In the unnecessary sequel department comes Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous. Why make this movie? Because Sandra Bullock needs a hit? It doesn’t come here. Bullock, once again (and hopefully for the last time), plays Gracie Hart. Her involvement in a well known beauty pageant has made it impossible for Gracie to maintain a low FBI profile. So she has become the PR person for the bureau. But Gracie is “called back” into the line of duty (against the FBI’s wishes) when two of her friends (played by …illiam Shatner and Heather Burns) are kidnapped. This uncomfortable blend of action and comedy does not work. It’s a waste of almost two hours of your life.
Audio
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is a little boring. There’s a lot of front speaker action and rears are reserved for occasional ambience and sound effects. The painful dialogue, however, can be heard clearly.
Video
The 2.40:1 widescreen transfer looks fine enough. Nothing dazzling here. The colors are natural and consistent. The blacks look fairly solid. Occasional fuzziness in outdoor scenes mar a pristine presentation. Halo effects and digital artifacts are minimal.
Special Features
There are 12 minutes of deleted scenes. They are advertised as “missing scenes”. Too bad some of the scenes in the feature movie couldn’t have ended up in this supplement. There’s also a theatrical trailer.
Final Thoughts
It’s not Thanksgiving, but here comes a turkey. Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous lacks almost everything a good movie is made of. Resting on the laurels of the first film, the sequel has decided to throw wit and originality out the door. Minimal features and adequate sound and video doesn’t help the cause. Please don’t do The Net 2 Miss Bullock. Let sleeping dogs lie.
Special Features List
- Deleted Scenes
- Theatrical Trailer
