Subtle is one word that could never be used to describe
this follow-up to the highly enjoyable 1996 film The Nutty Professor.
Every single joke is related to a bodily function or secretion and at times it can
prove a little too much. Still, there are plenty of laughs to had from this film,
even if they are extremely cheap laughs.
The very first scene of the film lets us know what we
are in store for. Let's just say that Sherman gets a little "excited" at
his wedding and it eventually sees Buddy Love emerging from within Klump from, um,
somewhere that he shouldn't.
Of course, it turns out to be a dream (I'm not giving
anything crucial away by saying that) but what it does do is set the tone for 90-odd
minutes of crude humour, Eddie Murphy style.
This time around, Professor Sherman Klump once again
finds himself battling against his testosterone-driven alter-ego Buddy Love, but this time
Buddy has escaped Sherman's body and he is determined to gain the profits from the youth
serum that Klump has developed.
The plot is a little ludicrous, and somewhat
underdeveloped, but the plot is merely a canvas on which to paint the many jokes.
There are several big laughs in this movie and, while none of them manage to top the
"family dinner time" scene from the original movie, you will definitely find
yourself laughing constantly.
That's a good thing because there is nothing worse than
having to sit through minutes of "filler" material to get to an occasional
joke. In Nutty 2, a laugh is never too far away, thanks mainly to the over-the-top,
ensemble of characters that make up the Klumps.
Once again, Eddie Murphy presents to us what has to be
one of the most hilarious families ever put on the screen. Those familiar with the
first film will know what to expect from Papa, Mama, Grandma Klump (whose screen-time is
greatly increased in the sequel) and company, and it is the constant bickering between
this family that is the highlight of this new film, as it was in the first.
Janet Jackson is a welcome addition to the sequel as
Sherman's new love interest, Denise. Jackson shows considerable acting talent and
she certainly looks more at home in this role than Jada Pinkett did in the original film
(Sherman's love interest that is, they don't play the same character).
It was extremely wise of the distributor (U.I.P)
of Nutty Professor 2 to wait until the school holidays to release this film as it is the
teenage audience who will appreciate this film the most. A lot of adults might
struggle to deal with the constant barrage of bad-taste jokes and, from a certain
perspective, it is easy to see why.
Still, most people will find themselves laughing at
things that their good-sense tells them that they should not. After all, how many
times can you laugh at a fart joke? Well, if the jokes are coming from Eddie Murphy
as he plays the outrageously funny Klump family, then the answer is: for as long as he
keeps squeezing them out.
- Adam Matthews
(Note: The trailer to the
greatly anticipated Tomb Raider movie can be seen with Nutty
Professor 2: The Klumps. From the preview, Angelina Jolie seems perfectly suited to
the role of Lara Croft (I know a lot of the fans of the computer game were discussing
whether Jolie or Catherine Zeta-Jones would make the best Lara) and, although the preview
seemed a little hastily put together, it does allow us to get a grasp of the
"feel" and "look" of the film. We'll have to wait until June
next year to find out for sure, but the preview certainly suggest that Tomb Raider will be
better than your average computer-game-to-big-screen adaptations. - Ed)
