Big Momma's House 2
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Cast: Martin Lawrence, Nia Long
Extras: Commentary Tracks, Deleted Scenes, Featurette
Rating:
Hattie Mae Pierce, aka, "Big Momma," plays nanny to 3 kids while their mother is under investigation for murder. Along the way, "Big Momma" will form a bond with the kiddies and save the day.
Martin Lawrence and Nia Long reprise their roles from the 2000 hit "Big Momma's House," in which Lawrence donned a fat suit and went undercover to bust the bad guys. Once again, Martin Lawrence plays FBI agent Malcolm Turner. This time out, Agent Turner has traded in field work for a desk job in order to appease his new wife Sherri, (Nia Long) who is pregnant. This doesnt last too long, when Agent Turner has an opportunity to become "Big Momma" again and go undercover as a nanny while staking out possible criminal activity involving a hacker program that could decrypt all the U.S Intelligence databases.
Along the way, we are treated to many sight gags – some of which are okay and others which aren't that funny.
It's been years since I've seen the original "Big Momma's House," and I couldn't recall most of what happened. To be honest, I really wasn't too impressed nor am I much of a Martin Lawrence fan. I always sort of viewed "Big Momma's House" as a poor man's Mrs. Doubtfire. I think the main problem here, unlike in Mrs. Doubtfire, is that Martin Lawrence fails to create a personality for "Big Momma" – unless one views a stereotypically fat, annoying and loud black woman as a personality. What we have is basically Martin Lawrence mugging and being Martin Lawrence in a fat suit.
As long as you dont look for any outstanding characterizations like Robin Williams did in Mrs. Doubtfire, or for that matter what Eddie Murphy created in "The Nutty Professor" you should be alright.
20th Century Fox debuts "Big Momma's House 2" on DVD in a 2-disc set. Disc one features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation perserving the film's original aspect ratio. Contrast is well-balanced and flesh tones appear natural. Color is vibrant with a nice saturation, while black levels are solid and deep. The film was free from dirt and debris, but some edge-enhancement was noticed during a few scenes. Overall, a nice transfer.
Disc 2 features a full screen 1.33:1 modified image. Skimming through the transfer, I found it to be a decent image that is better than broadcast quality.
Audio comes via 5.1 channel Dolby Digital with optional 2-channel Spanish and French soundtracks. The audio was free of distortion with some activity in the rears. Dialogue from the center channel was clear. Overall, this is a servicable soundtrack.
Two commentary tracks have been added to the release. The first track is on disc one and features director John Whitesell, producer David Friendly and actor Zachary Levi. The discussion was informative, friendly and sometimes humorous.
Over in the Special Features section on disc one, we have the 7-minute featurette, "Big Momma's Secrets." The featurette talks about the fat suit and some cgi effects which were used to take care of some minor filming issues. There are also 3 trailers – one of which is for the feature presentation itself.
Disc two contains the same track ported over from disc one, including an optional track which features once again, the director and actor Zachary Levi. There's also 12 deleted and extended scenes.
It's deadly predictable, there's nothing new here, but I guess "Big Momma's House 2" is also harmless and surprisingly "semi-family friendly." If you don't mind Martin Lawrence in drag and acting like an annoying fat black woman, ala, "Medea," then I guess this is worth a rental for some generic laughs.
