Nutty Professor II: The Klumps

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson, Larry Miller, John Ales, Chris Elliott
Directed by: Peter Segal
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
2000

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) tries to juggle his family, his new love interest (Janet Jackson), and the potential reemergence of Buddly Love.

Review:

Tim: I'm not afraid to admit I love the original The Nutty Professor (well, not the original, I mean the remake version with Eddie Murphy). The first film is still one of my favorite guilty pleasure, hilarious comedies. I find it very, very funny, and it's impressive that Eddie Murphy played so many different characters, giving each their own personalities and making them memorable. While I loved that film, I am not even close to being a fan of Nutty Professor II: The Klumps. This movie forgets everything that made the first film so good. It's a completely forgettable, occasionally awful comedy.

The big positive here is that we get to see Murphy play all these various roles again. I know it's stupid, but I always marvel at how much of this movie Murphy had to carry. He plays the protagonist, Sherman Klump, but also plays his father, mother, grandmother, uncle, his alter ego Buddy Love, and one other character I can't remember. This is really impressive, and Murphy pours so much of himself into these roles. He is just so energetic and over-the-top, it's fun to see him embrace these multiple roles. I liked that aspect of the film.

The rest of the movie is pretty bad. First off, whomever cast Janet Jackson as a brilliant scientist is an idiot. She is a laughably bad actress, and was in way over her had. She gives a bland, completely forgettable performance. She adds absolutely nothing to this film. The movie needed a strong lead actress, and Jackson was about the furthest from that you could possibly get. The only other cast member of note is Larry Miller, who just plays the same role we've seen him do numerous times before. Besides Murphy, this film was starved for talent.

The story is ridiculous. The first film was ridiculous, but it was told in such a way that we could willingly suspend our disbelief. None of that happens here. Science and logic are completely thrown out the window. I don't even think you could call this science fiction- there's no science at all- it's just about a straight-up fantasy. I still have no idea how Buddy Love managed to exist outside of Sherman Klump. I know how it happened, but it makes no sense to me at all. It flies in the face of everything believable or logical. It was just such a stupid move in the script. I also thought the whole hamster thing was unfunny and weak. I suppose that was supposed to be the big hilarious scene, but it just came across as forced and unfunny. This whole movie was forgettable, and I rarely laughed at anything.

It's very rare to see a sequel fall so far from the heights of the film film. I know I might be silly, but I really loved The Nutty Professor. It just makes it all the more frustrating when you consider how bad Nutty Professor II: The Klumps is. This is just your typical unfunny comedy sequel. This is a bad movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Nutty Professor Shrek, Shrek 2, Dr. Doolittle, Daddy Day Care