Anthony's Film Review - Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)

Eddie Murphy succeeds in another movie that combines romance, science-fiction, and comedy...

The sequel to the 1996 comedy film The Nutty Professor is a movie that, in my opinion, is equally entertaining and fun. If you love the first movie, you might enjoy this one. I say "might" because there is one notable difference between the two Nutty Professor movies. The members of the Klump family, played by Eddie Murphy in addition to his main roles of Professor Sherman Klump and Buddy Love, have more prominent roles here. At times, they seem to constitute a humorous sideshow, but later they are players in the main story. If you're impatient, you might not like alternating between the main plot and the side scenes, but give yourself time and you may appreciate the moments where the two blend together cleverly.

In the previous Nutty Professor movie, Sherman Klump drank an elixir to transform into the more masculine Buddy Love. This time, however, Buddy has a mind of his own, such that he is now living within Sherman and threatening to take control of him. Sherman feels as if he might lose control of himself at the worst possible moments, because he can hear Buddy's voice in his head. Now, it just so happens that there is research into a new technique that can eliminate specific genes from the human body, particularly abnormal diseased genes. Since Buddy exists because of specific DNA, Sherman tries that DNA extraction method on himself, and it looks as if he might have purged Buddy from himself once and for all.

But soon, a freak accident occurs in the laboratory. In a sequence that would make Dr. Frankenstein proud, Buddy Love comes to life. That's right. A combination of extracted DNA, electricity, and dog hair results in Buddy Love existing as a person separate from Sherman Klump. From there, the situation becomes a cat-and-mouse chase. Buddy has his own selfish villainous scheme for wealth, and Sherman must scramble to stop him. What's interesting is how both characters have been changed. Sherman, as a result of the DNA extraction procedure, finds that his neurological function and intelligence have taken a hit. Meanwhile, Buddy acts somewhat like a dog, because his existence relies on DNA attaching to dog hair.

While all of this is happening, Sherman has his eye on a professor named Denise, a new love interest played by Janet Jackson (replacing the previous leading lady from the first Nutty Professor movie played by Jada Pinkett). The two characters have good chemistry together, even to the point where Sherman proposes marriage and Denise says yes. Unfortunately, because of the Buddy Love situation, Sherman has some embarrassing and heartbreaking moments with Denise. This, of course, becomes a big motivation to deal with Buddy and resolve the situation for good.

And, of course, you gotta have humor. I can assure you that this movie is a funny one. However, be warned. The humor here is more crude and risque than the previous Nutty Professor movie. There are scenes that involve Buddy Love having to lip-kiss a naked old woman (though the circumstance in which this happens is funny), a very exaggerated poop joke (plus a sex joke) involving a hamster, an erection joke during a wedding scene, and a breast joke with a woman whose blouse gets partially ripped off. If you want something less risque to laugh about, there's a scene where Sherman dreams of trying to save the Earth from an asteroid, and in order to do so, he needs to reach a control button in a zero-gravity environment before time runs out. In a spoof of Star Wars, the spirit of his father tells Sherman to use the Force, as in the force of flatulence, to propel himself to the button.

So if you can forgive and enjoy these kinds of jokes like I did, this movie can make you laugh. Thanks to Eddie Murphy's brand of silly and off-color humor, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps works like a charm. It's a mixture of sci-fi, romance, and comedy that all work nicely together.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my review of The Nutty Professor.