Note: Swamp Thing spoilers...

Even though he is killed by Swamp Thing in the first film, Dr. Arcane is back; he's after the formula for immortality, and only Swamp Thing and Arcane's stepdaughter Abigail (Heather Locklear) stand in his way.

I think they tried too hard to play up the campiness in this movie, making Locklear's character just plain corny, and adding a couple overacting kids into the mix. Rather than making the movie any good, it just makes it that much worse. Add to that the weird, interspecies love story, and you've got a real stinker (Heather Locklear falls in love with Swamp Thing and they spend some...odd...intimate moments together - I know the relationship between the two is taken from the comics, but the way it was played in the movie is just disturubing).

The make-up and costume for the Swamp Thing is better than the first movie (it was, after all, made about 7 years later), but he seems much more like a guy in a rubber suit in this film. The monster is played by the same actor as the first film, where he talked, for lack of a better term, in a much more "monster-like" voice. In the sequel, however, he talks with a normal voice. This just makes it seem like he's actually a normal guy in a Swamp Thing costume.

The only thing I think I really liked about this film was that in the opening credits they showed a number of actual shots from the comics, which was an interesting way to introduce the movie.

© 2004 Jim Manchester