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Big Bad Mama II
New Concorde // R // April 30, 2002
List Price: $14.95 [Buy now and save at Dvdempire]
THE STRAIGHT DOPE:
With the success of Big Bad Mama there was no question that Roger Corman would want a sequel. That he waited 13 years - until 1987, when that style of exploitation flick was all but extinct - is a big problem. While it's great to see Dickinson back in the role (even though the finale of the first film didn't really, uh, leave a sequel as a possibility), this film can't compete with the gritty rawness of the original. With cinematography that's not quite as artful as a rerun of Murder, She Wrote and a plot that tries hard to add some overt political criticism (whereas the commentary in the first was implicit only in the social status of the down-on-their-luck characters), Big Bad Mama II just can't compete. The most ridiculous change (other than the plot) is that the two daughters are now played by Danielle Brisebois and Julie McCullough, boring playmates lacking all of the inbred authenticity that Robbie Lee and Susan Sennett brought to the original. These bland blondes just sort of pose through the film. Add Jeff Yagher's simpering fool to the mix as well as poor Robert Culp (who is no William Shatner or Tom Skerritt) as Dickinson's plaything and you're left with a weak copy of the original. Jim Wynorski may have a cult following for films like Chopping Mall but between this and Kari Wuhrer Poison it may be time to revoke his directing liscense. Big Bad Mama had a dirty, down-to-earth atmosphere that made the film seem almost like a documentary. From the music to the look to the performances to the dialog, there was a consistent feel. Big Bad Mama II has almost none of these things, although Dickinson once again gnashes at the scenery and comes up with some fun moments. Overall, however, the whiff of financial opportunism is too much for this meager film to bear. VIDEO:
The ugly cinematography is rendered in soft, full-frame video here. There is nothing too terribly wrong with it, but it looks drab and dreary, without any of the vicious grain of the original. AUDIO:
The mono audio is fine, if uninteresting. Even the score can't compete with the original's bluegrass panic attack. EXTRAS:
A commentary track from director Jim Wynorski is pretty uninteresting. Mostly he points out tidbits from the production and minor trivia. The obligatory Corman-Leonard Maltin interview seems to consist largely of quotes from the interview on the DVD of part 1. Trailers for the Mama films as well as other Corman masterpieces are also included. FINAL THOUGHTS:
A disappointment after seeing the raw original, Big Bad Mama II has little to recommend it. The new characters are boring, the new actors in old roles a step down, and the newly political plot naive and stupid. The original triumphed by jumping right in to its genre conventions with both feet, while the second film doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Email Gil Jawetz at [email protected]
With the success of Big Bad Mama there was no question that Roger Corman would want a sequel. That he waited 13 years - until 1987, when that style of exploitation flick was all but extinct - is a big problem. While it's great to see Dickinson back in the role (even though the finale of the first film didn't really, uh, leave a sequel as a possibility), this film can't compete with the gritty rawness of the original. With cinematography that's not quite as artful as a rerun of Murder, She Wrote and a plot that tries hard to add some overt political criticism (whereas the commentary in the first was implicit only in the social status of the down-on-their-luck characters), Big Bad Mama II just can't compete. The most ridiculous change (other than the plot) is that the two daughters are now played by Danielle Brisebois and Julie McCullough, boring playmates lacking all of the inbred authenticity that Robbie Lee and Susan Sennett brought to the original. These bland blondes just sort of pose through the film. Add Jeff Yagher's simpering fool to the mix as well as poor Robert Culp (who is no William Shatner or Tom Skerritt) as Dickinson's plaything and you're left with a weak copy of the original. Jim Wynorski may have a cult following for films like Chopping Mall but between this and Kari Wuhrer Poison it may be time to revoke his directing liscense. Big Bad Mama had a dirty, down-to-earth atmosphere that made the film seem almost like a documentary. From the music to the look to the performances to the dialog, there was a consistent feel. Big Bad Mama II has almost none of these things, although Dickinson once again gnashes at the scenery and comes up with some fun moments. Overall, however, the whiff of financial opportunism is too much for this meager film to bear. VIDEO:
The ugly cinematography is rendered in soft, full-frame video here. There is nothing too terribly wrong with it, but it looks drab and dreary, without any of the vicious grain of the original. AUDIO:
The mono audio is fine, if uninteresting. Even the score can't compete with the original's bluegrass panic attack. EXTRAS:
A commentary track from director Jim Wynorski is pretty uninteresting. Mostly he points out tidbits from the production and minor trivia. The obligatory Corman-Leonard Maltin interview seems to consist largely of quotes from the interview on the DVD of part 1. Trailers for the Mama films as well as other Corman masterpieces are also included. FINAL THOUGHTS:
A disappointment after seeing the raw original, Big Bad Mama II has little to recommend it. The new characters are boring, the new actors in old roles a step down, and the newly political plot naive and stupid. The original triumphed by jumping right in to its genre conventions with both feet, while the second film doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Email Gil Jawetz at [email protected]
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