'Blues Brothers' maintain respect in second outing

REVIEW
	Blues Brothers 2000 At Briarwood & Showcase

The first time, they were on a mission from God. They would allow nothing to get in their way. Not a handful of cops or an RV filled with the good ol' boys.

This time, Dan Aykroyd (Elwood Blues) is left alone to fulfill a new mission. Believe it or not, he succeeds.

Gone are the mugging, the antics and the tremendous physical comedy of the late John Belushi.

The movie skirts the issue of how to deal with the death by not talking about it. Elwood is simply informed of Jake's death by the prison warden, in a conversation not heard by the audience.

Impossible to replace, Belushi's void is filled by three other Blues Brethren (though none are related to Elwood): Mighty Mac (John Goodman), Buster (12-year-old Evan Bonifant) and Cab (Joe Morton). The three do a good job, with special kudos to Goodman, in substituting for Belushi.

One would think that "Blues Brothers 2000" would do its best to stray from the formula set out by the first "Blues Brothers." But director John Landis and Dan Aykroyd discovered something that worked in 1980, and pretty much ran with it again for "2000."

Courtesy of Universal Pictures The extended Blues clan teams up in "2000."

Just like the first one, the film opens in a prison. But this time, Elwood is being released. The opening song is an a capella "John the Revelator" sung by blues great Taj Mahal.

It was The Blues Brothers' cover of Mahal's "She Caught the Katy" that opened up the first film.

Upon his release, Elwood decides to - surprise - put the band back together.

These scenes are rather formulaic, with pretty much the same type of hijinks that occurred in the first film. It is still entertaining, though, and the musical numbers (featuring a superb "634-5789" by Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd and Jonny Lang) make it all worth while.

This is pretty much the standard that is set by the entire movie. With a PG-13 rating, the writers knew they would be limited in the amount of "blue" humor that would be allowed in the film.

The adult language and theme has been replaced with myriad unbelievable music numbers that anyone can appreciate.

The final scene compiles the most incredible group of musicians ever put on one stage. It would be awful to ruin the surprise of who ends up there, so I will leave it at that.

After the credits, a bonus musical number features blues legend, James Brown, who reprises his role of Reverend Cleophus James (sans Chaka Kahn).

The cast is a "fun" cast. John Goodman is more than qualified to be Aykroyd's stage partner.

He encompasses the bulk and athleticism of Belushi, along with the great blues voice.

Bonifant is fine but not necessarily needed. He seems to be little more than screen filler.

But he is funny in the dance number and his on stage harmonica solos (performed by Blues Traveler's John Popper) are entertaining to watch. Along with Goodman, he has mastered the serious Blues Brother look.

Morton takes a turn into comedy, away from his usual dramatic roles. His voice is great and he displays incredible emotion on stage as a step-brother of sorts to Elwood.

Together, the four brothers do a great job in the musical numbers, though Bonifant is used primarily as window dressing (he has fewer than 15 lines in the movie, yet he is on screen the whole way through).

Although one gets the feeling that they have seen it all before (specifically the tremendous wreck of the police cars), the movie is great. The band is back, there are some familiar faces, and some new ones.

The film is a must-see for a fan of the first one, and a great cure from the mid-semester blues.

02-09-98