Amazon.com video review:
It's hard to ignore the sad and conspicuous absence of the
late John Belushi, but this long-delayed sequel to 1980's The Blues
Brothers still has Dan Aykroyd--as Chicago bad boy and blues
rocker Elwood Blues--to keep the music alive. Once again, Elwood's
trying to reunite the original Blues Brothers Band, and this time he's
got a strip-joint bartender (John Goodman) and a 10-year-old orphan
named Buster (J. Evan Bonifant) joining him at center stage. Believing
that Elwood has kidnapped the kid, the cops are hot on his trail as
the reunited band hits the road for the Battle of the Bands in
Louisiana and the All-Star Blues Jam that ends the movie in a rockin'
blaze of glory. It's a shameless clone of the first film, and
nobody--especially not Aykroyd or director John Landis--seems to care
that the story's not nearly as fun as the music that's used to stretch
it out. Of course there's a seemingly endless parade of stunts,
including a nonstop pileup of police cars that's hilariously absurd,
but what really matters here--indeed, the movie's only saving
grace--is the great lineup of legendary blues musicians. Aretha
Franklin, James Brown, Junior Wells, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Jonny
Lang, Eddie Floyd, and Blues Traveler are among the many special
guests assembled for the film, and their stellar presence makes you
wonder if the revived Blues Brothers shouldn't remain an obscure
opening act. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com video review:
It's hard to ignore the sad and conspicuous absence of the
late John Belushi, but this long-delayed sequel to 1980's The Blues
Brothers still has Dan Aykroyd--as Chicago bad boy and blues
rocker Elwood Blues--to keep the music alive. Once again, Elwood's
trying to reunite the original Blues Brothers Band, and this time he's
got a strip-joint bartender (John Goodman) and a 10-year-old orphan
named Buster (J. Evan Bonifant) joining him at center stage. Believing
that Elwood has kidnapped the kid, the cops are hot on his trail as
the reunited band hits the road for the Battle of the Bands in
Louisiana and the All-Star Blues Jam that ends the movie in a rockin'
blaze of glory. It's a shameless clone of the first film, and
nobody--especially not Aykroyd or director John Landis--seems to care
that the story's not nearly as fun as the music that's used to stretch
it out. Of course there's a seemingly endless parade of stunts,
including a nonstop pileup of police cars that's hilariously absurd,
but what really matters here--indeed, the movie's only saving
grace--is the great lineup of legendary blues musicians. Aretha
Franklin, James Brown, Junior Wells, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Jonny
Lang, Eddie Floyd, and Blues Traveler are among the many special
guests assembled for the film, and their stellar presence makes you
wonder if the revived Blues Brothers shouldn't remain an obscure
opening act. The collector's edition DVD includes production photos,
the theatrical trailers, and a behind-the-scenes featurette about the
making of the film including interviews with the principal
cast. --Jeff Shannon
