Sequels make up a large part of SPEED 2 Month, particularly
in the case of those that didn’t do nearly as well as the predecessor. While
mining some films for SPEED 2 Month, I came across one I don’t think I’d ever
seen before: SISTER ACT 2: BACK IN THE HABIT.
When the Whoopi Goldberg fueled SISTER ACT was released in
1992, it hit the theatres with a storm. With a modest budget of 31 million
dollars, it pulled in Over 230 million worldwide, a pretty serious smash hit
for a comedy, even in 2015. Of course, that meant a sequel had to be made,
because, well, money. Hollyweird
doesn’t wait long for more money to be made, so part 2 was fast tracked. Fast
tracked may be a bit of an underwhelming term, considering the sequel hit the
screens the following year, just before Christmas. SISTER ACT 2 is as much a
lesser film as many other sequels, with only a small budget increase. It didn’t
do nearly as well as the first, yet it still made money. Luckily Touchstone
Pictures realized that the cash flow was unlikely to continue and didn’t go
ahead with a SISTER ACT 3.
SISTER ACT 2 retained almost the entire cast from the first
film while adding known character actors Barnard Hughes, Michael Jeter and Brad
Sullivan as Franciscan friars, and James Coburn as an administrator. This time,
Whoopi gets to come back not in hiding, but role-playing to help the nuns in
their new school, which has a number of “trouble” students. Whoopi gets to have
fun playing a not-nun with some added kooky personalities in the friars. Coburn
is a complete waste here, standing around looking menacing in a not-very
menacing style. I’m guessing he either needed a new car or wanted to keep his
SAG card active for insurance coverage to willingly take this role. The ladies
returning from the first film are almost entirely wasted. Where they got the
lion’s share of funny lines and were part of the charm of SISTER ACT, they’re lost
in the story of the school and the reason Whoopi is brought back to them.
SISTER ACT 2 is not a horribly bad movie, but it isn’t a
good one. Worse, SISTER ACT was never a terribly great movie, either. It’s
amusing, it’s got heart and it certainly struck a chord with moviegoers. That
said, part 2 is preposterous in so many ways it makes the first film seem like
a documentary. I mean, Whoopi’s character was in hiding at the time of the
first film. The reasons she’s wearing the habit this time is just… stupid. It’s
an unnecessary plot device that feels like an anchor by the time the movie gets
to the conclusion. Now, the cast itself was big in the first movie, and ads not
only the four principal male characters, but students as well. I won’t list all
the teen actors with speaking roles, but two of them are notable for who they
are now. Lauryn Hill, former member of the Fugees and incredibly good singer in
her own right, and Jennifer Love Hewitt of Maxim fame are the two. There’s a
whole trite plot of Hill’s character that bogs down 30 or so minutes of the
movie, with only a bare bones conclusion that the viewer has to just shrug off
because it doesn’t make much sense in the first place. Mommy-daughter drama
that is as clunky as the 1996 Ford I bought some months ago just doesn’t do
much for a comedy movie.
The more I look at SISTER ACT 2: BACK IN THE HABIT, the more
I see similarities between it and the television series GLEE that people either
love or hate. Whoopi’s character essentially puts together a glee club at a
Catholic school filled with annoying teens, including the rapping Italian kid.
The rapping Italian kid with a Brooklyn accent in San Francisco. If for nothing
else, watch the scenes with him so you can groan out and facepalm yourself
properly.
I’m trying to recall exactly why this movie is better than
SPEED 2. It’s a groaner for sure, but it’s just not as bad as Jan de Bont’s
mastermess. Yes, that’s the new comparison: “Just Not That Bad.”
Tomorrow, I return to Sandra Bullock and one of her own
clunkers.
Rapping Italian teen. Ugh.
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