Leprechaun 2 (1994)

A downgrade in every sense from 1993's underrated "Leprechaun", "Leprechaun 2" finds Lubdan the Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) once again going after thieves of gold and anyone else who happens to get in his way, just without the laughs and personality of the first film. A bland horror movie with bland protagonists to match it, Rodman Flender's sequel also has the Leprechaun in pursuit of a new bride, sidestepping the events of the previous film entirely as he seeks to fulfill a thousand-year-old pledge and make Bridget (Shevonne Durkin) his betrothed. This is bad news for co-lead Cody (Charlie Heath), Bridget's actual boyfriend, who's having a hard enough time trying to fend off her other suitors while working at elderly grifter Morty's (Sandy Baron) "dark side" tour business. Cue up what can only loosely be called a battle of wits, in a relatively bloodless slasher movie that at least has the good grace to clock in at less than 90 minutes.

Predictably, Warwick Davis is the standout performer in "Leprechaun 2", comfortably outclassing a mostly talentless cast even if he's mostly given low-tier limericks and one-liners to spout en route to an inevitably underwhelming conclusion where he, Cody and Bridget duke it out for his gold and their lives/freedom. As Cody, Charlie Heath has all the aura of polystyrene, while Shevonne Darkin gives a pretty clumsy performance opposite him. Indeed, the only other actor besides Davis who exudes any tangible personality is Sandy Baron, whose George Carlin-esque mannerisms help make the shifty and greddy Morty one of the movie's two entertaining characters. That's still not enough to really care all that much when Morty eventually succumbs to Lubdan's sly spellcasting, but it's something I guess.

"Leprechaun 2" is bad but inoffensive, never really a slog to watch but almost completely devoid of interest. There are a couple of fun moments that make use of good practical effects work (such as when the Leprechaun brutally excises a homeless man's gold teeth, and another scene in which he rips off a man's finger in order to claim his gold ring) but these fall way short of making up for its glaring deficiency of style and scares. It's an easy but unrewarding watch that makes its predecessor look comparatively brilliant.

THE LEPRECHAUN FRANCHISE
Leprechaun (1993)
Leprechaun 2 (1994)
Leprechaun 3 (1995)
Leprechaun 4: In Space (1997)
Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)
Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (2003)
Leprechaun: Origins (2014)
Leprechaun Returns (2018)