I was surprised there was even such a thing as a “The Substitute 2” since the first film barely warranted a sequel if at all. Tom Berenger is a fine character actor, but the original film only grants a viewing thanks to some okay action moments. I initially thought the sequel series featured Berenger’s character on various adventures as an undercover mercenary playing a substitute, but thankfully the writers dodge that trap. “The Substitute 2” is a sequel in that it is set in the same universe as Berenger’s character. New character Karl Thomasson, as played by Treat Williams, served in the military alongside Berenger’s character O’Shea, and is helped by the surviving mercenary from the first film. Hey, that’s about all you’re getting.
The set up for this follow up is just about the same as always, even if Treat Williams is intense in his role as the anti-hero Karl Thomasson. Thomasson enters the picture when his brother is mercilessly killed by masked gang members, and he returns to pay respects and reconnect with his estranged niece. He soon realizes she’s going to school in a neighborhood filled with crime, disorder, and a massive underground ring of car thieves and may be in danger. With the help of a few informants including a school teacher (Michael Michele), Thomasson goes undercover as a teacher and begins investigating the crime scene boiling within the school, all the while evading attacks from the massive gang that is trying to lead him off the scent. It’s all fairly routine and kind of repetitive of the first film but without much of the punch.
Writer Roy Frumkes tries to inject a lot of ill placed social commentary, but really “School’s Out” never digs itself out of its xenophobic and cynical idea about inner city high schools. It’s all just run down buildings filled with scary minorities who commit a lot of crimes and don’t mind trying to murder their teachers. Those dagblasted public schools are just criminal factories. Some of the other goofier plot elements include a school janitor and ex Vietnam veteran who crawls around the school vents, a convenient discovery of the murderer of Karl’s brother, and a shockingly vicious death of a female character. If you’ve seen the first film with Berenger, you’ve seen “School’s Out,” but there’s at least Treat Williams, who is a fun and intimidating anti-hero, all in all. It’s absolutely no mystery why “School’s Out” never made it past late night premium cable TV airings.