The Gremlins are back, and this time, they've taken control of a New York City media mogul's high-tech skyscraper.
Having survived the destructive Kingston Falls Incident in Gremlins (1984), Billy and Kate move to New York City, eager to wipe the slate clean and start afresh. Instead, orphaned Mogwai Gizmo catches the eye of evil scientist Doctor Catheter in money-grubbing tech mogul Daniel Clamp's colossal high-rise. And once more, a splash of water spawns hordes of mischievous Gremlins. As a result, the pesky little creatures start doing what they do best: wreaking havoc. But the rules were simple. Now the city is about to taste a hearty slice of pure pandemonium. Do they have what it takes to escape the nightmare of the new batch?—Nick Riganas
Billy and Kate have moved to New York City where they work for media mogul Daniel Clamp. Meanwhile, Gizmo's former owner has just died and he's been captured for the genetics part of the Clamp building. A little while later, a certain someone gets wet, creates a new Gremlin species, and learns to finally fight back after years of abuse, and while Gizmo and the surviving humans fight back, the Gremlins and their evil leader, the Brain Gremlin, are planning to escape when it gets dark, and if they do, New York City will experience a new Hell.—Will
After the death of his owner, Mr. Wing, the Mowgli Gizmo is captured by scientists and taken to a laboratory in the Clamp Center, a cutting-edge high rise in Manhattan owned by eccentric billionaire Daniel Clamp. Under the supervision of chief researcher Dr. Catheter, Gizmo endures experiments until he is rescued by his former owner, Billy Peltzer, and Billy's fiance, Kate Beringer, who both work in the building. Clamp, impressed by Billy's design skills, befriends him, drawing the attention of Billy's ambitious boss, Marla Bloodstone.
Gizmo is left unattended in an office, where a broken drinking fountain spills water onto him, spawning four mischievous Mowgli. These new creatures trap Gizmo in the air vents before sneaking to the food court and eating after midnight, transforming into gremlins. The leader of the group, Mohawk-reincarnated from the infamous Stripe-captures and tortures Gizmo while the others activate the fire sprinklers, creating an army of gremlins that plunges the building into chaos.
Billy devises a plan to destroy the gremlins by luring them into the lobby, where exposure to sunlight would kill them. After briefing Clamp on gremlin weaknesses, Billy helps him escape through a secret tunnel to cover the building with a giant sheet, tricking the gremlins into thinking it's still nighttime. Meanwhile, the gremlins wreak havoc, drinking experimental serums in the building's lab. One gains super-intelligence, another transforms into a female gremlin, and a third becomes a pure-electricity gremlin that kills Dr. Catheter before Billy traps it in the building's phone system. Elsewhere, TV host "Grandpa Fred" and Japanese tourist Mr. Katsuji document the mayhem.
Murray Futterman, Billy's neighbor from Kingston Falls, happens to be visiting New York with his wife Sheila. After surviving an attack by a bat-gremlin hybrid that has been genetically modified to resist sunlight, Murray realizes he must help. Using Clamp's secret tunnel, he sneaks into the building and teams up with Billy. Gizmo, inspired by watching Rambo on TV, escapes his captivity and confronts Mohawk, who has transformed into a monstrous gremlin-spider hybrid. Gizmo kills Mohawk using a makeshift flamethrower made from a white-out bottle, rescuing Kate and Marla.
Billy's plan to destroy the gremlins is foiled when a sudden rainstorm prevents sunlight from entering the building. Instead, he has Murray spray the gremlins with a fire hose, then releases the trapped electricity gremlin to electrocute and melt the entire gremlin horde. With the crisis averted, Clamp arrives with the press and police, thrilled by the outcome. He promotes Billy, Kate, Fred, and Marla, and hires Katsuji as a cameraman. Billy and Kate return home with Gizmo, while Greta, the sole surviving gremlin, corners security chief Frank Forster and coerces him into marrying her.
