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The old folks who left Earth in a UFO at the end of Cocoon are back for an unnecessary sequel that retreads the first film in so many ways, it’s shameful. The entire cast and composer James Horner return for the sequel, though director Ron Howard opted out, replaced with Daniel Petrie (A Raisin in the Sun). The characters return to Earth to help the aliens rescue more of their ‘cocooned’ brethren from a seismic shift on the ocean floor. When one of the cocoons is taken by an ocean science institute, a rescue is initiated.
Cocoon: The Return spends a big chunk of its runtime with the elderly characters enjoying youthful living — playing basketball, shopping, chasing girls on the beach — with help from the invigorating energy the aliens have provided them. The main way it differs from the original film is that it gives the characters a chance to reconsider the climactic choice they made to leave Earth. Most of the characters make a different decision this time — oddly negating the first film. While the script sticks close to imitating the first movie, there are a few big dramatic developments, including the death of a major character and a tabloid-worthy senior citizen pregnancy. These moments don’t have the impact they should because they aren’t set up properly and the film hurries through them. In fact, the entire film creaks and wobbles like one thrown together far too hastily.
Despite all this, if you love these actors as I do, you may still enjoy seeing them work together again. Maureen Stapleton’s character shares with Wilford Brimley that she wants to stay and watch their grandson (Barret Oliver) grow up. Don Ameche (who won an Oscar for the first film) and Gwen Verdon are the couple expecting a miracle birth. Hume Cronyn learns his leukemia has returned while Jessica Tandy finds fulfillment helping a child daycare program. And Jack Gilford, still mourning the loss of his wife in the first film, finds new love in a character played with vigor and audacity by Elaine Stritch. Steve Guttenberg continues his love affair with the alien played by Tahnee Welch, and Courtney Cox (Friends, Scream) joins the cast as a sympathetic member of the Oceanographic Institute.