by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 16, 2008

"A Very Brady Sequel" was a very funny follow-up to the original "Brady Bunch Movie" released in 1995. It re-creates the 70s sitcom family, still cheerfully unaffected by the 1990s, then confronts them with some very new situations!

The movie has fun with borrowed story elements from the original TV show. Greg and Marcia, the oldest children, fight over who gets their own room upstairs, while Jan struggles with her deep insecurity - and eventually, the whole family takes (another) trip to Hawaii. But soon the real world also starts to impinge. Carol Brady was a widow when she married Mike Brady, but the movie opens when an imposter arriving at their home, claiming to be her long-lost husband! And there's also a very real sexual tension between Greg and his step-sister Marcia. (Sharing that room upstairs is going to be tricky!)

The stories give the movie some genuine interest, while the movie gives the audience a reason to root for the Brady's, since their square family values are unsettling the bad guy who's trying to con them. A trip with the kids to the mall turns into a musical number set to one of their groovy songs from the 70s TV show. And Alice the cook tries to prove she can feed their finicky dinner guest by preparing a meal with the special mushrooms she found hidden in his luggage. During his hallucination, he sees the strangest sight of all - footage from the forgotten 1970s Brady Bunch cartoon, complete with its dancing panda bears and a bird in a wizard cap. "Oh my god," he wails. "I'm tripping - with the Bradys!"

The best thing about this movie is that the Brady's triumph in the end, and on their own terms. When young Bobby and Cindy decide to play detective, they really do uncover clues about a con man hustling their family. Mr. Brady ultimately protects his family from the imposter, and even Jan's implausible lie about a secret admirer named "George Glass" actually comes true when she meets him in Hawaii! (It's a good thing she made up a common name. Staring at a glass of orange juice, Jan originally claimed her secret boyfriend's name was "George Tropicana"!)

Besides lots of funny scenes, this movie actually delivers a good story too!

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