ejonconrad
Let me walk you through the opening scene...This time, Elwood is getting released from prison. He waits by the roadside, presumably for Jake, but no one shows up. After he's waited through the night (!), the warden comes out and tells him Jake is dead. He continues to wait, and a few minutes later, a woman in a convertible stops and picks him up. Cut to night time, arriving in Chicago, at which point she turns to him and explains who she is and why she picked him up. This means that they spent at least 8 hours in the car without talking. This scene tells you everything you need to know about the objective of the movie, as well as the lazy and sloppy writing and editing.I recently re-watched the first BB, and I was surprised how well it held up. No one would call it believable, but it has a simple plot and internal logical consistency. This movie tries to "recapture the magic" by going for a scene for scene remake, but the "glue" that holds it together ranges from contrived to nonsensical. In the first, they decide to "put the band back together" to get money to save the orphanage where they were raised. In this, Elwood decides to put the band back together because...um...that's what you came for, right? He goes around gathering up the musicians exactly the same way they did in the first, and for some reason John Goodman and a kid put on suits and join him. Seriously, I must have blinked and missed how he ended up with the kid. I would have rewound it, but decided I didn't care. After that, they just check off the scenes they know they have to copy from the first: Aretha Franklin singing to her husband? check, accidentally getting booked as the wrong type up band? check, sabotaging Alan Rubin's job? check, white supremacists? check, police car chase and pile-up? check, and so on.Oh yeah, and halfway through the movie, a bunch of supernatural stuff starts to happen. I don't mean like the tongue-in-cheek stuff with the nun and the "mission from God" in the first; I mean serious miracles and magic spells that are crucial to the plot. Where the heck did that come from?Without giving away any spoilers, don't expect much from the ending, because it doesn't really have one, but definitely watch through the end credits, but they're better than most of the movie.Of course the biggest problem is that Dan Ackroyed can't sing, and he sings a lot! He also can't even lip-sync his own singing, so it looks like they got someone else to sing really badly and just had him fake it. The fact that he's obviously so committed just makes it more cringe-worthy. It ruins pretty much every song by the band, particularly Ghost Riders in the Sky, which could have been awesome.I've giving it 5/10 stars because it has some genuinely entertaining and impressive musical cameos, particularly the "all-star" band near then end that has like 20 famous performers in it. But it turns out all of those are available on YouTube (search for "Louisiana Gator Boys" or "Blues Brothers 2000 phone number song"), so there's really no reason to watch the rest of the movie.
ironhorse_iv
1980s Blues Brother was perhaps the greatest Saturday Night Live skit to spin off from the show into the realm of movies. Still, The Blues Brothers wasn't the perfect movie to be made. It was a nightmare for Universal Pictures, to complete. It was wildly off schedule, had an ever-changing script, drug-fuel stars and was way over budget. Yet, the movie made, nearly triple of its money back, when it was released. The reasons why it work, was because the movie was action packed, kinda funny, and had great musical numbers. Still, most of its success, came from its two top drawings stars, Dan Akroyd and John Belushi. This sequel, didn't have any of those achievements. It's felt like a desperate retread between writer/actor Dan Akyroyd and writer/director John Landis to relive the glory days. The sequel fails to live up to the original, big time. The reasons why, are very clear. First off, the movie plot is paper thin. The movie tells the story of Elwood Blue (Dan Aykroyd) trying to reunited the old band to fight in a battle of the band contest in Louisiana. In my opinion, this plot is very weak, compare to the "Mission from God," from the first movie. The movie never establish, why Elwood need the band, in the first place, or why the other band members would come to his rescue, when they, themselves are living, pretty well-off. Second off, the movie kinda ruins the first film, by stating out that the orphanage that the brothers were trying to save, ended up, closing. It kinda a bummer opening to a film. The Studio didn't like this, and force John Landis to make the rest of the film, more light-hearted. It gets worst, as the film turns PG to capitalize on a wider audience. It