Noticias

Martin Lawrence is returning for a sequel to his 1999 action comedy Blue Streak.

In what might just be the most out of left field sequel news we’ve reported this year, Martin Lawrence police comedy Blue Streak is getting a follow up, 25 years after the original.

Deadline has revealed that a sequel is in development at Sony. Lawrence is onboard as star and a producer through his company Run Tel Dat. The script has been written by Cole Maliska, but there’s currently no word on who might direct.

If you need a refresher, the original Blue Streak was inspired by, of all things, the 1965 Sid James and Dick Emery film The Big Job. It saw Lawrence play Miles, a jewel thief who disguises himself as a policeman in order to steal diamonds, but ends up being partnered with actual cop, Detective Carlson, played by Luke Wilson. Shenanigans ensue, and...

It's not every day that Time magazine follows what NPR and the New York Times set in motion, but the May 19 issue of the weekly magazine does just that, and with aplomb. Reporter Lily Rothman went even a step further in her summer movie preview in the culture section headlined ”Godzilla, ‘Into the Storm’ and More Summer ‘Cli-Fi’ Thrillers,” gently pushing the emerging genre of cli fi directly to the titans of Hollywood. Steve Tisch, are you following? John Blumenthal, savvy screenwriter and comic wit, are you reading? Christopher Nolan and Shekhar Kapur, will your new movies follow the cli-fi clarion call,...

It's Sunday afternoon, or: your last chance to read all that stuff you meant to read last week before Monday brings a new deluge of things you will want to read. Below, some of our recommendations: "Writer and Filmmaker With a Genius for Humor" by Charles McGrath (New York Times): A longtime friend's obituary of Nora Ephron chronicles her incomparable tabloid-to-magazine-to-Hollywood career, and some of her favorite things: her kids, taking a bath, and "coming over the bridge to Manhattan." Also worth a look: John Blumenthal's memories of Ephron's flirty paling around, Lena Dunham on their brief but rich friendship, and Noreen Malone on "Nora Ephron feminism." "Feeling About Half Past Dead: Down in the Basement With What’s Left of The Band" by Michael H. Miller (New York Observer): On the legacy of The Band, and what a reunion performance looks like when only two members are still around.

"Blue Streak" suffers from an identity crisis. The writing team of Michael Berry and John Blumenthal -- with rewrite help from Steve Carpenter -- shaped a clever and resourceful comedy vehicle for Martin Lawrence. But Lawrence and director Les Mayfield choose to dumb down the humor so severely as to shatter the script's credibility. As a point of reference, imagine "Tootsie" starring Jerry Lewis.

Riding the coattails of Lawrence's success when teamed with Eddie Murphy in "Life", "Blue Streak" is likely to open strongly. But its longevity may be hurt by the filmmakers' insistence that urban comedy precludes urbane humor.

Even Lawrence's character is schizophrenic. He is introduced as a savvy jewel thief, so adept in sophisticated technology as to nearly pull off a major heist of a glittering blue diamond.

What stops the robbery cold is a double-cross by a greedy member of the team (Peter Greene). Lawrence is captured in the ensuing police chase and shootout, but not before hiding the gem in an air duct of a downtown building under construction.

When Lawrence is released from prison two years later, he is horrified to discover that the building now houses the newest LAPD precinct. Determined to recover the diamond, he pulls off an elaborate con by impersonating a newly transferred burglary detective.

There is ingenious humor in the notion of a thief pretending to be a burglary detective: The expertise picked up in his previous occupation really comes in handy in his new "job." But Lawrence's clownish portrayal of the jewel thief-turned-cop undermines the basic joke. If he can handle sophisticated technology and skillfully impersonate a cop, why in the next moment does he act like a talent show dropout?

Much of Lawrence's schtick belongs in a TV skit, and some of it -- particularly when he disguises himself as a bucktoothed pizza delivery man -- is downright embarrassing.

In Mayfield ("Flubber", "Encino Man"), Lawrence has a director who reinforces his own worst instincts. Mayfield has little feel for comic rhythms or building tension within a comedy. Instead, he virtually brings the movie to a halt in order to observe Lawrence's antics, which often have only the vaguest connection to the story.

The supporting cast is exactly that -- a group of actors willing to fade into the background at a moment's notice. There is an exception in Dave Chappelle, whose own frantic comedy makes Lawrence look calm. And Luke Wilson as straight man in Lawrence's act manages to sneak in his own moments of comedy.

The script self-destructs in the third act with a thoroughly unconvincing wild climax at the Mexican border. If anything, "Blue Streak"'s identity crisis grows that much worse in these final minutes as stunts and a level of violence better suited to a Dirty Harry movie suddenly invade what had been an amiable comedy.

BLUE STREAK

Columbia Pictures

A Neil H. Moritz/IndieProd/Jaffe production

Producers: Toby Jaffe, Neal H. Moritz

Director: Les Mayfield

Writers: Michael Berry & John Blumenthal and Steve Carpenter

Executive producers: Daniel Melnick and Allen Shapiro

Director of photography: David Eggby

Production designer: Bill Brzeski

Music: Edward Shearmur

Costume designer: Denise Wingate

Editor: Michael Tronick

Color/stereo

Cast:

Miles Logan: Martin Lawrence

Carlson: Luke Wilson

Deacon: Peter Greene

Tully: Dave Chappelle

Melissa Green: Nicole Ari Parker

Rizzo: Graham Beckel

Running time -- 93 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...