WARNING: This Review Contains Spoilers
Let’s talk about possibly the coolest films to come out of the 1980s (and then the 90s), and I’m not talking The Matrix style of cool – this is something very different. Introducing The Blues Brothers.
Similar Concept
This was something I was a little bit wary of going into with the Blues Brothers 2000 is that the story and film were going to end up being the same as its predecessor. I’m not saying it isn’t the same underdog story as The Blues Brothers but in a way I was actually glad about that. They both open with one of the brothers getting out of prison and they end up with a reason to make money – causing them both to decide to get the band back together – and we end up with all the calamity in between.
Car Calamity
Being a band, The Blues Brothers spend the majority of both films on the road but a lot of the time they aren’t alone. Having angered several people along the way, there is always someone chasing them, ranging from the police to Nazis (yes, I said Nazis). Destruction is a common outcome of any car chase but trashing a shopping centre, in the original film) takes it to a whole new level. Funny part about any of the damage caused in both films is that less of it is caused by the Blues Brothers than by the police themselves.
Another important fact to mention, is that The Blues Brothers once held the record for the most cars trashed in a single film – totalling at 103. This was then outdone by Blues Brothers 2000 where they trashed 104 cars in total (yeah, one car more but it did the job). Understandably, this has since been surpassed – but it did take 19 years to do so.
In Memoriam
In the 18 years between The Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000, unfortunately two of actors, whose characters were important to the plot of the original film, sadly passed away. John Belushi, who played Jake Blues, and Cab Calloway, who played Curtis, were unable to reprise their roles in the sequel film and I feel that Blues Brothers 2000 handled this really sensitively. Look at it this way, in other film sequels if an actor has been unable to reprise their role they have replaced them with someone new like nothing had changed (take Iron Man replacing Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle as EXACTLY the same character but let’s act like no one can tell). Instead, we are actually told in the film that both Jake and Curtis had passed away in the time that Elwood was in prison.
Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks
Something I actually loved about Blues Brothers 2000 is that they kept some of the same jokes as The Blues Brothers. For example, when Elwood turns up to collect Jake from prison in the first film Jake lights his cigarette with the car-lighter before throwing it out of the window. In the sequel, an identical joke is played out only this time it is Elwood throwing the lighter away to prevent Buster from smoking. In addition to this, Sister Mary Stigmata is just as funny and bordering on scary as she is in the original film.
Name In Lights
It’s become common place recently that singers are turning to acting, but that isn’t to say that they’ve been very good at it (the jury is out on Rihanna). However, the list of musical talent in both The Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000 is endless. Take The Blues Brothers Band for example – outside of the lead actors, the rest are all made up of singer-songwriters and musicians. There are even acting cameos from Aretha Franklin (in both films) and Ray Charles.
In Conclusion
For a sequel that I was really pensive about watching, worrying that they were just going to rehash that original story, this was definitely not two hours wasted. I enjoyed Blue Brothers 2000 just as much as I enjoy The Blues Brothers every time I watch it. So if you like good music and want to be nearly crying with laughter at the simplest humour – these films are definitely for you.
