MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Wayne’s World 2’ a Worthy Successor

Whew! What a relief it is to discover that “Wayne’s World 2” (general release) is just as hilarious as last year’s original, which was one of the best, most distinctive American comedies in years.

Mike Myers’ Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey’s Garth Algar, those two Aurora, Ill., youths who host a goofy late-night cable-access TV show, are endearing comic creations, a couple of small-town guys who like to think of themselves as being incredibly hip yet possess considerable naivete.

Even so, the cocky Wayne and the somewhat dim Garth are in their way free-thinkers who do not buy into conventional wisdom. They are at once products and critics of youth-oriented popular culture; you have to wonder in the years to come just how revealing the “Wayne’s World” movies--plus the “Saturday Night Live” sketches--will be of their times. Meanwhile, what’s great about Wayne and Garth is their highly contagious enthusiasm, which is surely the key to their cross-generational appeal.

A year has passed since Wayne and Garth resisted selling out their show for big bucks. No, they haven’t cut their hair and gone off to college, but they have moved out of their parents’ homes to a huge loft in an old doll factory in downtown Aurora. At loose ends, Wayne admits to feeling as if he’s in a “John Hughes rite du passage movie.” How can he bring a sense of purpose to his life?

The answer comes when he’s inspired to put on a huge concert to be called, in all modesty, Waynestock. Wayne envisions his headliners will be his beloved Aerosmith plus Pearl Jam, Van Halen . . . and comedian Rip Taylor--you can easily guess who’ll be the easiest to line up. Of course, Wayne wants his gorgeous girlfriend Cassandra (Tia Carrere), a singer, to appear, but a suave record producer (Christopher Walken) is intent upon whisking her out to the West Coast for reasons Wayne suspects are not entirely professional.

The entire film, written by Myers with Bonnie and Terry Turner, who also wrote the first picture, turns upon whether Wayne, tirelessly promoting his concert, can actually deliver to the ticket-buyers what he’s promised them.

While there’s no doubt that Wayne’s the dominant personality in the duo, Garth, with his blond haystack hairdo and glasses, has his own frenetic moments when, much to his astonishment, he finds himself vamped in the Laundromat by Kim Basinger’s heavy-breathing Honey Hornee. Wait a minute, Kim Basinger ? In any event, the unbilled Basinger is deliciously, outrageously funny--and hers is not the only surprise appearance.

Also a delight is James Hong as Cassandra’s father, a martial arts whiz who jousts with Wayne; their dialogue is atrociously dubbed like a cheap Hong Kong kung fu movie. Threatening to walk off with the whole picture, however, is Ralph Brown as a zonked-out veteran rock ‘n’ roll roadie who Wayne is counting on to help pull off Waynestock.

The film’s writers have done an admirable job of sustaining a nonstop flow of successful gags, jokes, throwaway bits, fantasies and asides, and making all of this come together in taut, smart fashion is director Stephen Surjik, a veteran of TV’s “Kids in the Hall” and “Road to Avolea” in a socko feature debut. While a sense of diminishing returns will most likely set in if Wayne and Garth keep returning too often, “Wayne’s World 2” is a winner.

‘Wayne’s World’

Mike Myers: Wayne Campbell Dana Carvey: Garth Algar Christopher Walken: Bobby Cahn Tia Carrere: Cassandra Ralph Brown: Del

A Paramount presentation. Director Stephen Surjik. Producer Lorne Michaels. Executive producer Howard W. Koch Jr. Writers Mike Myers and Bonnie Turner & Terry Turner. Cinematographer Francis Kenny. Editor Malcolm Campbell. Costume designer Melina Root. Music Carter Burwell. Production designer Gregg Fonseca. Art director Richard A. Yanez. Set decorator Jay R. Hart. Sound mixer Keith A. Webster. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes.

MPAA rating: PG-13, for ribald humor. Times guidelines: Considerable good-natured raunchiness; one seduction scene, although comic, that’s very steamy and suggestive.