Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director:
John Whitesell
Cast :
Martin Lawrence……….Malcolm Turner
Elton LeBlanc……….Asst. Bingo Caller
Nia Long……….Sherry Pierce
Michelle Parylak……….JoAnne
Sarah Brown……….Constance Stone
The Movie
Whoever brings scripts in front of Martin Lawrence might be the most inept script chooser in all of Hollywood. When it comes to getting quality material in front of the comedian, either there isn’t anything good for the funny man to be in or Lawrence’s handlers have no clue on what kind of film Lawrence should be in. And while Big Momma’s House made $120 million just in domestic box office receipts off of a $30 million budget, Lawrence’s descent into comic hell since then seems full circle as he starred in an equally putrid sequel earlier this year.
Lawrence reprised his role as Malcolm Turner in Big Momma’s House 2. This time around, Turner has to foil yet another scheme, this one involving the usual sort of thing that has surrounded Lawrence’s career: unfunny sight gags; physical humor; and the complete and total misuse of the sort of comedic ability Lawrence has. Lawrence is a blue humor comedian who is at his best when he lets loose the seven dirty words and some of the foulest jokes of any comedian working today. When unplugged, Lawrence has some great comic timing and is definitely a much better fit for the R-rated crowd. Take him down to a PG-13 and his comedy is neutered, and the film is so bad it’s hard to believe that it is even worse than the original.
How could it be worse than Big Momma’s House? For starters, it has a director that clearly has no idea what he’s doing. Most of the film feels like a bad sitcom extended for over an hour and a half of mind-numbing schlock. John Whitesell’s directing credits have mainly been limited to television and it’s evident that making the transition from the small screen to the big screen is one he hasn’t got the talent for. Big Momma’s House 2 has many subplots that are either resolved way too quickly or are quickly forgotten; there’s a larger story to be told and Whitesell wants to tell it in a chapter form when a novelette is more relevant. It’s something with more experience in film that he can develop, but for now he’s stuck with a film that tries to be many things and fails at them all.
And the film does have a lot of good concepts and some good character work that could’ve been done. Nia Long, as Malcolm’s wife Sherry, really isn’t given too much to do other than be the usual pouting wife. There’s a raunchy action comedy waiting to come out of this, as there is a lot that could’ve been done, but the script settles for cheap gags when a bit more work with satire would’ve been a better payoff.
Score : 1.5 / 10
The Video
Presented in a widescreen format with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the film has a solid transfer. There is a lot of bright colors and color variations in the film and the DVD transfer comes through nice and clear.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, the film also has a great audio component. The film has a lot of music and some decent scoring that comes through as clearly as the dialogue.
The Extras
Big Momma’s Secrets is a seven minute featurette that details some of the problems involving Lawrence’s fat suit as well as some of the digital effects shots that were used in the film. It’s interesting to see the technical side of the movie come into effect, as the fat suit had to be altered as well as digitally redone in post production, as it altered the look of a couple scenes. In particular not is how the fat suit, when wet, would show the skeleton underneath (as well as Lawrence’s legs) and thus had to have lots of computer graphic enhancement. It’s interesting in an odd way.
12 Deleted and Extended Scenes are included in rough, unfinished form. Including an alternate opening, the scenes omitted add nothing back to the film. They also aren’t completely finished, leaving them looking and sounding less than desirable.
Trailers for the theatrical releases of Big Momma’s House 2 and Phat Girlz, as well as the direct to video release Little Manhattan.
Feature Commentary by Director John Whitesell, Producer David Friendly and Actor Zachary Levi
