Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) Reviews

This movie starts just like the original. A blues brother is waiting at jail to be released, except this time Jake is not there. Kudos to a touching scene where the guy who checked Jake out in the original movie (now the warden) tells Elwood the bad news about his brother. Then, like the original, the remaining blues brother wants to put the band together. However, unlike the original movie, this time they really have no compelling reason to put the band together. Without a good cause to fight for, it seems like Elwood is putting the band together again because he has nothing else to do. They do mention that God works in mysterious ways, but it just doesn't have the same magic ring as, "We're on a mission from God." If you are thinking of renting this movie to relive the glory of the original, don't bother. If you want to rent this just for the sake of satisfying your curiosity with no expectations, you might enjoy it.
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As a huge Blues Brothers fan I found it disrespectful to Belushi in the way they didn't address Jake's death in the beginning of this movie. About half way through this movie I got over it and realized the music in this one was better than the first. No Mission From God this time, and "putting the band back together" just doesn't compare in a plot sense, but the Battle of the Bands is the stuff of legends... because every legendary musician this side of the Beatles is in it. The original Blues Brothers is a cult classic, 2000 isn't cult material, but true fans will not be disappointed. Short of teaching Jim Belushi to sing & dance I can't imagine a better sidekick than Goodman, he is awkward in movements, but his enthusiasm and pipes more than make up for it.
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This was, admittedly, an impossible movie to make without John Belushi. He was the heart of the Blues Brothers and the energy of the first classic movie. They've certainly got enough talent to make a great movie and some great music, but it never comes together. The plot is stilted and directionless, the dialog stiff and predictable, even the scene with a few dozen crashing cop cars just makes you want to grab the original movie and play it back. That said, there are enough decent songs to make it work watching. The music starts out just awful, and John Goodman does his best to keep things that way. But Aretha Franklin is sooo good, her Respect very nearly tops her 1980 performance of Think. But when Bo Diddley, BB King and Eric Clapton show up toward the end, it ends up being all about the music. And that's why you'll watch this movie.
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