Carrera de locos parte II

This film was good to watch and was still funny. Ok its not the best film in the world but i still found it funny and many still do. The chimp was cool and so were the rest of the cast. It was also a bonus to see Richard Kiel in the film (hes the big 7'2" tall man who pushed 4 men along the floor in the fight scene) Watch it everyone and just Relax. Overall I'd give it 7 out of 10

Once again Hal Needham brings together a half respectable cast like in the first Cannonball movie, but again forgot to bring a script. The mad-cap lunacy is still here, as are the cheap gags and stunts, but now it seems strange that all of this actually worked in the first movie, because it sure doesn't here. I found Burt and Dom laughing at their own jokes more than I did. It's no wonder Reynolds' career took a dive around this time if he was starring in films as dire as this.

The usual suspects are here while a few have (sensibly) dropped out of the race. Catherine Bach and Susan Anton are attractive enough, but don't quite cut it like Adrienne Barbeau and Co. did, and all they had to do was smile and flash their t**s once in a while. Richard Kiel is an unusual partner for Jackie Chan, but the little and large pairing works well. Chan also helped by bringing along his own stuntmen for the fight scenes, and it shows. Shirley MacLaine seems oddly at home with her trashy lines, while Telly Savalas fittingly over does things but is ultimately wasted in the movie, the same could be said for most of the cast. Frank Sinatra's inter-cut scenes are sickeningly shoddy and make the film appear as amateurish as it undeniably is.

If you did like the first Cannonball Run, (and there are a few!) you'll undoubtedly be disappointed with this outing, while those who didn't enjoy the first movie will no doubt detest the sequel.

In the future when film scholars ponder whether Tony Danza was a better actor than say, an orangutan, they may come across "Cannonball Run II" and feel great delight. The reason being that "Cannonball Run II" features scenes in which they can compare and contrast the thespian skills of both Danza and orangutan. For my money the orangutan wins easily. Beyond the Danza versus orangutan intrigue the film may fail to generate much interest for them. While the large cast seems to be having a blast hamming it up on the open road, the end result is that this movie is pure road kill for viewers. I've been in car accidents that are more fun than this flick.

Both Cannonball Run movies are films to totally relax and let your funny bone rule you. No plots that make any kind of coherent sense, just a whole lot of people getting a great chance to overact with gusto and abandon. And since Cannonball Run II just about tripled the number of name players who did walk ons, it could be considered triple the fun.

Folks like Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise who are the nominal stars, Jackie Chan, Jack Elam, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., and Jamie Farr make return appearances and a whole lot more get in on the fun.

Farr who is carrying the prize money as the fabulously wealthy hedonistic idiot son of an Arab sheik played here by Ricardo Montalban gets to be the target of some gangster heist when the wise guys find out what he's carrying. At that point the contentious rivalries cease among the Cannonballers as they band together against a common foe and to retrieve their prize money.

Along for the ride this time with Reynolds and DeLuise are a pair of ersatz nuns played by Shirley MacLaine and Marilu Henner. Martin and Davis now pretend to be cops instead of priests from the last film. They're the chief rivals of Reynolds and DeLuise. Telly Savalas does a great takeoff of his Kojak tough guy image on the other side of the law, Tim Conway and Don Knotts reunite as a pair of brain dead deputies. And Reynolds and DeLuise who pretend to be a general and his aide draft none other than Gomer Pyle on their 'top secret mission'.

Frank Sinatra even makes an appearance and it turns out that Cannonball Run II was the farewell big screen role for both he and Dino. As Dino says, he's royalty in America, surely in show business that's what he was.

Cannonball Run II which was starting to approach It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World in terms of casting funny people in it and Don Knotts and Sid Caesar are in both is just a film to turn off the gray cells and put the funny bone in hyper drive.

RELEASED IN 1983 and directed by Hal Needham, "Cannonball Run II" is a car chase comedy about a second Cannonball Run race from the West Coast to the East Coast. The teams include JJ & Victor (Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise), Blake and Fenderbaum (Dean Martin & Sammy Davis Jr.) with other teams involving Jackie Chan & Richard Kiel in a submersible Mitsubishi Starion and Mel Tillis & Tony Danza accompanied by an orangutan. There are at least a dozen other notable co-stars in various roles: Jamie Farr, Telly Savalas, Sid Caesar, Tim Conway, Foster Brooks, Ricardo Montalban , Charles Nelson Reilly, Don Knotts, etc.

This is a fun turn-off-your-brain flick with an incredible all-star cast that's worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, the script needed a rewrite with better jokes but the producers obviously didn't want to blow the money. As it is, too much of the humor falls flat, but "Cannonball Run II" is still leagues better than comparable junk like "Smokey and the Bandit Part 3" (1983). And there's a worthwhile sequence where Dom does an amusing Brando impersonation.

Moreover, the movie scores good marks on the female front with Catherine Bach jaw-dropping in form-fitting blue spandex during the first half, teamed with her Amazonian-ish partner Susan Anton (who's no slouch in the beauty department). Bach looks like she was sculptured by God Himself. In addition, there's Marilu Henner and Shirley MacLaine, who catch a ride with JJ & Victor, masquerading as nuns before revealing their real identities. MacLaine was 48 during shooting but still had a great figure.

THE FILM RUNS 1 hour, 48 minutes and was shot in Nevada (Las Vegas, Henderson), Arizona (Tucson, Bisbee) and California (Redondo Beach).

GRADE: C.