Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘Tremors 2: Aftershocks’

Written by Scott Edwards

Evolving to a new situation is something that everyone has to be able to do. With how often things change in our daily lives, we must be willing to change along with it. If you are not willing to change as the world around you does, you can end up being left behind as others around you are allowed to prosper. Everything changes and the only thing that you can do is adapt to it or you will be left to suffer.

Earl Bassett is accustomed to change, after his time in Perfection brought him fifteen minutes of fame from the Graboid craze, he has blown one opportunity after another to cash in. Working and living alone, Earl is circling depression when he is called upon by the Mexican government. One of the primary oil fields has been shut down due to deaths being caused by Graboids and his expertise is needed to save the land.

Paring up with Graboid enthusiast Grady, Earl is back on the hunt for fame and fortune as he will receive fifty thousand dollars for each creature that is killed. An offer is also thrown his way to capture one alive for twice the payout. As little is still knowing about these creatures, it is a high priority to study them and their origins. Upon their hunt in Mexico, the two find that they may be in a little over their heads as the Graboids are running rampant. They need help and call in old friend and gun enthusiast Burt Gummer to help eradicate the threat. 

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With the three now working together to kill all of the Graboids in the area, they find that there is a new threat as the creatures start to change into something new. With their old methods of hunting being used against them, the Graboids have evolved to survive. Slowing down and acting as if they are sick, the Graboids are metamorphosing into a new threat that no one could have seen coming. Three empty sacks are found inside of a Graboid carcass that housed a new breed of the ancient creatures. The rules have changed as smaller, more dynamic creatures are hunting in the valley.

Tremors 2: Aftershocks follows Earl, Grady and Burt as they are paid handsomely to clear one of Mexico’s largest oil fields from the threat of Graboids. Without knowing much about the creatures, the group is surprised by the sudden transformation from the underground hunters to the new smaller, above-ground killers, that attack anything that gives off heat. Being cut off from civilization once again, Earl and Burt have to come up with a new way of defeating their new foes as what they prepared for is no longer the biggest threat in front of them. Along with a geologist, the group has to figure out what weaknesses these new creatures, now dubbed Shriekers, have, in order to survive.

I love the original Tremors, and always worry that a sequel might disappoint when the first movie is so good, but Tremors 2 is a worthy successor. Having a couple stars from the first movie reprising their roles, Tremors 2 continues with the same formula that made the first entry so enjoyable. Changing up the threat, the creatures have evolved into something new that the group was not expecting, and they have to change their methods of attack. Having enough humor to keep you laughing, there are also enough scares to keep you on the edge of your seat, since this new monster can reproduce itself from just eating enough, and that makes the new Shriekers a worst threat than the previous Graboids. Stay Scared.

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