The sequel to the classic film The Neverending Story, this Movie seems much like the original. At least on the surface. Unfortunately, the different style soon becomes apparent.

The original film only covered about half of the novel it was based on, so a sequel makes sense. It’s like The Godfather. And I’m sure there are a number of similarities between The Godfather Part III and The NeverEnding Story III.

The sequel once again focuses on the character Bastian. Differing in many ways from the novel, II is about him reading the book again, this time getting sucked inside. So he can save it from emptiness. I’m not really sure. The plot was too advanced for me to follow.

The story is dumb. Just very, very dumb. So you’ll like it more as a kid. It’s not so much dumb, perhaps, as it is “I don’t understand the logic of the characters.” And the moral of the story is about overcoming your fears so you can make the swim team, I guess. That’s something to think over.

No one from the original returned for this movie, except for Thomas Hill as the bookstore owner, who can magically make his store disappear whenever he wants in this movie. It’s interesting to note that the director is George Miller.

No, George T. Miller. The guy who did a movie about a dolphin falling in love with a dog.

This movie is odd at times. There’s one scene where Bastian ends up in some random unexplained place, where he proceeds to talk to a man made of either mud or feces, a woman who always plays a harp and needs to sing every line because why not, and a woman (seen here in her second scene, because they needed to bring her back), whose only purpose is to stand there in front of a blowing fan.

Okay.

Due to being on a budget, the movie relies more on matte painting backgrounds than the blue screen effects seen in the first. It’s obviously not as good, but I think it’s still aged surprisingly well. But that’s just my opinion.

Regardless of special effects, the sequel lacks the charm and quality of storytelling found in the original film. It’s worth a watch if you enjoyed the original, or you’re just looking for the kind of old fantasy movies they don’t really make today. It was panned by critics at the time of its release, probably more harshly than it deserved. I mean it’s still better than the third movie.

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Also, the movie had an overseas commercial that is just incredible. Incredible.