they became an near-everyday part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s first film usually receives all the plaudits, thanks primarily due to its status as a partly frightening holiday classic – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its follow-up seldom receives the same level of elevated esteem, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d lock myself inside and stick it on. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Over time, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents observed this fixation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Subtler Discoveries and Societal Easter Eggs

As I matured, new understandings rewarded frequent screenings, elevating the fun of watching small emerald creatures joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world really ended. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film alternate cuts of a self-referential segment where Gremlins hijack the actual feature in progress. An edit for movie houses, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic prior to the concept being mainstream.

An Enduring Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that caught my eye as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. In time, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the express purpose of ridiculing those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This Looney Tunes-esque rebelliousness and resolve to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I went through a sudden family bereavement recently, I was astonished to realize that, during my deepest grief, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Possibly not. The soothing reminiscence it provided 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 some things in life you just can’t control. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to be like them: accept the turmoil, commit your entire being into canned food and shotguns and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.