Nutty Professor 2 (2000)

The Long Review:

Because of The Nutty Professor's success, moviegoers were excited to see what The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps was all about. And its previews served to tantalize those who wanted another dose of the Big Guy and his larger-than-life clan.

This time around, the Nutty Professor, Professor Klump (Eddie Murphy), meets his match in the form of a sexy, savvy colleague named Denise Cains (Janet Jackson). The couple have put their heads together to produce a formula that should make all cosmetic companies ashamed: It makes anybody and anything that ingests it a lot younger. And that means major Cha-ching! But just when Prof Klump has the whole world, a fine woman, and fame in his fat hands, a lingering problem gets big (just like the rest of Prof Klump) : His alter-ego, Buddy Love, is still around…in him, actually. And they're not getting along. So Prof Klump has to find a way to get rid of Buddy and still keep the girl.

Did the sequel deliver? Well, no. True to its predecessor, the film solicits laughs by relying on biological humour (translation: dirty, tasteless jokes). Some people will find them funny, some will find them offensive. We just found them stupid. And then there's the dialogue. It sure saves you from boredom. Ooooh…Was it that engaging? No! It was that confusing…and hard to understand!! The characters (or should we say Eddie Murphy?) speak too fast in a dialect that we might just be too uncool to decipher. So what happened? We missed out on the jokes. Actually, we didn't even know they were telling jokes until they laughed. What can we say?? We were lost! But then again, even if we did understand what the hell they were saying, we probably wouldn't have laughed, anyway. So I guess we really shouldn't care that much.

We wish we could say that the movie's plot fared better than its attempt at humour and dialogue. But our conscience forbids us from saying so. The plot was simple, improbable, and predictable. If you're looking to give your mind a vacation, The Nutty Professor II should be your prime destination.

So was there anything at all good about this movie? Okay, fine. There are a couple of things. Eddie Murphy's make-up job was really good for when he played all those different roles. And Eddie Murphy did a good job of portraying those 6 characters. Sometimes, you forget that it's just one man playing all those characters. Oh, and Janet Jackson wasn't all that bad, either. We think those were tears coming out of her eyes in some scenes. But still, she shouldn't quit her day job.

Overall, The Nutty Professor II is a mediocre movie whose attempts at humour remain attempts. What's supposed to be funny turns out to be gross and just plain stupid. And that's not what comedy is all about.

Ebert's satisfaction:

ebert says	moviegurus say
My guess is, most of the reviews of Nutty Professor II: The Klumps will deliver perfunctory praise to the makeup and move on quickly to the comedy.	Okay, the make-up was good. But comedy?? You call what they did comedy?? C'mon, Ebert! You should know better!!
Nutty II is often very funny and never less than amazing, when you consider the work and imagination that went into Murphy's creation of the Klump family.	Um…No, it was rarely very funny, if at all!! And if the vulgar, disgusting Klump family is all that the filmmakers' work and imagination could come up with, then they should look to other career options. You found this funny, Ebert??
In a movie so raucous, so scatological, so cheerfully offensive, it is a little surprising to find yourself actually caring for a character who is made mostly out of Latex makeup, but there you have it.	We agree that the movie is raucous and scatological. But it wasn't cheerfully offensive. It was just plain offensive. We did feel for Professor Klump, though…It must've been super hot beneath all that latex.