The Sandlot 2
| The Sandlot 2 | |
|---|---|
| File:Sandlot2Cover.jpg | |
| Directed by | David M. Evans |
| Written by | David M. Evans Robert Gunter |
| Produced by | David Bixler Vicki Sotheran |
| Starring | Max Lloyd-Jones James Willson James Earl Jones Cole Evan Weiss |
| Music by | Laura Karpman |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates | May 3, 2005 |
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Sandlot 2 is a direct-to-DVD 2005 sequel to The Sandlot.
Plot
The movie is set in 1972, 10 years after the events of The Sandlot. New kids have moved into the neighborhood of San Fernando Valley in Southern California, and have started playing baseball in the sandlot from the first movie. The previous kids have all grown and moved away. A young boy named Johnnie Smalls (James Willson), the younger brother of Scotty Smalls, the narrator of the first movie, has heard the legend of "The Beast"/Hercules owned by Mr. Mertle, who lives behind the sandlot. David Durango (Max-Lloyd Jones) is the leader of the five boys. Then, three girls join the team, one of them named Hailey Goodfairer (Samantha Burton),. The girls were league softball players, and Hailey always pitches the ball underhand. She starts to develop feelings for David, and it is revealed that he may have feelings for Hailey. In one scene, they challenge a little league team and the lead player hurts Hailey by hitting her in the belly. David punches him, telling him that no boy should ever hit a girl.
One day, when the kids' ball goes over the large fence of Mr. Mertle and they try to retrieve it, Johnnie makes them stop by showing them that there's something descended from the Beast on the other side, called "The Great Fear." That night, Johnnie tells them the story of the Great Fear, how it used to be a junkyard dog, eating or hurting others who trespassed the junk yard. There was a boy who loved the comic book hero named Rapid Rocket, and would run around fast like him. On his first day of school, he went past Mr. Mertle's house but forgot to lock the back gate, and The Great Fear got out and chased the boy. It was unknown what happened to him after he was cornered by the killer dog at the junkyard. Soon afterward, a fence made of assorted junk was built on top of Mr. Mertle's fence, and he was ordered by the officials to keep the dog locked up forever. Ever since, if anything went over the fence, it would not come out.
The main conflict comes when the space rocket for the future of NASA and the United States built by Hailey's father is blown over the fence, because Johnnie accidentally sets it off. The kids try many things to get it back, including hiring the one called The Retriever (Griffin Reilly Evans), but he fails, and retires from his job (even though he never really had one). Then, just like Benny Rodriguez from the first film, David is chased by the monstrous dog all over town. It is shown that he was the young boy from so long ago who was chased by the dog, revealed by the Rapid Rocket cape that he brings with him. When they get back to the sandlot, David falls onto the ground on the other side of the fence, and into a deep ditch. The dog then digs him up, and saves him from suffocation. David sees his tag, which says that his real name is Goliath (a play on the title of the Biblical story David and Goliath). The boys then meet the blind Mr. Mertle (James Earl Jones), who tells them that the same situation happened in the summer of 1962, how the boys got something over the fence, and how he could have gotten it for them. Johnnie was able to save the rocket. In the last few minutes of the movie, David and Hailey share a kiss, which will lead to them becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. The movie ends with the revelation of what happened to all the boys when they left the sandlot.
Similarities to The Sandlot
The movie, while a true sequel in the sense that it references the first film and takes place later, is little more than a re-telling in terms of content. Nearly every plot point is the same between The Sandlot 2 and its predecessor. The few differences include the item sent over the fence (now a rocket instead of an autographed ball), the girls on the team, and the additional plot point of David's secret identity. This film can be seen as an attempt (perhaps a poor one) to cash in on the cult following of The Sandlot, and introducing the same story to a new generation.
This fashion of retelling a story with different characters in a direct-to-video sequel has been done before, in sequels to The Skulls and Cruel Intentions.