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Nutty Professor II: The
Klumps
(2000) Starring: Eddie
Murphy, Janet Jackson, Larry Miller
Director: Peter Segal
Rating: PG-13 Studio:
Universal Review
Posted:
8.01.00
Spoilers: Minor
Reviewed by
Dennis Landmann
"Sherman
and the Klumps disappoint"
Watching
The Klumps was something I wanted to do for some time
now. But, after I saw it, I couldn't believe how I not laughed
at the jokes. They weren't funny. The plot was pure Hollywood-ish
and unbelievable. It's a tradition with most studios that if
their movie (not just Universal) does great at the box office
and has great potential/appeal, a sequel is likely to be made.
Most times the sequel never lives up to the original. Take Speed
2 for example. It was shit. Earlier this summer, Mission:
Impossible 2 came out and it completely made its predecessor
look like an ant compared to an elephant (or something to that
effect). Which brings me to The Klumps. It tried to be
like the original, but failed at that in any possible ways.
First,
the comedy never really gets one laughing throughout. I reaches
certain levels but never stays there. One might laugh at the
jokes and tear cheek muscles. Or one might get a sleepy jaw
because it's not moving. The Klumps is not for everyone.
Teenagers might find it funny, adults might not. However, that's
not entirely true as I found myself not laughing at almost
all of the jokes. There were exceptions, however. I laughed at
"beef in your taco," "have a whopper right
now," "got milk," and the "farts in
spaceship" jokes. Sad to admit, but all the other jokes
seemed to be flat. Like Eddie Murphy throwing up in between
bushes because Granny Klump French kissed him or something. Or
when a giant horny hamster makes out with Sherman's boss. To sum
up the jokes, they were 75% potty humor.
Second,
the plot was just not too entertaining. The Klumps was
written by Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield and Paul
Weitz & Chris Weitz. Here's what they came up with (it
seems): Sherman Klump (Murphy) is plagued by the subconcious
Buddy Love. He can't bear those thoughts anymore. After
Sherman's proposal to Denise (Jackson) turns out wrong, he
extracts part of his DNA, therefore eliminating Buddy Love from
his system. The only disadvantage is that he's becoming dumber
over the course of time. One night, Sherman's extracted DNA
spills and Buddy Love is resurrected by means of a single dog
hair. He's out to steal Sherman's formula that can make people
younger.
Sherman's
boss makes a deal with a company that wants the formula and is
glad to pay $125 million. But, Buddy is in the way of all
things. The only way that Sherman can save himself and everybody
else is to make Buddy a kid, until he dissolves into water. This
is done by Sherman playing catch with Buddy, who somehow thinks
like a dog when it comes to playing catch. And in the end, all
is happy and cool.
The
acting is pretty good. Janet Jackson did an OK job and I saw her
sort of laughing at the end of some scenes. But she's a singer,
not an actress, so it was fine. All the roles Eddie Murphy's
playing are great. The different character costumes are
phenomenal and the interaction between the Klump family looks
real, mainly by use of good special effects. Although, most
dialogue between the Klump family was mumbled (I couldn't
understand it) and sounded too much alike.
Also,
The Klumps gave too much screen time to each of the
family members. Whilst in the original, the family got maybe 25%
of the film, whereas here it got about 50-60% screen time. It
would've been better if this movie had focused more on Sherman,
rather than his family members (Grandma Klump being the only
interesting one anyway). Also, Sherman seemed to be confident in
some scenes, but shy and afraid in other scenes.
Rating: 3 out of 10
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