Bikini Carwash Company 2 (3½ Stars)

It's sad, really. But it's all about business. Naive people like me would like to say that the film industry is about art, but the bottom line is money. "Bikini Car Wash", made in 1992, was a classic. I won't take back any of the praise I wrote about it a few days ago, and if you start a discussion by commenting on my post I'll heap even more praise on it. The following year a sequel was made to cash in on the original film's success. I won't say that the sequel sucks. It's actually quite reasonable, but it falls way short of the legacy of the first film.

The plot: it's a few years since the carwash was started, and it's become a nationwide industry. The girls from the original film have now graduated, and Melissa (Kristi Ducati) is now the owner, since Jack has gone to Africa to feed starving children. Or maybe actor Joe Dusic just thought the new plot sucked. Anyway, Melissa is tricked into selling the carwash company to a global corporation that intends to shut it down and use the land for real estate. To prevent this she has to raise four million dollars within four days to buy it back. She does this by renting a Christian television station, The Miracle Network, for a week to run 24-hour infomercials selling sexy lingerie.

The problems: Firstly, not enough car washing. The film isn't faithful to its roots. Obviously the writers thought they couldn't repeat the same story. But why not? They didn't need to do anything new. Secondly, the Christian line wasn't milked enough. The station willingly handed over the broadcasting rights, and I was waiting for the comic situations from a religious backlash which never came. Missed opportunities.

Normally I don't comment on the technical details of film transfer, but in this case I really must. The picture quality of the region 2 release sucks big time. This is most evident in the fast moving scenes. It's fuzzy and pixelated like a low quality Internet download. Awful. I would have given this film 4 stars, but the poor quality earns this a penalty. I hope the region 1 release is better. Has anyone seen it?