really limits the amount of violent and language, that they can show. This makes for a very underwhelming film. It was really boring for the most part. The jokes are very childish and cartoony. I really couldn't get into the whole, over the top supernatural sequence, this movie, brings. It felt like a 10 year old, wrote this film. I really didn't like the fact, that Elwood was being team up with a kid named Buster (J. Evan Bonifant). Not once, in the film does Elwood seem like he has any father-like connection with the kid. The movie acts as if the kid wasn't there, for the most part. It was very pointless. Even new members, like Mack (John Goodman) were underwhelming. The movie never does a good job, in making it seem, like Elwood and Mack have somewhat a connection. The chemistry, between them isn't there. It's sad, because I love John Goodman as an actor. John Landis and Dan Aykroyd were reportedly very unhappy with the changes the studio forced onto the film, even coming close to quitting the project. Third off, I can't believe, they made a sequel, 18 years after the 1980's hit, Blues Brothers. John Landis really waited too long to get this sequel, off the ground. Nobody really wanted to see this film, in the late 1990s. Why is this movie, even made!? It's not like, the fan-base were asking for a Blues Brothers sequel. If, they were; clearly the producers should had quickly capitalize on it, in the early 1980s. Maybe, they did, wanted to make a film sequel as quick as possible, but production of the film was halted, due to main actor, John Belushi's odd drug behavior. Maybe, they were waiting for Belushi to go into rehab. Well, that day never came, as John Belushi died in 1982. Since Belushi couldn't reprise his role, I don't understand, why this movie wasn't shelf. Clearly, they can't use a "double" for Jake. Nobody can double Belushi. The death was actually worked into the film's plot; it didn't really help, but it was at least respectful to John Belushi. The film was originally intended to include Brother Zee Blues (Jim Belushi, brother of John Belushi). But due to an already existing television deal, Jim Belushi was unable to appear and the script was altered to include Cab Blues (Joe Morton). This was a huge mistake as Joe Morton, really didn't give us, much in humor. He's a good actor, but he's no comedian. The movie has a lot of cameos by celebs. Aretha Franklin, B.B King, James Brown, Frank Oz and few others return from the first movie, for a small paycheck and reprise some of their classic hits. One person from the first movie that didn't return was Cab Calloway & John Candy, who died four years prior to the film's release. Still, the movie does give them, some homage. I like that new musicians at the time, like Blues Travelers & Erykah Badu, gives the movie, so needed new flair. It made the film, somewhat entertaining. The music is pretty damn good for the most part, but the movie doesn't mixed, the musical sequences so well, with the rest of the film. Overall: This movie is one of most pointless, underwhelming, and just downright bizarre sequels in comedy history. It wasn't good, man. I don't recommended.
jrrdube
If this movie was not a sequel of one of the best cult movies of the past 30+ years, it would just a dumb movie, the fact it is is just an insult to the memory of the original cast members who passed away. I originally saw the movie when it was released on VHS, and rented the movie for $3, in the late 90's, and I felt ripped off beyond belief. I just recently rewatched the movie, and I feel just stupid for doing so. The movie is even worse the second time around. There are no redeeming qualities, or performances, to save the movie, which has a dumbass plot, and is just boring to watch. The whole 'feud' with the russians is like what a 2 year old would do, and shows early on what a disaster the movie is. The ending is pointless, driving off into the horizon with the cops chasing. Seems like no one knew how to end the movie so they went the brainless way out, at least the first movie showed what happens when you fool with the cops, you become the prison band, which made the end of the original excellent. The only thing they could have worked is have James take over John's role, because the explanation of Jake's death is soooo stupid it's insulting. In the trivia to this movie, it says the movie was ranked 4th, out of 25, worst sequels, I would like to know what was worse than this? I would have said it IS the worst. Even giving this movie a "1" seems like a compliment, but they should add a vote of "Avoid at all costs", because this is the case for this flop. I am really disappointed with Dan Ackroyd, he is almost always good, and this movie looks like he was asleep at the wheel.
