Hey folks, Harry here... We have a pair of reviews here. Neither reviews are great happy happy reviews. This first one by Mindseye... liked the film, but had a couple of problems with it. And then there is Darth Siskel's review... where he out and out hated the film. I've been hearing praises and complete hatred... I fear we may be looking at another split decision flick... sigh...
Harry,
this is longtime reader Mindseye. I wrote you a review for Road Trip a while back but it never saw the light of day. I know you can't trust everyone, but I am no industry shill. I go to early screenings in Manhattan through one of those companies that passes fliers out for preview screenings.
That said, I just saw the Klumps last night. All in all, it was very funny. It's amazing how even people who hate the nineties egotistical, souless Eddie Murphy fall for his Sherman Klump. It just speaks to his talent. He actually creates a soul for the character. No small acting feat for someone who appears most of the time to not have one.
In general the movie was better than I expected. The writing is very clever at times. Even the fart jokes are fairly well-worked in and original (except for an abominable space dream sequence). There is a huge number of special effects shots. Every sequence is filled. Some of the interaction between the Murphy characters is very impressive. All of the characters are fleshed out except for Sherman's brother. He's grumpy as hell and we don't have a clue why. Where is that guy's wife? You see his son a lot but that's it. The Grandma is foul as expected, and the bit with her breasts bouncing is good but all of her old-woman lust we've seen other places before. Janet Jackson is only mediocre. She just does not get much to do.
Generally, I have two complaints. The first is Buddy Love. He becomes a dog hybrid in the movie which has a nice payoff at the end but, all in all, he sucks. Murphy just overplays him too much. Like the first Nutty Professor, you know what Murphy is trying to do, but it's just not funny. It's grating, distracting and, worst of all, it pulls you out of the world of the movie.
The second problem is that the characters talk over each other way too much. I am an Altman fan, and this typically does not bug me but in this movie you can't hear what anyone says.
Harry, post this bad boy! And wish me luck I might get to see X-men tonight.
Mindseye
Darth Siskel's email headline to me was "KLUMPS OF SHIT", so read on... knowing full well what to expect...
Harry,
Today while you were watching X-Men, I was suffering through NUTTY PROFESSOR 2: The Klumps.
There are some plot spoilers in here, but trust me, you don't want to see this movie ever, let alone pay for it. This movie was not good by any stretch of the imagination. First off, it's a comedy. I can accept a stupid or sloppy plot if the movie keeps me laughing from start to finish, but this movie didn't have one really good joke in the entire 1 1/2 hours. It was litered with the occasional luke warm joke. The kind of joke that makes you laugh, and two seconds later has you looking at your watch, while you contemplate yelling 'fire' in the theatre.
I saw Me, Myself & Irene, as well as Scary Movie. I thought both were very funny. While Irene caused more uprorious laughter than Scary Movie, Scary Movie was quicker paced and had more back to back laughs. This movie The Klumps, is just not funny. It's just another bad, unnecessary sequel with a story that didn't need to be told. The lack of jokes and the stupid plot make it a total bore.
PLOT?
Sherman is having trouble containing the skinny Eddie Murphy character within him, who occasionally blurts out rude things to people. (yes I can't even remember his name. I feel dumber having seen this movie, like I lost brain cells) Sherman really likes nicely breasted Janet Jackson, who plays another professor at the college. When the evil skinny Eddie blurts out some rude shit to her, that's the last straw. Sherman goes to the lab and removes the evil dna from his system. With that, the evil Eddie is no more, BUT as a side effect, Sherman starts to lose his intellegence. (much like I felt watching this).
Later, a vat of the evil dna spills on the floor, mixes in with some chemicals and a dog hair, and magically forms the evil skinny Eddie Murphy. Yawn. So we have Sherman getting dumber, embarrasing himself in front of Janet Jackson. And when Janet accepts his marriage proposal, (yes she likes Sherman for who he is and doesn't care if he can't stop stuffing his fat head) Sherman embarreses himself in front of her parents. There are some funny jokes here, but nothing to write home about.
Groan... meanwhile the evil Eddie, who now has dog traits (hardy har har) is trying to make a ton of money off of Sherman's incredible invention. A youth formula. The third running story involves the Klumps.
Sherman's family, which was the only really interesting thing about this movie. Sherman's dad starts using the youth formula, which Sherman left in the fridge (of course), running around town partying. The mother is upset that her husband isn't interested in her sexually. And Grandma is just a sex crazed scary looking old bitch.
The scenes that were halfway watchable in this movie, were all the family scenes. Just watching them all being themselves, eating dinner or
whatever is just entertaining. Eddie Murphy is really really really good at playing all these roles. He is invisible. I'm not talking about Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon, doing a decent impression of a character. EDDIE MURPHY WAS INVISIBLE!. Not once did I feel I was watching Eddie Murphy in makeup. He successfully played six or so characters. All of them different people. Honestly, I think he deserves an Oscar. HOWEVER, while his performances as the family members is entertaining, IT IS NOT REALLY THAT FUNNY.
With not much to look forward to this summer, The Klumps was actually one of the movies I was going to shell out for. The trailers made it look pretty good. Do not be fooled! This movie really failed as a comedy. It simply SUCKED. Wait for this one to air on ABC in 2 years.
