Deloris van Cartier (Whoopi Goldberg) is headlining in her own show in Vegas. Sisters Mary Patrick (Kathy Najimy), Mary Robert and Mary Lazarus attend her show. Mother Superior (Maggie Smith) had sent them to retrieve her to teach music in St. Francis High School. She agrees becoming Sister Mary Clarence once again. The school is run by Father Maurice with math teacher Father Ignatius, Latin teacher Father Thomas and the cook Father Wolfgang who only makes bratwurst. The rambunctious class includes leader Rita Watson (Lauryn Hill), brown-noser Tyler Chase, new Muslim Ahmal, white rapper Frank-Hey, graffiti artist Sketch, Margaret (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Maria (Alanna Ubach). She discovers that the school is being closed by the end of the semester.The premise makes no sense. It's obvious that this is a movie driving for a young cast and the returning characters led by Whoopi. The premise is a simple excuse to get the movie there. Once there, the music is good. The young cast has a few standouts and a couple of familiar stars in their early years. The returning actors are great. However, the story is flat and lacks any freshness.

The sisters are back, and here, they are running a school far away from the quiet San Francisco convent where they first met Dolores Van Cartier (Whoopie Goldberg). Mother Superior Maggie Smith, having lightened up towards "Sister Mary Clarence" in the first entry, sends her old pals Mary Wickes, Kathy Najimy and Wendy Makkena to Vegas to bring Dolores back, to help save her school from scheming property owner James Coburn. Like "The Bells of St. Mary's", they are in danger of loosing the school which may not be accredited, and Goldberg's job is to help them win financial support by getting the unenthusiastic chorus to L.A. for a choral contest. Yes, this is basically a Mickey/Judy movie, "Let's put on a show and crush the goals of some mean adult", only in nun's habits and catholic school uniforms. But while not as well thought out as the original, it remains entertaining and diverting.The edge is gone with the lack of a mob intrusion into the convent's life, but with many Catholic schools going under thanks to lack of funding or decreasing attendance, this was much more realistic. The subplots concerning individual students are many, from the troubled rebel who yearns for her mother's approval but doesn't go about the right way in getting it, to the talented young boy who shows he just needs some guts to bring out his true spirit, and pretty much the entire school's need to understand that these nuns are just as spirited, if more, than they are.What isn't realistic is the fact that just a year after singing for the pope, these nuns aren't recognized by the kids, and that they don't know who Dolores Van Cartier is from her previous newspaper headlines. "Are you really a Vegas showgirl?" one student asks incredulously. "No, I am a headliner", Goldberg says as only she can. The lack of continuity between the two films gives it a definite "sitcom" feel, but unlike most sitcoms, this one rises above mediocrity because it is just so pleasant to sit through, especially when the kids get their act together, take it on the road, and sing to the Lord, not just to win, but to show that they've grown ever since Sister Mary Clarence came into their lives.Like in the two 1960's film where she played a bus driving nun, Mary Wickes gets back in front of the wheel, and also continues the string of funny delivery with lines that with other actors would just draw blank stares. Coburn is appropriately stolid, while such popular character actors as Barnard Hughes and Michael Jeter take on priestly roles with joyous glee. The same group of Broadway supporting players are back as singing nuns, with special mention to Susan Johnson, Beth Fowler and Ruth Kobart, as full voiced on screen as they were on stage. While the original "Sister Act" got its own big Broadway musical, the producers of that show (including Whoopie) were wise to realize that based upon previous experiences of hit musicals attempting sequels to just quit while they were ahead. "Sister Act II" is great as a video entertainment, and to take it any further would be fruitless.

The music-filled 1992 comedy hit Sister Act was a positive surprise both financially and quality-wise but that does not mean the inevitable sequel would be any good, of course. Directed by Bill Duke, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit tries to introduce a few new elements into the familiar premise, some of them successful, others not.Some time after the events of the first movie, Deloris Van Cartier (still played by Whoopi Goldberg) has returned to lounge singing and headlines a popular show in Las Vegas. When her old friends from the nun convent pay her a visit and ask her to help them with their work at a financially struggling high school, she cannot let them down and agrees to become the school's new music teacher. The students are unruly, the administrator Mr. Crisp (James Coburn) is uptight and the school is under risk of being closed down but luckily Deloris (a.k.a. Sister Mary Clarence) knows that the power of music is never to be underestimated.The movie starts energetically with one of Deloris' Vegas performances that catchily recounts the events of the previous movie. It is also pleasant to see that Wendy Makkena, Kathy Najimy and Maggie Smith return in the roles of Deloris' fellow nuns and that this time there are also monks present among the school's staff. Contrary to the first movie that dealt more with the other nuns, this time the comedy is for the most part based on Deloris' interaction with her new rebellious students who prefer freestyle rapping to gospel choirs. I wonder if rap music had more of a novelty value in mainstream entertainment in 1993 than it does in 2011 because seeing it now, I was left hoping for more actual songs instead of brief sessions of verbal rhyme battles and tough talking.During the latter half the music finally gets going and we hear fun songs like the funky "Get Up Offa That Thing / Dancing in the Street" and the final choir performances ("Joyful, Joyful") near the end. The end credit version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" performed by various cast members all together belongs among the most entertaining moments of the film as well. However, the movie is not really a musical and should also be judged by merits other than the soundtrack. On this front it is not very successful, in my opinion. The plot is extremely predictable, the noisy kids are annoying and the funniest characters (like the eccentric monks) are not paid enough attention. Fans of Lauryn Hill will surely be interested in her breakthrough performance as a young discouraged singer Rita Watson but I was not too big a fan of the ballads she sings here. More cheery songs like the first movie's "Shout" are what Sister Act 2 would have needed.Setting the plot in a school makes sure the story does not repeat the first movie's ideas too obviously but I wish they had used the different environment for something less predictable than just another tale of a new teacher cleaning up a rundown school by inspiring troubled kids to believe in themselves. I guess that if you absolutely loved the first movie, there is no reason why you would not like the sequel too (at least moderately) but generally speaking, I do not think Sister Act 2 is very good film. It seriously lacks the will to deviate from the tried and true patterns of comedy conventions and failed to make me laugh or even smile, unlike the original film that featured better songs and antagonists. You might as well save your time and watch the music clips on YouTube or something; the rest is pretty skippable.

such a pleasure, albeit a guilty one! The original wasn't good enough to warrant a sequel. Nonetheless, the choirs are so talented; their acts never get tired no matter how many times this piece re-runs on cable. Whatever her other pros and cons, Whoopi plays to the ensemble in this one, never the scene hog. What a pleasure to see an icon like Maggie Smith so thoroughly and obviously enjoying herself---ditto Mary Wickes, after being such a steadfast fixture of a supporting character on screen for nearly 70 years, her penultimate screen appearance.and really that's the whole point here isn't it? simple enjoyment, by actors and audience, in a meld of plots so familiar and comfortable, especially at holiday time. Among them--- Hey Kids Let's Put on a Show and Save Grandpa's Farm... Fish Out of Water Makes Good... Stick Together and Win the Big Game...