Blues Brothers 2000

“Blues Brothers 2000,” Jon Landis’ 1998 sequel to his 1980 film “The Blues Brothers,” follows the pattern created by the first film: It mixes comedy with musical numbers by a wide array of legendary R&B performers.

That might sound like a good trade-off: Sit through the comedy. Float along with the story. As a reward for being patient, hear Areatha Franklin sing Respect. However, think of it this way. Franklin sings once – Dan Aykroyd sings three times. John Goodman sings an entire song – and B.B. King sings half a song.

Yes, “Blues Brothers 2000” does have cameos by Franklin, King, Sam Moore, James Brown and Eric Clapton. However, it makes an audience pay for every two seconds of enjoyable with 10 seconds of torture.

This is torture. Mike LaSalle said in his review, “There was always something a little discomforting about the Blues Brothers. To watch them was to feel as though one were indulging a fantasy. Without John Belushi, the fantasy seems a lot less vital and even more pedestrian.”

Belushi’s passing is explained when Elwood Blues, reprised by Aykroyd, is released from prison and hears that his brother, Jake, is dead. Elwood’s mission is to reunite his band, and for that he teams up with a singing bartender, played by Goodman, and some musicians and drives off.

Aykroyd can’t sing, but he tried hard, and trying hard makes everything look even worse. The same goes for Goodman, and for Joe Morton, plays a National Guard commander-turned-bluesman. You could think, “There, but for the grace of God…” LaSalle asks, “After all, if someone told you that you could sing, and offered to put you in front of a great blues band, wouldn't you do it? And wouldn't you want to crawl under a rock when the movie came out?”

The film is dead on arrive for 30 minutes, until Franklin comes on and gives three minutes of life. LaSalle says, “Talent is a wonderful thing, and one especially appreciates its splendors and mysteries after enduring Goodman and Aykroyd.” From then on, the only good parts are the songs by the real R&B singers.

LaSalle says, “For reasons that I suspect are demographic, there's a boy (J. Evan Bonifant) in the movie, a 10-year-old who leaves an orphanage to join the band.” The kid does not contribute anything except giving the cops a reason to chase the Blues Brothers everywhere they go. There are chase scenes and car pileups. This wasn’t new in 1980. It hasn’t gotten any newer.

There’s also a subplot with the Russian mafia. Since the Russians don’t sing, there’s no reason to pay attention.

This is hands down, one of the worst sequels ever made. If you loved the first one, never see this sequel. It will kill you every minute you are watching it. It has the famous line, “The Lord works in mysterious ways.” You would be saying that throughout the duration of this film. Was there any reason to make this travesty of a sequel? There was absolutely no reason for Elwood to get the band back together. The first one had a reason, and it was funny. Here, there isn’t a reason. The comedy just doesn’t work. However, if you would like, get the soundtrack because that is the only redeeming factor of this film. How can such great people who made one of the best comedies ever make one of the most pointless and worse sequels ever? I can’t even fathom the idea of this hideously atrocious sequels even existing. Just avoid this at all cost because this film is like a new form of punishment.

Alright everyone, we have now come to the end of “Dan Aykroyd Month.” I’m sorry that I started it off great and ended it off on a bad note. But that’s just how it is sometimes. Actors star in great and bad films. Stay tuned next month to see what I will review next.