﻿ Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) starring Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, Joe Morton, J. Evan Bonifant directed by John Landis Movie Review

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)   3/53/53/53/53/5

J. Evan Bonifant, John Goodman and Dan Aykroyd in Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)

Giving You the Blues

Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) has been released from prison but things have changed, his brother has died, the man he looked up to has died and Sister Mary is now Mother Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman). It is Mother Stigmata who not only saddles Elwood with Buster (J. Eban Bonifant) but tells him that the late Curtis had an illegitimate son called Cabel Chamberlain (Joe Morton) who just happens to be a police commander. Anyway Elwood decides he is going to put the band back together and that means finding a new singer with barman Mack McTeer (John Goodman) joining the band. But of course nothing is simple for Elwood Blues especially when Russians are involved as well as a music competition.

Let me lay it on the line; even if John Belushi had been alive a sequel to "The Blues Brothers" 18 years after the original would still not have worked as the original had a vibe which appealed to audiences of the time and you just couldn't recreate that feeling. As such "Blues Brothers 2000" when compared to the original is weak with only the musical element having the same vibe as the original. And to be honest with you with it featuring a similar storyline to the first movie it often feels more like a remake than a sequel.

Joe Morton in Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)

Now in a way "Blues Brothers 2000" had to stick to the same storyline as the original as part of the fun of the original was the exploits of Jake and Elwood putting the band back together, getting chased across country and evading the police to put on their gig. But as I said it frequently makes the sequel feel like a remake rather than a sequel which you have to accept was unavoidable because would you want to watch "Blues Brothers 2000" with it being about the guys doing something else? I doubt it.

But the issue of the story is not the only problem and the humour this time around frequently misfires from a ridiculous scene involving Elwood and a can of shaving cream to one featuring driving under a river to avoid a police trap. It just lacks that vibe of the original which even made stupid jokes amusing. Not all the jokes fail as some of the new jokes are quite amusing but too often you are left wondering what went wrong.

Thankfully there is the musical side of "Blues Brothers 2000" and this quite literally the movies saving grace as whilst Dan Aykroyd recaptures some of what made the original good he can't do it on his own and John Goodman whilst entertaining is not John Belushi. But there is the musical side and there is one great musical number after another and a whole host of famous faces from the world of music which ends up more impressive than the car stunt to beat the original movie's car stunt.

What this all boils down to is that in truth "Blues Brothers 2000" should have never been made as it is one movie which never needed a sequel. And as such it does have a whole host of issues which make it a disappointment but one which does have some good points which are mostly the musical side of things which is where it gets closest to recapturing the magic of the original movie. And for fans of the Blues, there is a jamming scene late on in the movie featuring the best line up going which makes the movie almost great for that one scene.