Nutty Professor II: The Klumps

This cannot measure up to the first film - the first with Eddie Murphy, that is, not the Jerry Lewis film from 1963. (Actually, this doesn't measure up to the Lewis film, either.)

For me, the biggest disappointment was the "family" scenes in which Murphy plays almost all the roles including old ladies. In the first film, some of that was absolutely hilarious, the highlight of the movie. Here, that isn't the case. Also, some of the dialog is almost impossible to decipher. It's also too raunchy and this film should have been rated "R." A PG-13 rating is ridiculous with all the emphasis on sex. I hate to see kids watch movies like this.

Still, this had a decent share of funny moments. Also, to its credit, it is not as mean-spirited as the first film turned out to be. Still, the bad outweighs the good. It needed to be funnier, and less raunchy.

This was not a funny movie. Eddie Murphy who has starred in movies such as "Coming To America" and "Beverly Hills Cop" which were both hilarious, has struck out here in the poorest fashion possible.

"The Nutty Professor" (1996) was okay because of the use of the Klump family who appeared throughout the movie every so often breaking it up with some humorous scenes. In "The Klumps", the family were over used and relied on for all the laughs, but instead just became sickening and in turn extremely boring. I understand using the Klump family was the idea for the sequel, it's just that it doesn't come close to working.

I expected to see lots of variations of the humor that The Nutty Professor (the Murphy version) used in the classic scene of the Klumps at the dinner table. Instead, what little humor this sequel had split time with disgust as the movie went mostly for sexy granny jokes.

The sad thing is, more fart humor would have been an *improvement.* This movie was boring. It was uninteresting. It missed numerous opportunities to have some fun. And it spent too much time showing off make-up and not enough time being entertaining.

Perhaps most painful to watch was Eddie Murphy just being Eddie Murphy (as Buddy Love). I never understand why some actors/directors think that if a character screams real loud and makes a face, it's funny. It is especially not funny when it happens 2-3 times. In the first movie, Buddy Love was funny (if cruel), and his observations were right on target. In The Klumps, Love is like a grown version of that Home Alone kid, when he grabs his face and just yells at the camera. Uh, if you are done shouting now, can we move on?

Janet Jackson was fluff. And I don't know what she has done with her chest, but it seems unusually huge here.

I suppose it would be appropriate to say how well done the make up is as Murphy plays his half-dozen or so characters. Yes, he makes them seem like different people, at least superficially. But none of the characters are really there, you know? They each have little tag lines, and maybe a quirk, and those lines and that quirk are used to death. Take the granny. Yep, she likes sex. She is a sex machine. She wants every man. OK, uh, so? We've seen that 20 times. Can we get to something new?

Overall, I feel sad to see the level Murphy's wit has been reduced to. He used to be more biting, more insightful and more, well, funny. Now he is a human cartoon. I gave this movie a 4.

This picture is a crass and obnoxious misfire from Murphy, primarily due to it's unbelievably undeserved PG-13 rating. Laced with profanity, sexual innuendo and bathroom humor, you have to wonder if anyone from the ratings board was awake when this film was screened. If they think this type of fare is appropriate for young teenagers, they must live on another planet. Of course, if it had been rated "R", perhaps my opinion would be different: Murphy is often at his funniest when he's profane & irreverant, but that's for my adult sensibilities, not for those of pre-pubescent or (just barely) post-pubescent sensibilities. Murphy should know better (and has shown better judgement with the "Dr. DoLittle" pics) than to pander this kind of junk to kids.

All that notwithstanding, Murphy again essays multiple roles (under tons of Makeup) as nearly every member of the Klump family. Murphy has already worn more makeup than Boris Karloff ever did in his whole lifetime, so he must enjoy it. Tech credits are good as Murphy appears with Murphy, Murphy and Murphy in umpteen scenes, proving that split screen has been adequately exceeded with digital replacement.

Half-witted plot has professor Klump developing a youth serum, while dealing with the personal inner demons of his "Buddy Love" personna (see first movie for more details). Klump, constantly embarrased by subliminal impulses from his "Buddy" personna, isolates & extracts the Buddy Love DNA, which later spills onto the laboratory pet dog, resulting in an incomprehensible reincarnation of Buddy in human form (but with latent doggy traits). Buddy is intent on stealing the youth formula. and a race ensues to see who can complete the deal, with several dilemmas thrown in along the way. Looks like the sreenwriters swiped a few ideas from early Star Trek episodes (see "The Enemy Within").

Never mind what happens next. Change the channel. And definitely avoid the "Uncensored Director's Cut"; it just makes a bad movie worse.

Eddie Murphy once again slaps on the fat suit to play Sherman Klump. And Mama Klump, and Big Daddy Klump, and Grandma Klump, and Brother Klump, and Buddy Love (although without the fat suit on that one). Since the Klump dinner scene was easily the best scene in the original film, they decided to focus on the entire family in the sequel. And somehow got Janet Jackson to fall in love with Sherman. I wish I knew how that happened. Anyway, while the movie still focuses on Sherman and his quest for love and scientific goals (this time making people younger), the rest of the family gets involved in the story lines. And I thought that took away from the heart of the film. While it was fun to see all the Murphy characters, there needed to be a better story line for them, rather than a bad marriage. Although I will admit the horny Grandmother Klump story line was very funny. They should make a movie just about her next time. But I regress. The story line with Sherman and Buddy, about how Buddy was still inside Sherman, and Sherman managed to get him out, only to have Buddy come to life, and then Sherman is becoming more stupid by the minute and will go into a vegetable state unless he eats Buddy. It's all very cheesy. I mean come on, one tear from Janet near the end manages to bring Sherman back to life? It was all very corny.

This is not to say that there aren't funny scenes in the movie. Again, I thought the best scene was the entire Klump family going out to dinner and all the hi-jinks that ensue. And there were other funny moments scattered throughout the film, but not enough for me to really get into the movie and enjoy it. Basically it was a moment to moment film, not an overall enjoyment film. Eddie Murphy is amazing, and Martin Lawrence has got nothing on dressing up as a fat woman, but it's just not enough. The Klumps is something you can rent for a quiet evening at home.