This is another old man in need of money rehashing the old stuff for his old fans. And maybe replace the fat short unfunny man with a boy will bring some Look Who's Talking audiences if possible. The jokes are forced even worse than in the first movie. I mean a boy looking like a boy in a strip bar that sells alcohol in the States where the morals are like in Europe's Dark ages? But you have to have the scene where the old man puts his hand over the boy's eyes, who does not move at all. Ha-ha. Can you imagine how hilarious? Obviously some over the hill film makers had a good laugh. Oh, the good old days!Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998): Dir: John Landis / Cast: Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, Joe Morton, J. Evan Bonifant, B.B. King: Pathetic showcase that never reaches the heights of the original. It opens with the release of Elwood Blues from prison with the news that his brother Jake had passed away. He returns to the orphanage and put in charge of little Buster. Elwood plans to reunite with the band and compete in a battle of the bands contest held at a Voodoo lair. That is pitiful in itself. While music numbers are fine, the plot is just a recap minus the talent of the late John Belushi. Low key directing by John Landis who did such a brilliant job on The Blues Brothers. Dan Aykroyd cannot carry the film and the absence of Belushi is all too painful. John Goodman is a pale substitute to Belushi. He plays a bartender who becomes part of the band. Joe Morton plays the son of the Cab Calloway character in the original. He is a cop involved in a dumb transformation that sinks this garbage even further in despair. J. Evan Bonifant is totally unnecessary as Buster. B.B. King makes an appearance alongside numerous other musical talents but none can bring any real spirit to this travesty. The only real thing that this garbage offers is a record breaking sixty car pile up. Otherwise this is a pointless and stupid sequel where Elwood says to Buster as the credit roll, "Fasten your seatbelt." Landis gave no reason for us to do so. Score: 1 / 10

The best way to describe the 1998 sequel "Blues Brothers 2000" is this: If the original 1980 classic was like hearing a really good joke told by a classic stand-up comedian with perfect timing and conviction, "Blues Brothers 2000" is like hearing that same joke re-told by a friend with far less charisma. Sure, the humor may still be there. Maybe even a little bit of the charm. But it's just nothing compared to the original, and it does lose a lot in translation.It's too much of a re-telling of the original film, to the point that the label of "sequel" is an almost inaccurate term to describe it. It's startlingly close to venturing into "remake" territory. That being said, it's not without its strengths, and I do feel it's nowhere near the abomination and train-wreck that many make it out to be.John Landis returns to direct this sequel, in addition to co-writing the script with star Dan Aykroyd. To make up for the absence of John Belushi and Cab Calloway, several newcomers are added to the film, including John Goodman, Joe Morton and J. Evan Bonifant.18 years after the original film, Elwood Blues (Aykroyd) is finally released from prison, only to discover that his brother Jake and mentor/father-figure Curtis have both passed away. Seeking guidance, Elwood becomes a mentor to "Buster" (Bonifant), a 10-year-old boy, and seeks out Curtis' illegitimate son Cabel Chamberlain (Morton), whom doesn't take well to the news that his true father was a man his mother had an affair with. After re-uniting with his former drummer, meeting a talented singer named Mack McTeer (Goodman) and running afoul of Russian gangsters, Elwood and the gang decide to re-unite their band to perform again.The film, to its credit, does have a number of strengths.The performances are a lot of fun. Aykroyd does come off as a slightly different character in this film, but I was able to go with it, as Elwood is 18 years older and contending with a different part of his life, dealing with loss and new beginnings. Goodman steals the show, though. His character "Mighty" Mack is arguably a surrogate and replacement for the late John Bellushi, but Goodman makes the role his own and has a lot of fun making the character different... someone who is not born a "Blues Brother", but adopts the persona. Bonifant is a talented child-actor, and he does his best, but the role of Buster is a bit on the poorly-written side, and it feels like too much of a jumping- the-shark gimmick to add a child to the mix. But he does a good job. And Joe Morton is great as Cabel "Cab" Chamberlain, who is in pursuit of Elwood for much of the film, but may end up joining him under the right circumstances.The music is also fantastic. Much like the original film, the plethora of song-and-dance numbers are perfect, and all feature good, old- fashioned choreography and imagery. They are the one part of the film that easily lived up to the original, if not slightly exceeded it.And beyond that, many of the jokes do work, particularly an uproariously funny recall of the "car pileup" sequence from the original movie that plays like a deranged cartoon.Those things being said, this is not a good film. It has just as many flaws as strengths, and due to the high quality of the original masterpiece, those weaknesses do stand out even more.As mentioned above, I view the main problem of the film as its insistence to feel less like a sequel and more like a remake. I felt that too much of the film was devoted to references, callbacks, and even entire scenes lifted almost directly from the original. There are moments where this can work (the opening scene outside of the prison, the car-pileup, etc.) in more subtle ways or in ways that cause the film to do the opposite of the original. But this movie doesn't do that. This movie simply tries to constantly point out how similar it is to the first film, no matter how contrived or bizarre it may feel as a result. And when the film just isn't as well put together (as is in the case with this film's script), it makes it seem a lot worse than it is.It also has a wide array of smaller issues with the tone, style and writing beyond the above issue. It feels far more sanitized stylistically, both due to the lower PG-13 rating and just because I believe Aykroyd and Landis were different people when they made this film. It's too... "clean." Especially with the addition of a child- actor, which felt like too much of an attempt to soften the material and appeal to the family crowds that the prior film clearly wasn't going for. I also found that many scenes felt jarringly out of place or cartoonish. Even though the first film had a lot of religious imagery and toyed with things like breaking the laws of physics and the whole "mission from God"... In this film, all of the more over-the-top ideas feel more random and it doesn't gel as well. (Including a bizarre scene where, without spoiling anything, a character appears to lifted from a church and transformed by heavenly light, or another scene in which a Voodoo Priestess exhibits various supernatural powers) It doesn't quite work.Those complaints being said, the music is fantastic and the acting is a lot of fun for the most part. And I do think this is a fundamentally entertaining film (albeit also fundamentally flawed) for those reasons, and nowhere near the atrocity some have made it out to be. "Blues Brothers 2000" gets an average 5-out-of-10 for me. See it for the music and try to ignore the rest.

So many people regard this movie as horrible because of the original. I loved the original just like everyone else, but I don't completely hate a movie just because of that. Yes, John Belushi had passed on and wasn't able to be in the movie. However, I bet that he would of wanted it to take place. Had he still been alive, I'm sure he would of been one of the first people signed on for it's production. It has a great cast with a light storyline just like the first. Amazing music just like the first. The only thing missing is Mr. Belushi himself, but that is in no way a reason this movie should be voted a 4/10. Believe me, if you liked the first one movie, give this movie a shot. Go into with a care free mind and you will enjoy it just like you did the first. You will want to dance around, just like you did the first. Enjoy!! :)