Gremlins: The Wild Batch Season 2 Part One Review
The mischievous Mogwai are back in the first part of ‘Gremlins: The Wild Batch’ releasing on Max. No longer confined in to Shanghai, the Gremlins have expanded their operations into San Francisco, forcing main characters Sam and Elle to travel to America, the land of dreams. The first five episodes are a charming and entertaining story, with an exploration of what it’s like to try and make amends after feeling abandoned by the most important people in our lives, family.
Despite being set in America, ‘Gremlins: The Wild Batch’ doesn’t lose its Chinese dressing and inspirations. It would have been easy for Warner Bros. Discovery to wash out all of the Chinese heritage and magic as the series set foot on familiar, Western territory, but there’s a compromise that’s been struck to introduce more elements that audiences will be familar with, but not lose part of the show’s identity.
Audiences will be surprised with the voice actor talent that’s been packed into these five episodes, with Simu Liu joining the cast. Returning cast members include Ming-Na Wen, James Hong, BD Wong, Izaac Wang, AJ LoCascio, Gabrielle Nevaeh and George Takei. The season also features notable guest stars including John Glover plus Michael Paul Chan, Ronny Chieng, Keith David, Will Forte, Kelly Hu and Jimmy O. Yang. It’s a strong cast, and all of them bring their A-game.
One unifying theme that helps to bring the whole show together is moving on from the scars being abandoned by someone close. It’s something that many of the characters feel, even minor ones, and how they respond to this theme is emblematic of their character. It ties into growth across the five episodes, and shows the pitfalls of obsessing over the pain of being abandoned. While no child hopes to be abandonded, this lesson of dealing with key figures who have walked out on people only to suddenly return is important to impart. It’s important (but not easy – something the show recognises) to treat these people with kindness and love.
The first five episodes of the season will be a blast for younger fans of the Gremlins to enjoy, with plenty of humorous moments that even adults can’t resist smiling at. There’s plenty of magic and culture infused into the short runtimes, helping the series retain its identity even after moving to America, where there was a real danger of that being lost. At the end, audiences are teased with a tantalising twist for the next five episodes, which will release on Max at a later date.
