Blues Brothers 2000

Dear John Landis,

I have just watched Blues Brothers 2000. I am a fan of the original movie and didn't expect much from the sequel (no offence).

It's good that you made no effort to change the plot from the first one and just rehashed the first movie. Also I was amused by the way that one of the highlights of the film was a hugh car crash with several minutes of cars flying over cars flying over cars etc (it's good to see film-making has come so far since Smokie and the Bandit!).

In fairness to you, you managed to get a lot of good artists together and a lot of good songs. So here's my suggestion for the furture - whenever Dan Akroyd wants his next career boost and asks to do a BB3 - why not just record a pile of good songs and release a CD instead?

That way I won't need to sit through another poorly plotted, overdone, messy copy of a much better film.

What a mess! Hang your head in shame (but tap your feet to the beat!)

yours sincerely,

Bob the Moo

When "Blues Brothers 2000" came out, it got some of the worst reviews that I'd ever read (I don't remember whether this stemmed from the absence of John Belushi or not) and lasted about two weeks in the theaters. But it had a truly great soundtrack, starring just about every blues and rock 'n' roll singer alive at that time. Maybe the car pileup was ridiculous, but it was pretty funny. Overall, it was good that they didn't try to have different people play Jake and Curtis (and John Candy's character). New additions John Goodman and Joe Morton add interesting dimensions. As Dan Aykroyd reminds us several times throughout the movie: "The lord works in mysterious ways."

Okay, I have read most of the reviews here for this sequel and I, like most of the people who have responded with reviews of their own, LOVED the original and John Belushi, and I really have no problem with people trashing the film, or John Goodman even, but when someone like this one dude trashes The QUEEN OF SOUL because she's gained weight over the years or because she sings one of her most famous standards. "Respect," that shows NO R-E-S-P-E-C-T at ALL. The woman is STILL the greatest singing voice of the Twentieth AND Twenty First century and it is her VOICE that is the best ever, and that song remains the most beautiful anthem of R&B, blues and soul... and to trash that destroys any credibility you had up to that point as a worthy critic of ANY kind. John Belushi, John Candy and Cab Calloway are dead and nothing can be done about that, but to say this film is totally without merit is silly and so is comparing it to the original Blues Brothers movie, which, by the way, has plotholes you could drive a CONVOY of trucks through. For instance, what the hell were the Good Ole Boys country band p****d about? Didn't they arrive AFTER THE BAR WAS CLOSED EXPECTING TO PLAY? That should have had their cabaret and union license taken away right there, and it's their OWN damn fault. And then the comments about Dan Ackroyd's bald spot. Didn'[t they guy wear a hat the whole time anyway? SO THAT'S a pretty lame critique too. Look, the music was phenomenal, the speech that Dan makes about the Russian mob is classic, inspired Dan Ackroyd writing... and the kid had some decent moves and could play the mouth harp with the best of them (assuming he really DID play the thing) and I loved the "Ghost Rider's In The Sky" rendition done by the band. So don't compare it to the original. It's an homage, for cryin' out loud, though I do wish John's brother Jim Belushi had been in it, but it had something to do with contractual stuff, I believe, anyway. The film is not gold but it's not crap either.

Contrary to popular opinion, this is not a sequel. It is supposed to be a tribute to the original. People who bash this movie without reading Aykroyd's interviews are ignorant to the intent here. This movie was originally to be a sequel back in 1981 just before Belushi died. When that happened, the idea for another adventure fell away. But after almost two decades, Aykroyd wanted to do something to revisit the classic film and pay homage to his friend and co-star Belushi, so he assembled this "Concert Movie", which is supposed to be all about THE MUSIC, not the story. The only reason a story was put in was to keep it moving from musical number to musical number, because everyone knows that straight concert films are pretty boring, even if you really like the performer(s). So here it is, for the true Blues Brothers fans to enjoy. P.S.-And if your problem with the plot was some of the cartoony style actions that occur (Cabel being pulled heavenward and his clothes magically "changing", et cetera), remember that the original had the same things. In the first one the entire band's clothing "magically" changes for a concert, but if you know that this is merely a representation of the character's psychological state and not a literal change, then the film works much better. The same idea works for the much-maligned "zombie" sequence near the end at Queen Mousette's mansion. Also, people complain about the Bluesmobile in this film being able to drive underwater. Well, in the first film the car flew, performed flips, and was nearly indestructible. In fact, if you watch the DVD of the first film, you find in the deleted scenes and "Making-of" section that the Bluesmobile is supposed to be "magic", because it was parked each night inside a power transformer. How is that for cheesiness on the first film? So that also explains Elwood's ability to smuggle himself in the dash of the car in this one, and the car being able to crash land from a fiery loop-de-loop at the fairgrounds. Even though I wish this film could have been a little edgier and darker in tone like the original, I do find its bold and effective use of color to be magnificent and fascinating. Perhaps this film has a little more depth than people expect, so they incorrectly perceive it to be a lackluster and shallow mindnumbing entertainment. I know better ....... Remove the stars in the address to e-mail me.

It takes guts to make a sequel to a movie after 20 years, especially after the original has become a legend and the star has died since.

However this movie does a lot of things right and frankly, even if it had been perfect, some people would hate it anyway. The film suffers from not having John Belushi, but John Goodman puts in a good effort, and I for one was surprised at the quality of his singing. James Brown and Aretha Franklin reprise their guest roles. The music is not as good as the original but still better than most music in the charts these days.

The humour from the original is here but it is not as funny as the original. In fact all elements from the original are here in slightly inferior forms, with the exception of the car chase, which is better.

To be honest, it is worth seeing this film just to see how all the band has aged. i would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Blues music, though fans of the original may be disappointed