Rating: PG
Starring:
Chris Showerman as George
Julie Benz as Ursula Stanhope
Thomas Haden Church as Lyle Van de Groot
Kevin Greutert as Voice of Tookie
Marjean Holden as Sally
Angus T. Jones as George Jr.
Christina Pickles as Mrs. Stanhope
John Cleese as Ape
Michael Clarke Duncan as Mean Lion
Special Features:
Jungle Bungles Blooper reel
“Behind-the-Trees” featurette
Deleted scenes with commentary
Vine surfing game
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.78:1) Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound
French and Spanish Language Tracks
Running Time: 87 Minutes
Synopsis:
Some years after the first film, George of the Jungle is now married to Ursula and has a young son, George Jr. However, hes having problems balancing his family life and his role as King of the Jungle. Without the guidance of Ape (whos now in Las Vegas, addicted to gambling), things are starting to fall apart.
Things get even worse when Georges mother-in-law shows up. Determined to take her daughter and grandson back to civilization, she has teamed with Georges old nemesis Lyle Van de Groot in order to carry out her evil plans. Together, they plan to level the jungle and put in a resort and get Ursula to marry Lyle. But first they must lure George and his family back to civilization. When Lyle tricks Ape into losing tons of money in a card game, George is more than willing to fly to Las Vegas to help him out. What will he do when the banana hits the fan?
George of the Jungle 2 is rated PG for crude humor and innuendo.
The Movie:
If you saw the first George of the Jungle movie then youll probably find the sequel not as good as the original. Theres no Brendan Fraser, fewer funny jokes, and the novelty of the concept has worn off. The sequel also suffers from a plot that makes no sense, horrible special effects (with a particularly fake looking CG kangaroo), and other problems associated with a straight to video sequel.
Still, George of the Jungle 2 shows occasional flashes of brilliance among all the mediocrity. It retains the tongue in cheek attitude of the original which helps make the cheesy moments more bearable. For example, they make references throughout the movie to Brendan Fraser. They note right off the bat that its a different George and that the studio was too cheap to hire Fraser back. The narrator notes that the new George crashes like Fraser. Thomas Haden Church even does an amusing parody of Frasers dances with horses scene from the first film. Later in the movie theres even a parody of the tree surfing scenes from Disneys Tarzan movie. Put together, the lighthearted attitude is the only thing that makes this movie bearable to watch.
Chris Showerman plays the new George in the movie. While hes got the body for the part, he doesnt have much else going for him. Georges poor grammar also starts to wear thin after a while coming from him. They somehow managed to get John Cleese back as Ape. He must have a house payment to make or something because theres not a lot for him to do in the movie.
In the end, though, kids will get a kick out of this movie. They should like the gorillas, the physical comedy, and George Jr. However, the sub-plot of George Jr. being taken away from his father may spook some younger kids.
The Extras:
This DVD does offer up a few extras:
Blooper reel This is nothing more than a few shots of people running into things or failing to catch objects thrown at them. This lasts around 30 seconds long.
“Behind-the-Trees” featurette This is probably the highlight of the extras on the DVD. Its your standard behind the scenes video, but theres a running gag about the documentary crew getting in trouble with security and being thrown off the set. Thats something you dont see every day. You get a closer look at the Ape costume and how it works. Its actually pretty interesting.
Deleted scenes with commentary There are a surprising number of deleted scenes on this DVD. They include improvisations by Thomas Hayden Church, Chris Showerman playing an extra, and more. For some strange reason, the deleted scenes have a commentary, but the movie itself doesnt.
Vine surfing game In this game George surfs the jungle trees (ala Disneys Tarzan) and you must answer trivia questions to guide him along.
The Bottom Line:
This ones really only for the kiddies and it may be a renter at best.
