"The Blues Are Back".

Throughout human history, we've had a desperate desire to recognise harbingers of doom. For some, crows represent a forthcoming death. Die-hard gamblers may take a while off if they break a mirror. Others get freaked out simply by having bad dreams (and presumably late night cheese snacks as well).
I have my own form of ill omen, specifically for any movie that I was previously looking forward to: the cute kid.

Nearly twenty years after the first Blues Brothers movie, Elwood (Dan Ackroyd - Trading Places, Evolution) is released from prison to await his brother Jake. But Jake's never going to turn up... When John Belushi died, Jake Blues died with him.

So Elwood has no brother, no band, no car and no hope. Who else could possibly help him out but The Penguin? Help is duly provided in the form of (dun-dun-dahhh!) the cute kid.

And from that point, they roll out a rehash of the first film. Elwood and cute kid Buster (J. Evan Bonifant) put the band back together. The Nazi's are replaced by the Russian mob, the redneck country and western band is replaced by redneck survivalists and basically, very little changes. The race is on, the car does mad stuff, and y'know what? We've seen it all before - and it was better back then. Even when they crash all the cars, it's just not as good as the first time around.

For reasons I can't properly identify, the forgivable silliness of the first film has been replaced by an annoying silliness. Something important is missing. I suspect it's Belushi.

Some things change. Buster's not a bad dancer but he's not going to be any good on the low notes for a few years, so please give a welcome to 'Mighty' Mack McTeer (John Goodman - Arachnophobia, Monsters Inc.) as the new singing partner and then in a (frankly obvious) twist, former police chief Cabal Chamberlain (Joe Morton - Terminator 2, American Gangster).
The front men may have changed but backing them up is the same band as before - and they can still kick it. John Goodman can do real meaty justice to the songs, Joe Morton was a pleasant surprise and Bonifant does everything the cute kid is supposed to do. And... OK, I don't hate him. I admit it.

Where the plot and production fail, the music rises to the challenge. Aretha's back, as was the late James Brown, and this time they're joined by B. B. King, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, Sam Moore, Eric Clapton... I can't actually list them all, there are simply too many gods of blues, soul and rhythm'n'blues to name check them all.
The music is arguably better than in the first outing - certainly a lot slicker. And for fans of the genre, the end scene is a particular treat.

Which makes rating this film tricky - so I'll do it twice. For the plot, acting and directing I'm giving three (out of a possible ten) pairs of shades. I really wish it could have been more, but it simply can't be.
For the music and dance sequences, I'm giving fully nine (out of a possible ten) pairs of shades. But then, I'm already a fan of the genre.

Learn more about this author, Daniel Gray.
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