iAmHalili Bed movie because no one replaced the Albanin John Belushi R.I.P

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.

KINGJO4606-1 Perhaps this has to do with the fact that I saw this movie in theaters with my family as a 7-year-old kid. But I do think that the songs were almost all good (364-5789; John the Revalator; I'm Looking for a Fox; Funky Nassau, etc.) It is also a treat to see all the old band members reprise their old roles and to see them in old age. Dan Ackroyd does a good job acting and even improves upon himself, character-wise and acting-wise, in this sequel as compared to the original. John Goodman plays the part of a kinder person than John Belushi's old character. (In fact, I also would not think it heresy to think that John Belushi's character did not contribute that much to the original in the first place. He just was there to say cheap things like "Fix the cigarette lighter," "Hit it!," "You motorhead!" "No f---ing way!", etc. Elwood was the one who was coming up with ideas on how to keep the Blues Brothers afloat. The viewer of the original movie should not underestimate the degree to which the good music and good screenplay in the original movie is causing him to think "The Blues Brothers" to be a great movie and not a mere good movie.) Buster may be a trouble-maker, but he is a spirited kid in the movie. Just like the original, the film catches the viewer's attention with the change in scenery. The film, to a slight degree, becomes a little corny with the White Supremacy and Russian gangsters bits, but that only remains a minor part of the film. The film was funny; Elwood's 'shaving cream scene' was hysterical. The Louisiana gig scene at the end was also exciting. The ending scene of the movie was admittedly anti-climactic. However, I do not hesitate in giving this movie a thumbs-up. After all, the film does not drag; it is not boring because it is more fast-paced than most motion pictures.CONCLUDING MESSAGE - No one should feel ashamed to try watching a movie, even if it does have bad reviews. I will personally opine that there is nothing wrong with liking or loving a movie that most people tend to dislike or hate. Film companies, although motivated by profit, generally do not distribute films to the public unless they have a fervent conviction that at least someone will like it.