Big Mamma 2

Some of the greatest movie comedies of all time have revolved around men dressing up in drag and trying to pass themselves off as women ("Some Like It Hot" and "Tootsie" being the prime examples). Ironically, that's also been the basis for some of the worst comedies ever made ("White Chicks" being the prime example I can think of at the moment). Somewhere in the middle lie the Big Momma movies, both the original, made in 2000,and the sequel from 2006, creatively entitled "Big Momma's House 2." Once again, Martin Lawrence stars as the FBI agent who this time goes undercover as a nanny to the children of a man who may be involved in some sort of major threat to national security (yawn!).

In turns of its storyline, the movie falls somewhere between "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Mary Poppins," with Big Momma managing to heal the rift in the family and making the neglectful father a model parent by the end of the film. The crime scenario is beyond stupid and leads to a whole host of idiotic slapstick scenes involving Big Momma taking on the gun-wielding bad guys, but if you have a high level of tolerance for this sort of thing, "Big Momma's House 2" should provide you with a good share of laughs amid all the clunkers.

Lawrence exhibits a great deal of energy in the role of Big Momma, but he never brings the kind of insight and believability to the part that Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis or Dustin Hoffman managed to do in their respective turns at cross dressing comedy. Unfortunately, Lawrence's portrayal is all surface imitation, utterly devoid of the kind of subtle shading that might suggest he had actually gotten in touch with his character. This film would be a trifle less innocuous if it hadn't been done so much better already.

If you're looking for an intellectual comedy or even something with some actual substance to it, this is not the movie to go to. It is the type of movie you go to, to turn off your brain and just take in some escapist entertainment. It does the job decently, better than most of the other light comedies out there. But what really surprises is how relatively few stupid moments come throughout the movie. A lesser-quality movie would have gone for the easy jokes about dorky white people vs. smooth black people. A lesser flick would have had some of the characters be less perceptive and observant than they actually ended up turning out to be. Poorer-quality fare would have turned this movie into something approaching blaxploitation, where all parties involved ended up humiliated by the experience.

This didn't do any of the aforementioned. Certain characters who could have been written as dumber were actually written as credibly perceptive. Certain scenarios that could have been played out as ridiculous ended up being plausible. There was less of a black/white good vs. evil conundrum going on in this movie, and the suspense involved actually seemed worth it instead of just being suspense for suspense's sake. I don't think there was one moment in the whole film where I was rolling my eyes going, "OH COME ON," the way I was throughout the last film I was obliged to go see, this year's remake of Last Holiday.

Had the premise been more original, had the comedy been more sharply written, more intelligent, I would have been inclined to give this comedy ten stars. It really is one of the better commercial movies to be released in Hollywood over the last five years. It even manages to be better than its predecessor. However, the comedy was actually quite dull, pedestrian, uninvolved, and unintellectual, which means it earns six stars out of ten. Just barely passable, but a heck of a lot better than its contemporaries.

Saw the movie this afternoon with wife and two grands- and we laughed and laughed. It was just a feel good movie! While the plot isn't totally realistic, it's believable enough to keep you from walking out, and contributes to the numerous gags and funny scenes in the movie.

Not sure if some will be moderately affected by the writers stereotyping of the "Big Momma" character, but will be willing to forgive since it doesn't carry over to any other staging and writing of the plot.

Just didn't feel ripped off, just felt entertained, and judging from the howls in the audience, others attending did too. Go see it-especially on a cold dreary day like today was outside!!

My friends and I started watching Big Mama's House 2 a couple months ago, but we never got to finish, and in some ways I was glad because I usually like to see the first film before I see the sequel. Most times you feel like you have missed out on so much and you might not understand the humor. So I rented Big Mama's House and was sorely disappointed, I was really nervous and was thinking that maybe I didn't want to see the second one. But my friend insisted that I see it and to give it a shot.

Malcom is back and this time he's a safety teacher who has felt like he's lost his edge, but he has made a promise to his wife since she is pregnant. But when he finds out there is an investigation on a top secret defense CD being released to some very bad men, he goes undercover as Big Mama to be the man who has the CD and his family. He lies to his wife and work and the family he is caring for, but ends up saving the day for everyone.

I have to say that I honestly laughed a lot more in the second Big Mama's House more than the first one. This one seemed just more light hearted and it was fun, despite it being predictable, I think more should give this movie a better chance, because in my opinion this was better and well thought out more than the first.

5/10

The film talks about the FBI agent Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence) again posing himself , who's known as a southern sweet ¨big momma¨, she is a severely overweight but bright old woman . This time he goes undercover , attempting to solve a case , as a foul-mouthed nanny of a family formed by an unhappy mother (Emily Procter) , three sons and whose father (Mark Moses) is a hacker under investigation and passing information to the enemy . Also all complicates with the relationship between the potbellied grandma babysitter and the familiar group . Meanwhile, he has problems with his beautiful pregnant wife (Nia Long) .

This sequel expands from original idea but Lawrence and the writers manage to pull it off rather impressively . The jokes are plentiful and is pretty entertaining , the plot doesn't allow for many quiet moments which Lawrence needs to balance out the slapdash . In the former film sporadic laughters are too often mined by scatological and toilet humor but in this movie the gags are more agreeable . It's a farce with the great master of disguise Lawrence when he takes a make-up by Greg Cannon and is transformed into fat grandma . The story is funny and interesting and the characters are genuine and sympathetic. Film is a Martin Lawrence recital , he makes acrobatics , stooges , tongue twister and pull faces and grimaces . Picture is a vehicle Lawrence , he's a real show man and authentic farceur . Lawrence like his partner Eddie Murphy has plenty of experience with women costumes and acting various roles . Martin Lawrence is well accompanied by a nice support cast such as : Emily Procter, Zachary Levi, Mark Moses , Kat Dennings , Chloë Grace Moretz , Marisol Nichols , among others . Film gets a nice cinematography by Mark Irwin and atmospheric musical score by George S Clinton . The motion picture was allrightly directed by John Whitesell . If you like Lawrence's crazy acting , you'll enjoy this one.