Enredo

Robot Johnny Five comes to the city and gets manipulated by criminals who want him for their own purposes.

When Number Five is sent from Newton and Stephanie's ranch to the big city to help Ben with his electronics business, he finds that his robotic talents are wanted by city low-life who want to turn Number Five into profits.—Michael Silva <silvamd@cleo.bc.edu>

In this sequel to the first 'Short Circuit' film, former tech scientist Ben Jahrvi (Fisher Stevens) has relocated to New York City from his homeland in India. He attempts to make a living peddling miniature toy robots, which he builds in the back of his truck. When one of Ben's robots rolls through the office of toy buyer Sandy Banatoni (Cynthia Gibb), she offers to purchase 1,000 models for a major department store. Although Ben does not have the means to produce the toys in mass quantities, a sleazy con artist named Fred Ritter (Michael McKean) overhears the conversation and negotiates a deal to serve as Ben's business partner. Fred obtains money from a loan shark, and leases a vacated warehouse to use as a factory.

Meanwhile, two jewel thieves tunneling underneath the building worry that the business will thwart their plans to steal a case of valuable diamonds from the bank across the street. Hoping to drive them away, the criminals don masks and destroy all of Ben's equipment.

Dejected, Ben considers giving up the business until his two old friends, Stephanie Speck and Newton Crosby, send him a large package from their home in the rural Midwest containing the original life-size robot, Number Five (voiced by Tim Blaney), which Ben helped create and was thought destroyed at the end of the previous film. Fully sentient, the robot calls itself "Johnny Five" and offers to build the toys for their order.

The next morning while Ben closes the deal with Stephanie (voiced by an uncredited Ally Sheedy), Johnny Five sneaks out to explore the city. The naive robot is amazed by urban life, but addled by most residents' rude and deceitful natures.

Meanwhile, Fred conspires to sell Johnny Five, but the robot resists capture, and continues its efforts to assimilate into human society. Eventually, two police officers find Johnny Five wandering the streets and bring it to the station, where they lock it up with other stolen property. Learning of Johnny Five's "arrest," Ben rushes to the police station and retrieves the robot. Johnny Five explains that being treated like a sub-human machine has caused it to experience painful emotions, such as loneliness. Ben commiserates, sharing his own desire for companionship. Using information obtained from books about human behavior, Johnny Five offers to help Ben pursue a romantic relationship with Sandy Banatoni.

Elsewhere, the jewel thieves team up with a greedy bank executive named Oscar Baldwin (Jack Weston), hoping to use his budding friendship with Johnny Five to regain access to the warehouse tunnel. After kidnapping Ben and Fred and imprisoning them in a large walk-in freezer, Oscar convinces the robot to finish digging until they reach the vault. When Oscar steals the jewels, however, Johnny Five realizes the trick and attempts to stop him. The thieves retaliate by attacking Johnny Five with an ax, leaving it severely damaged.

Meanwhile, Ben and Fred escape captivity, but the police mistake Ben for the jewel thief and arrest him. As Johnny Five's systems malfunction, Fred is forced to repair the robot himself. Although still leaking battery fluid, Johnny Five swears vengeance on Oscar, and chases his getaway car to the docks. Using its last remaining power, Johnny Five attacks Oscar and detains him until Ben arrives with police. Johnny Five's memory drive fails, but Ben uses a defibrillator to revive it.

Sometime later, Johnny Five gains national fame and becomes the first legally recognized robotic citizen of the U.S.A.