ビッグママ・ハウス 2: Big Momma's House 2: シネマコンプレックス[シネコン]: CineMa Complex[CineCom] @ シネコム

/ 2006-02-02 The only surprising thing about "Big Momma's House 2" is that it arrives six years after it's equally abysmal predecessor, in hopes that we have forgotten all about that trainwreck of a movie. Well, we haven't. Sitting in the theater, within a sea of marginally impressed moviegoers, I began to have misgivings about the future of the talented and infinitely funny Martin Lawrence. Here is a man with so much potential and with a long history of films ("Blue Streak" remains his best) who continues to be plauged with roles in thankless movies. Yet, it's not Lawrences fault that he is one of the handful of positive things that emerge from the film.

He again plays FBI agent Malcolm Turner, who is now working at a desk job since his wife Sherie (Nia Long) is pregnant. As fate would have it, a computer worm that has the potential to leak top secret government files may fall into the wrong hands, and that is just enough to motivate Turner to go undercover as megaton nanny Big Momma and investigate a potential suspect (Mark Moses), who also happens to have a wife (Emily Procter) and three children whom he hardly ever sees.

The suspect's family is a big distraction for the film. The children--a goth teenage girl, a witty pre-teen, and a three-year-old boy who takes pleasure in jumping from high places and landing flat on his face--are all in distress because of their father's absence, and the wife is on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Turner therefore is put in a position where he must help the children cope and become better individuals. The kids come to love Big Momma, which is a total rip-off of "Mrs. Doubtfire," but remain unaware that she is nothing more than a plastic lob covering a fast-talking man.

I suppose Turner thinks that leading the little girl's cheerleading squad to a championship victory, watching out for the smartelick teenager, and cheering up the family's depressed Chihuahua with a bottle of booze is more important than national security. There are a band of villains, none of whom we are introduced to or come to despise simply because the movie is too lightheaded and more intent on dumb jokes than it is on effectiveness. This is probably the first time since "The Man" that I did not have a clue as to what the characters on screen wanted to accomplish or obtain.

"Big Momma's House 2" comes billed as a comedy, but it only earns maybe two big laughs and the rare grin from me. There is an absolutely brilliant scene at a spa where hot rocks melt through the latex on Turner's Big Momma suit, and he is forced to jump into a mud pool. There is also the ongoing joke of the family dog, who is saddened over the loss of his girlfriend, but finds solace in liquor. Everything else is basically a muddle of sexual innuendo and situational lunacy, but, thankfully, there is no bathroom humor or fart jokes to be found.

Aside from the occassional giggle, "Big Momma's House 2" is a mess across the board, being a flat and unfunny romp that is hardly worth the reel it was filmed on. With the exception of Lawrence and the beautiful Nia Long, the film is devoid of any talent. But the lack of humor, originality, and exceptional acting is not even the worst part. At the end, a "Big Momma's House 3" is disturbingly hinted at, but I am praying to God that the filmmakers will do us a favor and leave the future adventures of Malcolm Turner to our imaginations. - Isaac

Rated PG-13; 99 minutes; Directed by John Whitesell