Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)

Very disappointing...

Boring

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Smokey and the Bandit II is a follow up adventure movie that reunites Burt Reynolds as the Bandit and his good old bud Cledus better known as "Snowman". We also see the return of the bride to be in the first movie as well a bride again, but the bandit comes a calling and off she goes leaving the same man as in the first film, Junior Justice. With Junior Justice you have good old Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T.Justice alongside him, and yet again for another time he is after the bandit, this time trying to deliver an elephant (Ran out of ideas quickly me thinks).It all plays out rather fast paced which is both it's biggest positive but also negative, the story is fairly frantic and not well thought out in parts and just a little bit shaky. It's good old fun don't get me wrong but the laughter isn't flowing and some of the things that happen are just downright stupid, by the end you feel almost like doing something dumb. The stunts are the best thing in the story and I won't doubt the movie on it's skill of keeping you engaged, but that doesn't mean it is good.Hal Needham directs OK but never well enough to save this from being average, his touch is both too cringe but also dampens some of the moments that could have had laughs. The writing is not well done and possibly one of the worst things about this, it just makes the story as mentioned more stupid and contains moments and characters that are just needlessly un-needed. What the film really needed to be even OK was just to have an injection of good writing and some more clinically funny bits to be the kind of alright movie I felt the first one was.Reynolds comes back not as good as before but still has a little bit of his style that he gives Bo Darville aka the Bandit and he gives a performance that I felt was good albeit not as funny as he was in the first. Jackie Gleason as the Sheriff is for me the funniest person in this in fact if anything he gets funnier in this movie than previous, the jokes are well suited to him and the funny relationship with his son is at times fun to see. Sally Field is the bride to be yet again who comes to the aid of the bandit and the snowman and she brings plain acting, I won't criticise her so harshly but she is far from OK, makes her scenes stale and also for some reason disappears for most of the second half of the movie then returns out of nowhere. I think all in all this was fun-ish, but not fun enough for me to kind of like it; it was more for me a kind of dislike and disappointing actually. That said I know for a fact fans of the first will enjoy this as it basically lifts off from where the first finished in a sort of way, it tries too hard to remake what made the first a smash and does create a so-so piece. So overall I wouldn't really recommend it but then again I wouldn't say don't try it, just don't watch it if your looking for a bit more "smart" entertainment, but sure if you want a quick watch that doesn't require much thought then this is perfect, but still mediocre.

Having seen the first film I only had one real expectation with this film and that was quite simply 'dumb fun'. Well all I can say is that there was plenty of dumb and not enough fun and that's the big problem with this film.The premise of transporting an elephant from Florida to Texas already had me worried as I felt that this plot line overstepped the fine line between being a fun premise and being a dumb premise and sadly that's exactly what happened; far too much time was spent on the protagonists fussing over the elephant and bonding with it was just dumb and not particularly funny. I knew I was really in trouble when I realised the best they could do from this was to get the elephant to form an emotional attachment to the Bandit - simply put it wasn't funny and didn't work.On a lesser note I found the Bandit's transition from his care-free persona in the first film to him being a depressed alcoholic at the start of this film(all because he misses Carrie or 'Frog') to be a bit too much of a stretch in credibility. I just found it hard to believe that he'd go to pieces like that.The biggest problem this film has is that for the most part it quite simply lacks fun; the best thing about the first film is that it felt like one long car chase, it was exciting and fun. Sure it was dumb, but it always leaves a big smile on my face every time I watch it. This didn't. As mentioned, the transportation of an animal gave it an emotional core that it simply didn't need and it suffers badly as a result.Thank goodness then for Gleason & Henry who do at least try to salvage something from this wreckage; their interplay was superb as it was in the first film and they both share the best scenes in the film. In fact, I don't remember there being one scene in this film involving Gleason & Henry that wasn't funny.The demolition derby style finale was a little over the top and embarrassing, but at least it brought some much needed excitement to the table. The somewhat sugar coated ending didn't leave a particularly good taste in my mouth and it did make me wonder at times if the writers kept forgetting what type of film they're supposed to be making.This is a pretty poor film that is ultimately saved by the excellent performances by Gleason & Henry. Although there's a lot of tedium in this film, the scenes involving Gleason & Henry are so good that it actually makes it worth your while sitting through all the weaker aspects.

Where to start. The plot was just too lame, less action than the first one, and just too depressing. Also why would Carrie/Frog try to marry Junior again if she knows she doesn't love him? Also Bo Darville was less charming in this one than in the first one. In this one, his personality was exactly the opposite from his personality in the first one. In the first one he was strong, he had self confidence, high self esteem, good sense of humor, etc. In this one he was weak, and he had zero self esteem. Exactly the opposite of what he was in the first one. Also why didn't they pick up from where they left off in the first one? The elephant story was just too cheesy. It was not nearly as solid as the first one. Also why did they have to destroy all the beautiful police cars? In the first one many police cars survived in the end. Also we don't know how Bufford T Justice's Pontiac Bonneville police cruiser ended up like that. In the first one we saw how each damage occurred. Also in the first one Bufford T Justice didn't abandon his pursuit on Bo Darville. So there was no reason for Carrie/Frog to try to marry Junior again to start a new pursuit.

Big Enos Burdett (Pat McCormick) is running for Governor of Texas, and uses Bandit (Burt Reynolds) and Cledus (Jerry Reed) to transport a mysterious cargo. Cledus enlists the help of Carrie (Sally Field) who abandons Junior once again to convince a drunken Bandit to do the run. Surprise, surprise, the cargo is a giant elephant and mayhem ensues.The premise is complete nonsense. It's really a stupid setup to allow the gang to regroup and have more fun. This time they kidnap doc (Dom DeLuise) to treat the sick elephant. He adds a bit of fun that would lead to Cannonball Run. It's all harmless stupid fun.Then there's a massive cops versus truckers demolition derby. That might be worth the watch all by itself. It's a lot of joyful destruction.