Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous is the rather unsuccessful sequel to Miss Congeniality. In the first movie Sandra Bullock played as FBI Special Agent Gracie Hart. The story was about Hart and her partner Eric Matthews (Benjamin Bratt, Law & Order) stopping a disgruntled former beauty queen named Kathy Morningside (Candice Bergen, Murphy Brown) from killing the next Miss United States. In the process, Hart went from a nerdy woman to a beauty queen, got a boyfriend, and made some friends. The movie itself wasn't terribly successful in theaters, but it had a cute humor to attract enough people that a sequel was made. I admit, I was one of those people who enjoyed Miss Congeniality and purchased it on DVD. Every now and again, it isn't a bad flick to put in. Unfortunately, this sequel is worse and fails on many levels. The storyline is meek, the characters are poorly outlined, and when it comes down to it, it just isn't entertaining.

After the events from the first movie, Hart turned out to be quite a figure in the public eye. And because of her fame, it became hard for her to function as a field agent. In the first scene of Miss Congeniality 2 Hart's famousness mucks up an operation. She is given the option to take a desk job or use her fame to the FBI's advantage. She takes a position as "the new face" of the FBI doing PR work. Then ten months later, her friends from the beauty pageant, Miss United States Cheryl Frasier (Heather Burns) and Stan Fields (William Shatner), are kidnapped in Las Vegas. Hart, along with her gay stylist Joel (Diedrich Bader, The Drew Carey Show) and fellow agent Sam Fuller (Regina King, Legally Blonde 2) are sent to Las Vegas to cover a press conference about the kidnapping. Once in Las Vegas, she and Special Agent in Charge Collins (Treat Williams, Everwood) butt heads about the case. He wants Hart to focus on the PR aspect and leave the investigation to the pros. Of course, Hart refuses to give up on her friends. So she, Joel, and Fuller join Las Vegas Agent Jeff Foreman (Enrique Murciano) in pursuit of the bad guys.

As earlier mentioned, Miss Congeniality 2 does not fare well as a movie. The storyline is fairly simplistic and offers little substance. In other words, there just isn't a whole lot to Miss Congeniality 2. This movie's relationship with its prequel is a lot like how Legally Blonde 1 & 2 are similar. In Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods goes against the grain and shows everyone she can get through law school. In the sequel she does it again, but in different setting. She goes to our nation's capital to ban animal testing for cosmetic products and everyone there thinks she is a joke. While the specifics between the Legally Blonde and Miss Congeniality movies are different, they are still both very similar. In my opinion, both prequels work and the sequels fail. Another strong connection between the movies is Regina King. She plays a supporting role in Legally Blonde 2 and Miss Congeniality 2. In both movies she is put in situation where she is forced to work with the main character, who she despises. Eventually, King's character learns to like the heroine, supports her in her endeavors, and they all live happily ever after.

King's character being similar in both movies is a bad thing. Her character was not very appealing in either movie. Although in Legally Blonde 2 she is not nearly as annoying. In Miss Congeniality 2, King's character is so damn annoying. Her character Fuller has "anger management issues". In the earlier stages of the movie, she and Hart get along like cats and dogs. She always tries to pick a fight. Eventually, her attitude changes and Fuller takes a 180 and decides to support Hart 100%. She's just a hard character to like. The other roles in this movie are not particularly strong. The role of Jeff Foreman is pretty bleak. He is such a nice guy that everyone walks over him like a doormat. The character is so weak character it is almost pathetic. Bader's role as the stereotypical homosexual is also a waste. If you've seen Bader on The Drew Carey Show, you know he is a funny guy. In this movie, he is used for humor by playing off of every single stereotypical homosexual joke, which gets old. It is really a shame.

Overall Miss Congeniality 2 is not a great film. The story is pretty cut and dry and offers little substance to keep you entertained. The characters are loosely defined and fit generic roles. However, to be fair it is worth saying there are a few funny parts scattered throughout the movie. There is a cameo with Dolly Parton and the scene with her is worth a chuckle. The bottom line, if you enjoyed Miss Congeniality, then Miss Congeniality 2 is worth a rent. Otherwise, this movie probably won't cut it.

The DVD

Video:
This release is given in a letterbox format with its original theatrical aspect of 2.35:1 ratio widescreen color. The picture quality is quite good and offers a vivid presentation. The video has a slight grain with a few compression artifacts. Overall the presentation looks good.

Audio:
The audio track included in this release comes in 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound. The 5.1 track can be heard in English or dubbed in French. There are also subtitles in English, French, and Spanish included. The quality of the 5.1 track is good. It sounds clear and crisp. As for the surround sound setup, the movie is dialogue driven and doesn't take full advantage of its capability, except during a few action sequences.

Extras:
There are two items listed under special features. They include the Theatrical Trailer for the movie and 12 minutes of Additional Scenes. Like the movie, the deleted scenes aren't terribly funny and probably will only put a smile on the biggest fans.

Final Thoughts:
You would think that someone who enjoyed Miss Congeniality would enjoy its sequel Miss Congeniality 2. However, that is not the case. The prequel was clearly not a great film, but it has enough laughs to be entertaining. Unfortunately, this sequel does not have the same cute, funny appeal. Instead the movie tends to be pretty dry with a limited storyline and highly unattractive characters. On the plus side, there are a few laughs here and there. So if you find yourself one night with out many other options, Miss Congeniality 2 wouldn't be horrible as a rental.