Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Return of the Killer Tomatoes!'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

I think we all know what the decline of a franchise looks like. It all begins with an incredible opening film that we watch in theaters multiple times, and that first movie is so awesome that it infects our minds day and night and we nearly destroy the DVD watching it over and over again until everyone in our household tells us they can't take this movie anymore. Then comes the sequel, and while the prospect of a second entry in the series leaves us excited, we all know deep down that part two is never quite as good as the original and we often spend more time defending the sequel, instead of enjoying it.

But then things get ugly. Superman goes and gets drunk, or Ripley gets killed or Freddy and Jason go from terrifying monsters to comedians in make up doing stand up for ninety minutes. We all know how this ends. Yet believe it or not, that horror story doesn't always apply to every single franchise out there. In fact, imagine a series of films if you will where the franchise was already in a strange place to begin with...and the sequel was actually an incredible improvement. Yes...believe it or not, that actually happened in 1988 with the release of Return of the Killer Tomatoes!

It has been ten years since mankind prevailed in the Great Tomato War and life in our world is returning to normal. The man responsible for the Tomato Revolution is behind bars and the tomato itself has been exiled from our day to day lives. But behind closed doors, the real evil genius responsible for pitting man against fruit is preparing for war once again. He has discovered a way to disguise the delicious red menace to resemble human beings so that mankind will never know who their true enemy is...until it is too late.  

Believe it or not, I'm not pulling your leg by telling you that the sequel is actually better than the original. Sure, the over the top Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! had its merits as we discussed the other day, but Return surprises in so many ways. For starters, the production values are far better this time around and the story goes beyond maniac tomatoes rampaging against the world. There is a love story in this flick, one that is a little, okay, extremely strange to say the least, but it goes to show that when it comes to this particular tale there was a concerted effort put forth to deliver an actual plot.

Yet at the same time the film stays true to its origins, by not taking itself too seriously and by going over the top and breaking the fourth wall when necessary. But while the first film skipped out on making any memorable moments outside of well...killer tomatoes, the sequel ends up providing us with bigger names that steal the show when it comes to the cast. For example, legendary actor John Astin plays the ridiculous Professor Gangreen with a zest and zeal that only he could pull off. But, sadly, his performance is overshadowed by the fact that this movie features a current Hollywood mega star in George Clooney.  

Now at this point I'm sure you just spit out your drink and/or just yelled expletives at the screen about what a filthy liar I am. I understand your skepticism. While we know that some stars have done some silly films in the earlier days of their careers, there is no way THE George Clooney would star in this, right?  Wrong...he did, and I'm sure you want proof, so here it is.

---

Yup. George Clooney, ladies and gentlemen.

​With all of this in mind, we have now come to the most important question of all, do you need to watch this movie? Yes. You absolutely have to, because now you know Clooney is in it and you want to see him in this thing, and see what his role entails and Spoiler Alert...he's best actor in this movie, hands down. But outside of the Clooney, this movie is one hundred percent watchable and it did manage to resonate with audiences enough that it managed to inspire a fairly faithful Saturday morning cartoon spinoff entitled Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and for those who missed the animated adaptation of this wild story, here's a taste of just how faithful it turned out to be.

F.T & Tara in ‘Return of the Killer Tomatoes’

F.T., Tara & Chad in the TV Series; ‘Attack of the Killer Tomatoes’

But, alas, I digress. Because every single time I think about this movie, or recommend it to someone, I'm always reminded of how much fun it is and how it brought a sense of respect to this ridiculous franchise. Which means I cannot emphasize it enough. You need to see this, and I would even go as far as to say you need to own it. Because this is that rare modern classic, one that works on just about every level and has managed to withstand the test of time for one simple reason, it's so bad...that it's good.