George de la selva 2

On this website, this is currently ranked as the worst Disney movie of all time and it's probably in my Top 3. I admit there were a few funny jokes when they outright admitted they couldn't get Brendan Fraser back for this movie. Unfortunately, all that was drowned out by horrible special effects and bad jokes. The worst part is at the end where they have all these poop, fart, and crotch jokes. Looking back, I think the original "George Of The Jungle" was probably the funniest live action adaptation ever made. That's actually quite a compliment seeing as how the original show wasn't even that great.

The CGI in this is among the worst I've ever seen in my life. The elephant and kangaroo look absolutely terrible and it sincerely scared me whenever they appeared on screen. This movie offers no interesting new villains. I remember these funny henchmen from the first movie and now they're replaced by Charlie's Angels...for some reason. I guess this could have worked as like a sketch or something because it has only enough jokes for that short time. Direct to video sequels are always bad and this is no exception. It's sad when the best is "The Lion King 1 1/2 and that just recycles stuff from the first movie. *1/2

There are just so many things wrong with this movie.

To begin with, the first twenty minutes of the film could have been compressed into just five or maybe ten. The overall movie is (mercifully) short already, but this could have been made up for by giving a little more attention to the Mean Lion (how did the miss a reference to "The Wiz" on that one?) and working his subplot a little more closely into the main plot. In short, the script had the seed of a good idea, but needed quite a bit of reworking.

Second, it could have done without the crude humor. The original also had some that it could have done without, but at least there it was almost an afterthought -- here, flatulence and urination abound.

Third, the show is a little too self-aware. The original series had that well enough, as did the first movie, but here it's just way, way too much. The Brendan Fraser in-jokes were just a bit over the top (and why no mention of the "new Ursula"?). Other gags with the Narrator, especially a couple of interactions near the end, also exceed good sense.

Fourth, a bit more attention could have been given to the CGI work. In the first it was hard to tell that Shemp wasn't a real elephant (except by behavior, of course), but here the CGI stands out like a sore thumb. Ideally special effects should merely tell the story whether they're good or bad, and they at least do succeed on that count, so it's a relatively small problem, but it's still there.

All that said, Christopher Showerman's performance as George is decent enough. It lacks Brendan Fraser's charm, but Christopher only really fails in that specific comparison -- he even managed to give George a bit of personal depth, which should have been a major foul in a Jay Ward-inspired movie but wasn't here. Julie Benz as the new Ursula surprised me as being even better than Leslie Mann in the original.

Most other performances were pretty standard, not standing out in my mind as either good or bad.

Disney continues to milk success out of their theatrical successes with direct-to-video sequels, a generally annoying practice of theirs, like calling all their cartoons masterpieces and labeling their discs Disney DVD (as if they invented the format!). This live-action cartoon is as good, if not better, than the Brendan Fraser original, mainly because it keeps the satirical humor of the Jay-Ward-cartoon original intact and maintains the production qualities and effects work of the first picture. Unknown Chris Showerman replaces Brendan Fraser and he's up to the task, in spite of the fact that he's at an immediate disadvantage substituting for a recognizable star. It's as lively and humorous as it needs to be and should definitely entertain family elements of all ages as necessary. One more Disney quibble before I close: and that's the pandering, condescending attitude they seem to have for the audience, by labeling their widescreen presentation of the film on DVD as "family friendly", as if filmgoers are nothing but uneducated consumers who might find the black bars on their square TVs offensive and forego the purchase (rental or whatever). Disney just continues to typecast themselves and their audience with their obvious, overt approach to their product!

I must say, this movie was almost great. The jokes were pretty funny, and the acting (except for Beatrice) was pretty good, despite the replacement of most of the cast. Even the music was fun and fitting. Where this movie really fell apart was the storyline. I won't get into details, but let's just say it was lacking, at best. Many things were poorly explained, or unreasonable. Another problem, though minor and only slightly annoying, was the way George's elephant, Shep, was portrayed. In the first movie, he blended well with the rest of the set and characters. In this one, he is obviously done with relatively weak CGI that will damage the mood of the scene.

It really is a pity that it had a few major glaring flaws... It could have been really good otherwise.

Caught part of GEORGE 2 on TV recently, but couldn't get myself to watch it through to the end. Just awful! I can't even remember the plot. All I know is that George and Ursula were not the George and Ursula of the first movie, which was bad enough. There's a lot of scrambling around, but the direction and editing were so shoddy and choppy, it was like watching outtakes or deleted scenes. Having the original voice of Ape the Ape back was not nearly enough to make me warm up to this. GEORGE 2 is probably the single worst sequel I have ever seen, and that is saying something. Jeez, because of IMDb's 10 lines rule, I have to keep typing when I have nothing more to say about this crapulastic made-for-TV sequel. Disney, hang your head in shame.